Magnumdust,
If you've read all of the posts on this thread you'll find that I'm not building a race car or a drag car. I'm building a daily driver that has enough torque to have a good launch with nice highway manners (low RPM at 75 MPH). I don't ever plan on taking it to the drag strip. The 200R4 I have along with two 700R4s I've had for a while. 200R4 trannys that need overhaul go for about $100/$150 around here. I have a friend who overhauls Chevy trannys and he told me he could fix/overhaul mine for $350.00 labor. I told him I wanted some upgrades (probably buy the upgrade kit) like servos, front pump, etc. Since I'm not trying to build a "bullet proof" transmission I don't need to go all out on the super duty upgrades. You are right about one thing...It will probably end up costing me $900-$950. But that is still way below the GV $2800 price tag. I'll use a stock converter because I'll have so much torque with 4.10 gears and the OD low 1st gear I won't need a high stall (don't want one anyway).
If I was going to the drag strip and pushing the engine and tranny to the max I would need a high dollar trans. They sell these on ebay..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/200968121062?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
Good for 400HP (with luck I'll get 400 horses). They also come with a lot of good components AND FREE SHIPPING.
But I'll probably have my friend built it so that way if I have a problem I can always take it back to him. I'll be using this car to take my little girl to school every morning so it has to have good manners, power when I want it and drivability. Not sure if it can be done the way I imagine it but I'm going to try.
Even a $1500 tranny and the $481 adapter is still way cheaper than the GV!!
If I blow-up the tranny I'll come back and say you were RIGHT!!!
Treblig