Ever wanted Overdrive?
im not actually sure! haha. so in the end would it be worth the cash to add and overdrive to a 360/904 combo? the car is gonna be a daily driver with 280hp and i just want it to get the best mileage possible. my understanding is basically the more gears, the high fuel economy. so overdrive would work like a 4th gear. thats why i was excited about this product, it allows me to have a 4spd automatic and allow me to get better fuel economy.
is there a cheaper way to put an overdrive onto my 904 without hackin, slicing and cuttin? if there is id love to know it, and so would my buddy Rick (hemiram2006) since he may want to do overdrive on his 727
OK, the first question I ask all my customers when they say they want overdrive for gas milage is "How much gas can you buy for 3,000 dollars?"
The GV unit is a very good OD. It will take alot of abuse and your combo shouldn't be able to kill it. I haven't done one on an A body, so you might still have some interference with the driveshaft tunnel. As said earlier, you need to pay attention to your cruise rpm vs. converter stall speed. It's not tragic, just something to be aware of.
The Mopar OD's (518s and whatnot) from what I have seen, are pretty big and require surgery to install.
The GM ODs require conversion bells. In the case of the 4l60s and 80s, it's not a biggie. They have bolt on bellhousings to start with. The 200r4, from my understanding needs its bell cut off and a conversion bolted on, or an adapter plate is used. (I haven't done this one on a non GM. I know Art, if you want, I can ask him.)
Seeing how we've seen what it takes to put a 4l80 in a car, I'll guess that one is out.
The 4l60 is a smaller trans, but it stands up well to daily abuse. It will require some cutting in an A body, not huge, but still some cutting.
The 200r4 is the smallest of the OD's. Art Carr can build a really good unit for a very reasonable price. (In the GV neighborhood.) It also doesn't require any external electronics like the 4l60/80. I've put this trans behind the Chevy 572 several times and haven't killed one. It does have the advantage of a lock up converter, too.
Of course, there is always the 5spd sticks......