Is the 2004r the answer?

[Dan Sherwood]

I've got a 3700lb 69 camaro with a 560hp 406, and the occasional 25 shot to hit the 11.5 mark at the dragstrip and occasionaly will get to a road course with the car as a back up to my 67.
I currently am running a th350 with a gear vendor setup which works very well in the 1/4, decent in the road course when the temps are below the mid 80's and ok on the street. With the 3.73's however, it still turns too many r's on the freeway at 70mph, and does'nt help the mpg either.
Debating on an od trans, (putting the gv behind the bbc on the 67) and trying to keep the weight down, while possibly improving the 60fts. Wondering if the 2004r is the ticket to get where I want to go? Who makes one to fulfill all my requirements? Lockup vs non lockup, and convertor suggestions???? Thx!

[Orngcrush69]

Hey Dan
I'm running a 200r4 by Bowtie Overdrives, I'm running a little under 500HP., and I do road race with it. I've had no complaints or problems with it. Bowtie is easy to work with and you might wanna call 'em and tell them what you wanna use your car for & your HP like I did and get their recommendation.

[Dan Sherwood]

Is this the part where I tell about my bad experiences with bow tie overdrives, and specifically a 2004r from them? The owner (I believe he has since passed on-hopefully not from he and I's conversation) made it clear that if there was a problem it was because the 3 different guys trying to get it right were all idiots, and did'nt know what they were doing. No one really knew 2004r's but him. It went back to bow tie and I got a refund less some $ for handling, shipping, yada yada yada.

I've found I can talk myself into anything if I keep up the emotions long enough. I've also had buyer remorse more than a few times from getting something and coming back to earth later only to find it was'nt what I wanted after all, and then spending more coin to get something else.

I just sold my 05 SSR with the LS2 and a 6 speed manual. What did I like best about that car? Decent power, but great mpg and once I got the 4.10's in, I loved the manual.

I think I might just drive the 69 more and see if I really do drive it enough to justify more expense in the tranny department. If by the end of summer I've decided I've used it enough, I may just bite the bullet and put in a T56.

Thx for the input!

[rocketman]

i seen a 72 z28 last nite at the track with a 434 w/nos and 200r4 run 8's.

[nitrorocket]

It's ultimatly your discision, but If you want the best modern strong setup, use a 4l80.

[Dan Sherwood]

I have a terrible habit of trying to fix stuff that ain't broke. The current th350 with the gear vendor setup and 3.73's works and does everything awesome, so I really have to ask myself what I can and can't live with.

I'd really like better mpg, and less r's when out on a 500 mile round trip. Other than that, the tranny really works well at all venues, I have to REALLY beat on it to get it hot, and then it won't go over 215 degrees.

10.89 @ 121+ in the qtr with just a 75 shot, and I can work the auto like a stick (well kinda). Why screw with success? Well, I did just have to tinker a little.

I had to tame the car down to run right at the 11.5 with just a 25 shot and manual shifting. The 28 inch slicks grew enough to rub on the fenderwell, so I came up with an idea that I think will be the cheapest, and stays with my proven setup.

I'm going to 3.42 gears for my street tires to lower the r's at cruise, but dropping down to 26 inch slicks for the track. It also helps for the road race venue by lowering my r's and reducing problems with the alternator turning over too much, hopefully less tendancy to spin coming out of the corners, but still plenty of zip, and a few more mph down the long straights, all the while not turning the engine as hard.

After reading some of the horror stories on the manual trannies, I think this setup should work just fine.

Mucho thanks amigos!

[Dan Sherwood]

AS an update to others thinking along these lines. Put some Richmond 3.42 gears in. Pattern is good-gear whine is terrible!

The shop tells me the selection for the 8.2 10 bolt gears are limited. If this is what I'd have to live with, the 3.73's will have to go back in.

I liked the r's at cruise, as they dropped 400+, but the shorter tire at the track (et street vs a true drag) does'nt seem to 60 foot as well, so I'm back at a 50 shot to get similar times as the 3.73's.

I guess the 3.73's with a 2004r would be the ticket, but I'm not sure I want to throw another $3000 at the car for awhile, and then if I'd be as happy with the setup as the th350 and the gear vendor unit?

[Steve Chryssos]

I think you would end up with very similar results after switching to the 200. The only way to immprove on your situation will be to go all electronic. That way you have unlimited control over the calibration. And you can always hang your GV off that trans and have 8 speeds.

Question: Do you actually use the GV between gears on a regular basis (i.e. six gears) or do you just use it for final overdrive (i.e. 4 gears). I speak to a lot of folks with GV's who say that they don't bother with the 1-2 and 2-3 gear splitting--just third over.

[Dan Sherwood]

Well actually when on the street, I put it in auto mode and let it do the 6 speed thing, and it's pretty seemless.

At the dragstrip I have tried the auto mode, and it slows the car down a tad. At a recent road race event with a long straight I started with the car in auto, and then tried it with the gv turned off. I ran out of gear down the long straight when I had 3.73's in it, and then turned the gv back on. Not only did it make it possible to run 140mph down the straights, I noticed there was no big rpm drops, and the car (and I) just liked the way it ran with the gv on for the road course.

I have got some quieter 3.42 gears in the car now, and it still will spin the tires on the street as long as you have rubber on the rims, the rpm's are more where I like to see them on the street, and on a recent test session with the car, it ran up to 153mph @ 5450 rather quickly, with alot more left in it. And this is my street car.

I'm anxious to see what my track car (67 bb camaro) will do down the long straights with a gv unit on it, although it has 3.73 gears, it just gets up to speed a little quicker, and even though the straights are not long enough to top it out, I'm guessing it will be good for 150mph+ down those long straights.