for Buick small block LOVERS let the flaming begin.

Sure it will. The GN and turbo regal guys use stock 2004Rs behind their 10-second V6s, hanging the wheels half way down the track. Art Carr has a 2004R listed to hold up to 1000 horsepower. I would put a 2004R behind just about anything. They are extremely durable transmissions, but they have always gotten a bad rep because their part number is numerically smaller (ie inferior) than the weak 700R4, even though the 2004r is much better. On top of that, the 2004R is more efficient, with less parasitic loss than the 350 or the power-eating 400 3-speeds. I dropped 500 rpm in fourth gear when I apply the lock-up. Crusing at 80 running 1500 rpm. my motor doesn't even make power until 2500!:3gears:

 

true, but being a v8 it'll have more potential to put out more torque while being at a lower rpm also..and i hear alot of gn guyd have to refreshin the trans after a couple seasons.. to me that sounds iffy but freshin up the trans could me something totaly different from them to me lol

 

That is pretty just fresh clutches and bands, which is like $200 at the most. If you learn to tear it down and rebuild it yourself, it will save you a lot of cash, but transmission building can take a while to learn.

 

You gotta figure out what the compression is, just cause the previous owner says stock doesn't mean its something low. Also how easy does the engine turn over by hand? When we pulled my "stock replacement" 350-2 out of my car that was one of those "rebuilt" engines, I had to put ALL of my weight onto the breaker bar to get the thing to turn over (I weight about 155-160 lbs) and after doing some calculations it turns out the thing had about 7.somethin:1 compression which made sense why it was only running 16.68 through headers and exhaust. I was PO'd too at why my stock 350 was so slow when others claimed their stock 350's ran 15's or faster but then it all made sense. Im hoping my new one will be in the low 13's and it should, not fast enough for me though but meh the thing is as far as you can take it NA :boring:

Compression and power loss through friction will kill you (like mine) and a worn out tranny only worsens it.

 

Whats funny for me personlly rebuilding transmissions is easier than say doing head work or figureing out why an 85 fiero failed a smog test because of high Noxou: .Someday Im going to get a beafy Th400 reverse valve body and that overdrive kit....................someday.

Back to the topic about that 69 you gotta remeber your car might not be the fastest or tear up the dyno numbers with 500hp and world turning tourque,but that you drive a BUICK and because of that you are way classier than anyone else on the road.

Fix the leaks get a new tourque converter and just cruise.I dont remeber what carb you had but if you need a Q-jet I got one off of a 430 that i could shoot your way or a freshly rebuilt holley 850 double pumper.:beers2: :beers2: :3gears: :3gears:

 

I know Janis transmission personally. I have worked with him for over 25 years. He builds great stuff. He did my 2004r. The only thing that is needed for lots of horse is the billit drum in the trans a 600+ dollar part. I do not have this and I am ok he said it will be fine. He also knew that I was running the nitrous also. If the part breaks the shaft is the only thing that will break and the trans will be ok so it won't get trashed if the part breaks. I ran 11.90 with mine and it ain't broke yet. Going on 3 years now. Do this trans well worth the money. My 60 ft is a little slower now because of the tighter stall since I have nitrous. But I go faster in the eight mile. Just think if I had that loose convertor in there. The convertor was a 800 dollar part since it is a lockup convertor. I am using a 3000 stall now.

 

If you are drag racing, a lot of guys suggest using a non-lockup converter because they are a lot lighter. I use a lock up because I wanted better mileage.

 

Thanks for the advice Mike. Unfortunately I have the starter and all the wiring out already, I should have thought to do a compression test. I do love my Buick, I think it's a lot classier than a lot of similar year cars, like my dads Nova, I do also enjoy driving it, but, and this is a big but. The whole car is worn out.

Bushings balljoints, needs a whole new interior, and I mean everything, full of bondo, needs 2 new rear quarters. A lot of body work, new rear bumper, all the trim needs rechroming, needs new weatherstripping. As you know the trans is gone. etc... So what i'm getting to is the car has never been restored, and I'm tired of seeing all these problems and hearing the balljoints squeek and the brakes squeek and make nasty noises, and well it's time I did this car some justice.

I wan't it to be nice and clean, it's an overwhelming project for a guy with my tiny amount of experience. So we have to break this car into various sections so I don't go insane thinking of the things that need to be done. First and foremost, and the first thing that captivated me about these cars was speed, I LOVE being slammed back in the seat and listening to a nasty v8 making the radials go away in all four gears, my first muscle car experience was in my dads 396 4 speed nova, and I got to drive it this past weekend, all weekend, I havn't felt that pull for a long time and it's high time that my car grew a pair, so the first thing on the agenda is clean up the engine bay and underneath, try to replace some balljoints, paint the floorpans, diff, firewall frame, etc.. And gather all the stuff for my BB swap so I can build a decent hotrod, I'll think about outer aesthetics later, and interior can wait too, although i'm looking forward to the new white vinyl:bglasses:. I will try and diagnose the 350's problems if I can at the same time i'm doing the cleanup and paint. I need disc brakes too before the 500 ft-lbs of torque, thats a big ticket item. I'm estimating the drivetrain part of my project is going to take the better part of 3-4 years. Wish me luck.

 

My 78 Skyhawk is for sale on the island.... 65,000 km $500 Drive that while you save up for fixing the other car.

 

Good luck, you need it. My project started with a simple intake swap and turned into a full front end restoration of replacing everything work out and repainting everything, that was a year and a half ago. The thing has sat for about a year now without having anything done on it waiting on the engine. My best advise is to have a friend that's interested in cars help you with the project, or if you don't have a friend that is, fine one :TU: it nice having someone who knows what they're doing however and thankfully for me that was my grandpa, I got to spend a lot of quality time with him as he can do bodywork, paint etc. he's been through it all with his past projects and helping my dad out and I have to say I cherished those days workin on the car with him and hope that there are more to come. Just take it slow, ask any and all questions before second guessing and try making some contacts that you can call for a quick answer instead of having to rely on people replying on the board and just keep at it, you'll be goin fast with class in no time bud :3gears:

 

Thanks sean but i've got a 4 cylinder ranger which has no major rust in the usual spots and runs like a top, got it for 200 bucks worth of booze from my saucier at work. Man Mike I wish my dad was a buick nut:TU: Take advantage of that! I expect to see 13's in drive. At some point when my car is done I want to road trip it down to see TA and go to a buick race event.

Here is a vid I finally got on the comp of me racing, the best I could do was 3/4 throttle here because my stack of carb spacers on the stock manifold with the old boggy holley carb would bog right down if I opened it all the way up. Sad thing is looking at this video, which was slow to begin with, I think a 7.9 second run at 50 mph, the last time I drove the car it seemed alot more gutless than when I raced it earlier on in the year.. My buddys stock 4300 lb wildcat 4 dr hard top with 45000 miles on the 430 and 2.73 rear gears just ran a 7.1 at 55 mph on the same track. I've learned my lesson here, a car that might have a lot of miles but hasn't been tampered with is always a better buy because you know what your dealing with. When I got my car the whole car had been ****ed with, engine, wiring, everything you name it. Atleast it's a real GS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-QPFkE0GVI

 

That thing sounds like its beefy.Nice funny car style burnout:TU:

 

Ya it sounds good with the dump caps off. Or sounded rather, poor thing.. O yeah, drag racing is no fun without what my friends call a 'Ryan' burnout. When the 455 is in I'm going right through the lights as far as she'll spin em. Gotta put on a bit of a show:3gears: :laugh:

 

It sounded so damn cool, it was demoralising knowing that I could get stomped by a yaris or an echo or something though, kind of undercut the cars dignity a bit.. It's a good thing I'm gonna try and make it nice.

 

I know I raced my dad once back when the skylark was running and he was driving our 2000 Ford Excursion (9000lbs) with the 7.3L Turbo Diesel with my mom, brother and sister in the car aaaaand won, I felt great after that lol o No:

 

Maybe I'll have my car done and we can go tear up the streets for the night :TU:

After watching the video it looks like the car leaves really good for the first .5 seconds then falls on its face, looks like it needs more compression (if its a low comp "stock rebuild") and a bigger carb, but the trans and converter may be hurting it too but you'd feel it if it were slipping, but thats tough to say cause my 350-2 could be crankin 5k and I wouldn't be goin anywhere and it didnt feel like it was slipping so that one is tough.

 

I would love to go for a burn down in arizona.:3gears: Everybody who watched me race says that it was really labouring when I shifted into second. Like I said before, in D it made 137 at the wheels but in second it made 153, so theres definately some wear issues there. Your car is gorgeous Mike, Exactly the same color I want mine to be, the light blue factory color with white vinyl interior.

 

Also now as opposed to when I raced it's WAY softer off the line than what you see there too. Makes me think the trans has had it's day.

 

Thats actually the wrong color for my car, its waaaay off thanks to Maaco.

Its supposed to look like this with the black vinyl top and Im gonna make it look like an X, just a '70

 

Thats gonna be awesome I can't wait to see it, I love the GSX sceme.