fitting 700r4 behind 140ci vega motor

[97chitclipse]

well as the title says, we made it happen. We fabbed up a 700r4 with a overdrive into my bosses 77 vega and it works great, took a 700r4, bolted it to the motor with the dowl pins aligned, cut out where the starter was, cut the old belhousing on the old trans to get the starter to fit. we fabbed up a plate to go between them that bolts to the motor then the trans bolts to the plate. if anyones interested i can snap a few pics while the motors out.

[gerbsinmd]

We like pictures

[Kenova]

We like pictures

Oh yeah, we need lots of info on this swap.
How thick is the adapter plate?
How did you make up for the extra distance between the flexplate and the torque converter?
What did you use for a torque converter? (size, stall)
I'm thinking if this will work for a 700r4, then it should work for a 200 4r.

Ken

[97chitclipse]

Well first we used a fullsize 700 canse with 4 cylinder s10 internals, input shaft and converter. We took the case aligned the dowl pins with the motor to see what had to be done. Then we cut out where the starter went on the 700 case and took the stock trans and cut that section out so we can still get the starter bolt threw, we fitted the stock piece bolted to the starter and tig welded the case and the starter piece together, we cut off the top point of the trans that stuck up. The plate we used is 1/8th inch thick and we mated that to the stock case before we cut it and made a outline and we left extra around it and cut that out with a plasma cutter and drilled two holes for the dowl pins and once we did that we can see where everything ends up on the motor half and the new case half. we trimmed, and drill the holes where the plate bolts to the motor and then we took the plate mated it to the trans cleaned up the edges and drilled those holes and the bolts that didnt thread into the motor we welded nuts to the plate. for the piolot alignment we took a piolot bearing and took out the bearing part and it worked perfect so we tapped that into the crank. To make up for the thickness of the plate with the converter we took some washers added up to the thickness of the plate. the stall of the conterter is between 2300-2400 if i recall right, and to controll the lockup we used a b&m lock up controller. for the kickdown cable we used the stock bracket that was modified to fit the 700 case and trimmed and grinded to make that fit. for the torque arm you flip the bracked vertical and two of the bolt holes lign up with the tail housing, for the drive shaft it had to be shortened and for the crossmember it had to be moved back to the four rear holes and the farthest back had to be threaded, some trimming had to happen to where the front two bolt mounts here. here are some pics if anyone has any questions just let me know. so far it worked great before we pulled the motor to figure out why it ran like crap and backfired threw the intake, needs a valve job.

[97chitclipse]

[megavega]

Nice job on that!

[hammerdown7]

That is a fantastic job but I have to ask the question, why so much work to use the 2.3L Vega? You must have some special parts for the engine. Back in the 70's when that oil crisis hit, I had a new '74 GT 4-speed. Had the R&P changed from the stock 3.36 to the 2.53 and got terrific gas mileage. That led to buying a new '76 Monza 2.3 5-speed. It came with a 3.42 R&P, had that changed to a 2.56 and could only use 5th gear on flat road stretches because there wasn't enough torque available to maintain speed on any incline.

What R&P do you plan on using? I think the 700R4's top gear is less than .80:1 that my 5-speed had.

Dick

[Nocash]

Nice work, im installing a 700r4 on my 77 Monza soon!

[75Monzta]

You don't need a lot of gear with a 700. First is a 3.06 and overdrive is .70 That being a pretty good reason why these Astro vans and Safaris pull real good over hills and such with 2.73 gears in them. Still, the launch of a 3.42 gear combined with the 3.06 is a great feeling...until it hits second.
Also... that is a very cool modification to that trans. Great job.

That is a fantastic job but I have to ask the question, why so much work to use the 2.3L Vega? You must have some special parts for the engine. Back in the 70's when that oil crisis hit, I had a new '74 GT 4-speed. Had the R&P changed from the stock 3.36 to the 2.53 and got terrific gas mileage. That led to buying a new '76 Monza 2.3 5-speed. It came with a 3.42 R&P, had that changed to a 2.56 and could only use 5th gear on flat road stretches because there wasn't enough torque available to maintain speed on any incline.

What R&P do you plan on using? I think the 700R4's top gear is less than .80:1 that my 5-speed had.

Dick

[97chitclipse]

my boss is weird like that, he wanted to some something one off no one has ever done, we had a astro convertor in it and the stall was just too low so we are gonna use a 4cyl s10 with a higher stall one once we get the motor back together once we find a head gasket

[bigguy5994]

I have a line on a 200r4- would the same mods have to be made to it to go behind the 2.3 L I have in my 75 Monza?

[barebonesracecars]

The ingenuity of H-body enthusiasts never ceases to amaze me.

[vegaman140]

I've never thought about this, but what a great idea....may have to do this when my transmission finally blows up