My "New" car, 79 Monza HB

[77nighthawk]

Hey Harry. Most GM trannies have a case saver of some sort. A short list of one's I know are: 250(c), 350(c), 400, 700r4, 4L60, 4L60E, 4L65E, 4L70. It is best to do a search, before a rebuild, to see what is offered. The same goes for upgraded parts. Most tranny shops know their stuff, and will ask you if you want the upgrades, for towing, performance, and such. Some upgrades should be done, no matter what, because they were/are the "weak link" in the tranny that caused the failure. Sorry, I'm rambling, I have a tendency to do that. As far as if this is a GM thing, I can't really say. I haven't really messed with anything other that GM, except at work, but my little engine stand wouldn't come close to holding one of those tranny's. I sneaked out to the garage, yesterday, while everyone was in a food induced "coma". Had a good Christmas, hope you, and all of our h-body brothers and sisters, did too. Brad

[77nighthawk]

Went out to the garage for a little while today. It was 43 degrees in the garage, so I wasn't out there very long. I managed to get the shift shaft, spacer plates, and valve body in. Still have more to do, but, brrrrrrrrrrrrr! Set the new tranny pan on, but I'm not ready to bolt it up yet. Brad

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[Monza Harry]

Subject: My "New" car, 79 Monza HB

Hey Harry. Most GM trannies have a case saver of some sort. A short list of one's I know are: 250(c), 350(c), 400, 700r4, 4L60, 4L60E, 4L65E, 4L70. It is best to do a search, before a rebuild, to see what is offered. The same goes for upgraded parts. Most tranny shops know their stuff, and will ask you if you want the upgrades, for towing, performance, and such. Some upgrades should be done, no matter what, because they were/are the "weak link" in the tranny that caused the failure. Sorry, I'm rambling, I have a tendency to do that. As far as if this is a GM thing, I can't really say. I haven't really messed with anything other that GM, except at work, but my little engine stand wouldn't come close to holding one of those tranny's. I sneaked out to the garage, yesterday, while everyone was in a food induced "coma". Had a good Christmas, hope you, and all of our h-body brothers and sisters, did too. Brad

Thanx Brad I some how envisioned something else, but that would be a good piece, especially for that price, if you are doing a complete rebuild! I will do some looking around for my 2004R There is about $1000 I need to spend on that tranny, to address it's weak points, like input, and output shafts, drum, plus all the regular plates and steels etc. getting up there real fast and the cash not so much The 2004r is kind of weak for my HP wish list so the price goes up for the end result, but it does have one of the best gear spreads of any OD tranny, and a low(ish) parasitic loss number for an OD and it is one of the easiest to fit in an H-Body so those reasons dictate my choice. I didn't notice any rambling just answers to the questions asked and I thank you for all of this! Harry

[77nighthawk]

Hey Harry, check these out if you see this. May help reduce your rebuild cost a little, depending on your desired hp. I used one of their kits on a TH350, that I built and installed in a 84 grand prix that weighed about 3500 lbs, ran 12.50's in the 1/4 mile, and used the transgo noyoyo shift improver kit. Had no problems at all with the kits, and tranny worked flawlessly. I'm seeing a LOT of upgraded parts for a 200-4r, a veritable smorgasbord. Good luck with your project. Brad

http://www.northernautoparts.com/part/to-t54165b

http://www.northernautoparts.com/part/tk-54008b

[Monza Harry]

The standard Hi-Po parts aren't the biggest cost . It's the hard parts for this tranny when you pass the 350>400 HP range, like these http://www.jakesperformance.com/200-4R_Components.html (bottom item USD at 38% right now so 425=$586.50), and this part http://www.cpttransmission.com/images/p12282.jpg at 270USD, and not all of these but many http://www.200raptor.com/ plus a convertor and TV cable brackets and dipstick and fluid all of these "Built" trannies want Royal Purple or equally expensive fluid plus shipping to Canada. So those are just a few of my holding back points. not out of the question just out for now, going to take some time is all! Harry

[77nighthawk]

Not a big update, went out and cleaned up tranny parts Sunday, to get ready for stabbing the motor and tranny. I still have to finish assembling the tranny, but not too much left. Ordered a new waterpump, fuel pump and regulator, and, hopefully, the speedo gears I need for the tranny, to match the new rearend, yet to be ordered. I did finally get the replacement TCI front pump, today. Lots to do, further updates to come. Brad

[77nighthawk]

Went out today, turned the heaters on in the garage, and finished the tranny, hooray. I went ahead and used the tci front pump, since I had it. I bolted the aluminum pan on, and installed the governor. I then installed the speedo gears, new rear bushing, and rear seal in the tailhousing, and installed it on the tranny. I also installed the dipstick tube, and detent cable. I'm not liking the chrome dipstick tube, I may look around for a factory tube, for a car, and use that one instead. Other than stabbing the new convertor, and filling it with fluid, it is ready to use. If I feel up to it tomorrow, I may go back out and work on joining the engine and tranny, and start the preliminary install into the car, to finish the motor mounts. Brad P.S. after seeing the pictures, I think I need to clean the garage again.

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[77nighthawk]

Last Saturday, I was going to bolt the motor and tranny together, but I couldn't find my flexplate bolts, so I did a little straightening up, instead. Went back out Sunday, and started mocking up the waterpump, and alternator. I had a template that I made about 10 years ago for another build, to position the alternator where I wanted it, but I wanted something a little nicer, so I made a new pattern, and spent my lunch hours cutting, drilling, sanding, and polishing. This evening, I brought it home, and bolted it up to the motor. I like it. I never did find the flexplate bolts, had to go buy new ones. Brad

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[Kenova]

Great minds think alike!
I made a similar bracket to place my alternator in the same spot on my Nova's engine.
I made several 1/2" plywood templates 'till I got it right and then used a hand held jig saw to cut it out of
1/2" aluminum. To polish it I placed it in an old cake tin and put just enough water in it to just cover the
bracket then used wet/dry paper on an electric sander (REAL SAFE ). It was a lot of work but damn,
does it ever work and look good.

Ken

[77nighthawk]

Hey Ken, speaking of flip brackets and nova's, here's a pic of my buddy's nova with a bracket I made for him. Not the best pic of the bracket, but it's the best one I got. This is the first fire up for his new setup.

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I used a jigsaw, and a lot of wd40, to cut the bracket out, a drill press for the holes, and used a belt sander on the outside edges, to remove the saw marks. I hand sanded the flat surfaces with 600, then 800, then 1000, and finished off with 2000, then 3 polish's with mothers polish. My hands are still sore. Brad

[Kenova]

Nice to hear from someone who has shared the pain.
Tell your buddy that his camouflaged tunnel rams isn't foolin' anyone.

Ken

[zeke]

Love the bracket, excellent fab work!

Cool looking water pump, I see them on a lot of rides these days. Are they meant for 100% duty cycle? (continuous use)

I like your buddy's uncluttered engine bay! I see he has the 12SI cooling fan on his alternator and flat belt drive, nice.

[77nighthawk]

Hey Chris, thanks, the electric pumps work pretty good, and last for quite a while as long as they don't run against a closed thermostat. I'm going to use a temp switch to control my pump and fans, to eliminate that. Brad

[77nighthawk]

Update time. Worked on the car this weekend. Stabbed the convertor into the tranny, bolted the new sfi flexplate to the motor, and joined the two together. When I went to bolt the convertor to the flexplate, there was a 1/4 inch gap between them. I removed the tranny from the motor, and started inspecting everything. I suspected that something may be wrong with the flexplate, I couldn't find another one in my garage nowhere, so I called my buddy with the nova, and he brought me one to compare. I bolted that one to my engine, and bolted the tranny back on the motor, perfect fit. The convertor went against the flexplate, just like it was supposed to, and the convertor bolts went in with no issue. I removed the tranny from the motor again, removed the borrowed flexplate, and compared it with mine. The new Jegs flexplate is shaped like a bowl, compared to his flexplate. I called Jegs, and informed them of the situation. They said return it, and they'll credit my money back. I ordered a new Scat brand SFI flexplate, and convertor bolts, to replace the defective part. Maybe next weekend, I'll be able to get the motor in the car. The second flexplate pic, is the borrowed flexplate. Brad

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[77nighthawk]

Did some more on the car this weekend. The new sfi flexplate came in, so I tried it out. Perfect fit. Now the motor and tranny are sitting on the floor of the garage, ready to go in. Got the car up in the air. I removed the hood, and stripped the ac lines, compressor, and condenser, out of the car. I also removed the clutch cable, pedal, and 4 speed shifter. Next on the to-do list will be re-routing the front brake lines, some more engine bay clean-up, and dropping the motor and tranny in, to finish the motor mounts. Brad

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