[krautwolf]

It took an hour to go the 37 miles on mostly surface streets , but I got the '63 Cat Safari home. It's clearly not the same car I pulled a 389 and slim jim out of last November. Took the coast road home with about 5 miles on the 101 freeway. Cool day, but I still experienced a little pinging. Could be attributed to a new, tight engine, 93 octane fuel, timing perhaps not dead on, or??? New 2004R shifts a lot more agressively than the old SJ and lugs a bit due to the mom's-station-wagon differential. Have to keep her in 3rd gear up to about 60 mph. The torque converter locks up at about 54 mph otherwise. The kickdown into passing gear is absolutely neck-snapping. Strangely, the gas gage has barely moved from above "F". Hope it's not stuck! Now that I've got it home I can start on making it good looking and reliable while consuming frosty beverages.

[Hitman]

That is really neat to hear. You keep teasing us though, where are the snapshots? What was all involved with that 2004R swap? I was thinking about that in my car when the TH400 goes. That with a 2.41 posi I should be able to cruise at about 110mph and only turn about 2.5K. Maybe. Anyway, I will be having a bunch more work done here at the end of the month. Looks like we are in same boat as far as our projects go. Baby steps.

I wish I could cruise the 101 in my car. If I ever move back out west I will have to add that to my dream cruise of route 66. There is an idea for a POCI convention or event, a week long cruise. Hmmm....

[krautwolf]

Hitman - I'll head east and meet you in Albuquerque!

[Deadhead]

Originally Posted by krautwolf

It took an hour to go the 37 miles on mostly surface streets , but I got the '63 Cat Safari home. It's clearly not the same car I pulled a 389 and slim jim out of last November. Took the coast road home with about 5 miles on the 101 freeway. Cool day, but I still experienced a little pinging. Could be attributed to a new, tight engine, 93 octane fuel, timing perhaps not dead on, or??? New 2004R shifts a lot more agressively than the old SJ and lugs a bit due to the mom's-station-wagon differential. Have to keep her in 3rd gear up to about 60 mph. The torque converter locks up at about 54 mph otherwise. The kickdown into passing gear is absolutely neck-snapping. Strangely, the gas gage has barely moved from above "F". Hope it's not stuck! Now that I've got it home I can start on making it good looking and reliable while consuming frosty beverages.

Beware! With the factory set-up on that car I only got about 175 miles on a tank of gas doing 60-65 on the Interstate. Really small tank. I could not believe it & drifted into a gas station on fumes first time I had it on the Hwy.

You have come a long way fast. An inspiration to us all.

[presidential]

Wonder how long a 2004r would last behind a 455...hmmm.

[mike nixon]

Originally Posted by presidential

Wonder how long a 2004r would last behind a 455...hmmm.

my thoughts exactly. those aren't the strongest trannies, even built up with good parts.

mike

[krautwolf]

The 2004R naysayers haven't kept up. There's a long thread on the street forum about them that gets quite heated,almost ugly at points. Art Carr, Bowtie, and others have improved them greatly. The upgraded parts are better than good now - made of Kevlar and hardened steel. I did my research and bought the build one tier below the strip model. One of the driving factors was that it fit in the tunnel. The builder wouldn't guarantee any lower priced model with a 421. It (the trannie) is rated to 500 hp. My 421 might be putting out 400hp. I'm not going to the strip. I'll live or die with it.

[mike nixon]

kw, my biggest concern with the 2004r is the number, or lack of, clutches used in it. a 700r4 has more and has proven to be a better trans.

i wish you meany miles of trouble free driving with it.

i've got enough faith in the 2004r that i threw 5 of them in the scrap dumpster last summer.

mike

[krautwolf]

I just hope I can get the exterior and interior as nice as the engine compartment. Still a ways to go under the hood, but the big work is done.

[66bonne]

Looking good !!

[gregneun]

Hey Kraut,

You're fine with an Art Carr designed 200 4r. I think that is all that they do.

Didn't the Buick Grand Nationals get the 200 4r's?

I went with the th400, but looked at all changes for the Slim Jim. Enjoy the mileage and lower R's that you'll get from the OD trans.

You got what you wanted. Besides what's the worst that could happen? It's only another grand.

After dumping money into my pit, my wife is glad that I'm not into Ocean boats or Sand rails. Old cars are still an affordable hobby, even with the $3.00/gallon price of gas.

Take care and enjoy,
Greg

[presidential]

I used to work for a high-po transmission shop and we constantly had GN owners coming to us after owning supposed "high-po" big-name 200R4 transmissions. We always replaced them with 400s or a built 4L60 + megashift.

As easy as a tranny swap would be, I'll stick with my 400 on second thought. I'll stick with what I know I can build to be strong and add a Gear Vendors OD than go with a transmission that won't take what I eventually try to throw at it.

[presidential]

As far as I know, all 400's are non-lockup, even up until 87 when the name changed. I haven't heard of anyone producing any solinoids/converter conversion for a lock-up feature on a 400 but I could be out of the loop.

[mike nixon]

Originally Posted by presidential

As far as I know, all 400's are non-lockup, even up until 87 when the name changed. I haven't heard of anyone producing any solinoids/converter conversion for a lock-up feature on a 400 but I could be out of the loop.

tmk, you're not out of the loop. gm never built a lock up th400, the 4l80e is the od th400.

the th400 was in production until the obd stuff came out in the mid 90's.

mike

[lust4speed]

Krautwolf, I doubt whether you found 93 octane here in CA, probably 91 only. I'd check your timing and possibly back out a degree or two. Also get an adjustable vacuum advance if the pinging is only at part throttle. Probably keep it in lower gears until it is well broke in to keep the rev's up a little higher and let the oil splash do its thing. Only problem I've had with my 200R4 is letting it lag up hills. Even with the cable adjusted properly, the Pontiac engines make big torque at very small throttle openings and the trans tends to shift up and lug.

[krautwolf]

Thanks for the tips - you're absolutely right about keeping it in lower gears.