200-4R Behind a 340 and Reid Bellhousing Build

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Mopar to ya said:
Set that TV correctly. Wide open throttle, the TV should be all the way back. I've had leakage problems on mine the last couple years. Had to rebuild it last year due to leaking through the vent, worn clutches, etc. Still have a bit of leakage this year. going to try a catch can. I beat the hell out of that tranny for years. Burnouts, rolling burnouts, street racing, track racing, etc... I like it. I'd like it more if I could figure out the leak though. I'd definitely do it again. I can cruise the highway at 80 mph and 3000 rpm now with 4.10 gears and 28" tires.
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Yes the TV cable is probably the most important thing to have adjusted correctly on these. I should be running 2500 rpm @ 81 mph with 4.10 gear and 30” tires. Can’t wait!
 
Who builds the tranny with the bellhousing to adapt. I’d like to see if a strong one can be built for a 451 Cuda. Thanks
 
cuda620 said:
Who builds the tranny with the bellhousing to adapt. I’d like to see if a strong one can be built for a 451 Cuda. Thanks
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You can have anyone build the tranny. Just need the bellhousing cut off and one of these installed Big Block Mopar Bellhousing. You can easily get one built strong enough for your 451.
 
Thanks. Not anyone builds em though. Some don’t think it’s strong enough. Gotta find one.
 
cuda620 said:
Thanks. Not anyone builds em though. Some don’t think it’s strong enough. Gotta find one.
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The Master of the Universe for building 200R4 transmissions is Lonnie at Extreme Automatics. He is a very busy man, designed several of the most critical aftermarket upgrade parts himself and knows what works and what doesn't.

He also designed and produced his CNC adapter ring to bolt the bell housings on. His Stage 2 200R4 is the best transmission I've ever driven. According to my local chassis dyno, his Stage 2 trans has been holding up to382hp & 525 ft lbs of torque at the rear wheels for 3 years now on my daily driver.

Here's a link to his site.
Extreme Automatics

200R4 3 (Medium).jpg


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I agree Extreme Automatics is probably best in the biz. I too used their CNC adapter ring in my build.
 
Scott's dart said:
What diameter and type of steel did you go with for the driveshaft?
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I had a local shop put it together and I didn’t really ask a lot of questions but for what I paid, I should have gone aluminum. I believe it’s 3.5” diameter mild steel. I’m really not sure on the steel type though.
 
Took my first cruise on the highway tonight. I was very pleased with the rpm drop. Now this isn’t an apples to apples comparison from before since I’m running a 30” tire and a 3.91 gear. Before it had a 4.10 gear with 28” tires. So I essentially gained 10 mph at the same rpm it would have been with the original tire and gear ratio. Runs 70 mph at 2K rpm!

 
A nice setup for sure. I wonder if a 2004r can be built to stand up to a built 451. About 600 hp?
 
cuda620 said:
A nice setup for sure. I wonder if a 2004r can be built to stand up to a built 451. About 600 hp?
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Not a problem. My 417 is probably north of 600 hp so we shall see how it holds out. They can be built to handle 1000 hp but it’s important to get them set up correctly. Otherwise they’ll fail along with the many others who have burned them up due to improper throttle valve adjustments and not using the right components.
 
Just a personal preference, I wouldn’t use monster transmissions just due to the amount of failure rates I’ve heard about. If I were to buy a 200-4R from a shop, I would buy it from Extreme Automatics. They are the gurus on these transmissions and I have heard many success stories with them.

Extreme Automatics
 
I’ve heard good things about Lonnie at extreme. I’ll watch this post and see how things go. I was gonna go 727/gearvendors. But i like the 2004r gear ratios better. Thanks
 
cuda620 said:
I’ve heard good things about Lonnie at extreme. I’ll watch this post and see how things go. I was gonna go 727/gearvendors. But i like the 2004r gear ratios better. Thanks
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If you go with the non-lock up converter you'll save some hassle with the converter engagement/disengagement switches and wiring. There's little difference in cost but much more fun to drive, for me at least. You will lose 1 or 2 MPG but I didn't care about that!!

Treblig
 
Treblig said:
If you go with the non-lock up converter you'll save some hassle with the converter engagement/disengagement switches and wiring. There's little difference in cost but much more fun to drive, for me at least. You will lose 1 or 2 MPG but I didn't care about that!!

Treblig
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And performance too. Lockup isn’t as much performance oriented but I have a 4500 stall converter so I wanted to lock it on the highway. But wiring the switch was easy. Just one wire and done. Not much complicated about that.
 
cuda620 said:
I’ve heard good things about Lonnie at extreme. I’ll watch this post and see how things go. I was gonna go 727/gearvendors. But i like the 2004r gear ratios better. Thanks
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Yes the gear splits are better than the 727 and the 200-4R overdrive is better than the gear vendors overdrive. Other things to consider is the fact that if your current transmission already has a bunch of mileage, you may need a rebuild. Add that rebuild money to a Gear vendors and it gets pretty expensive (not that this swap was cheap at all either!). Plus the gear vendors will add about 40-50 lbs of extra weight. Going the GM route, you’ll have a brand new trans and you can sell your current converter and trans to help offset the cost of the 200 and not add the extra weight. The only downside for me was the extra effort it takes for the 200 conversion. It wasn’t necessarily difficult but it did take some extra time and effort.
 
I also had Lonnie build me a 200-4R, reverse pattern manual shift with a lockup converter a couple of years ago. I also used the US Car Tool crossmember.
The car isn't yet on the road (been in two different paint shops since December 2016 but supposed to finally be done in paint the end of this month).
One thing that hasn't been mentioned in this thread is there is less horsepower loss through a 200-4R than a 727.
Plans are to use a 4.30 gear with a 28" diameter tire.
I'm looking forward to getting the car done and driving.
Oh yeah, going to use a Kilduff Machine shifter to do the manual shifting. This is going to be fun!
 
Tryin to keep the original console and ad a b&m shifter to it or as I read on here, adapt the original shifter. Don’t want to cut up the floor either to do it. No rust, like new. That’s the advantage to the vendors unit. I also read where a guy welded extensions to tha crossmember mount to lower the tranny. Nowvibration either. Evidently the u joint angles were close enough. No floor cutting.
 
ocdart said:
I also had Lonnie build me a 200-4R, reverse pattern manual shift with a lockup converter a couple of years ago. I also used the US Car Tool crossmember.
The car isn't yet on the road (been in two different paint shops since December 2016 but supposed to finally be done in paint the end of this month).
One thing that hasn't been mentioned in this thread is there is less horsepower loss through a 200-4R than a 727.
Plans are to use a 4.30 gear with a 28" diameter tire.
I'm looking forward to getting the car done and driving.
Oh yeah, going to use a Kilduff Machine shifter to do the manual shifting. This is going to be fun!
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I have heard about less frictional losses in these transmissions but I wasn’t going to make claims that I couldn’t prove some data with. Is there anything out there that you know of that proves this?

cuda620 said:
Tryin to keep the original console and ad a b&m shifter to it or as I read on here, adapt the original shifter. Don’t want to cut up the floor either to do it. No rust, like new. That’s the advantage to the vendors unit. I also read where a guy welded extensions to tha crossmember mount to lower the tranny. Nowvibration either. Evidently the u joint angles were close enough. No floor cutting.
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No floor cutting with this swap either.
 
clinteg said:
Is there anything out there that you know of that proves this?
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I did some looking but wasn't able to find any documented sources from professional testing organizations. I did find several mentions from magazines but, again, nothing documented with test results from a transmission dyno.
 
cuda620 said:
Tryin to keep the original console and ad a b&m shifter to it or as I read on here, adapt the original shifter. Don’t want to cut up the floor either to do it. No rust, like new. That’s the advantage to the vendors unit. I also read where a guy welded extensions to tha crossmember mount to lower the tranny. Nowvibration either. Evidently the u joint angles were close enough. No floor cutting.
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I kept my original console and complete shifter in my '69 Barracuda when I installed the 2004R. I documented everything in detail here on FABO. I even did a little work to the shifter detents so that I could put it in 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th gear easily.
Treblig
 
Just made the first test fit of my 2004R behind the 340 in my 73 Dart Sport. Will have to trim more than planned from the passenger side crossmember but the driver side trimming was good the first time. Just have to weld them up now. I'll post some pics in my build thread later for anyone using the Wilcap adapter.
 
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