Highway RPM with the 200R4. Gotta love it!

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Mopar to ya is the MAN!! He inspired me to put a 2004R into my Barracuda. With 3.73 gear I'm running 2200 RRM at 65/70 MPH. It's so smooth and much better off the line. As for the cross member mods, here are some pics of what I had to do. Also a few pics of the shifter down rod (torque shaft) mods to keep the floor console and some pics of the home made cross member. Remember that the amount you have to cut is determined by the thickness of the adapter. TCI had the thinnest adapter so I went with them.
If you look close you'll also see where I installed (and welded) some 1/8" plate between the upper cross member and the body to reinforce the area where I cut the cross member.
Without Mopar to ya's thread on his installation I would probably never would have attempted the modification!!!

treblig
 

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Treblig is the man who inspired me to install a 200R4. I can't thank him and MopartoYa enough. Every day that I drive mine, I enjoy the conversion. I'm running 275/60-15's on mine with 3.91's and a high quality, 3000 stall lock-up converter. It really transforms the car. The out of the hole manners and timing of the up shifts is perfect. Lonnie at Extreme Automatics makes a strong, well-mannered transmission that can hold 750 hp in his Stage 2 configuration and over 1000 hp in his Stage 3 version. They will bolt right up to any Mopar including the new Hemi's with a simple SFI rated bellhousing. Nothing for the Slant 6 crowd yet though.

I used the SFI rated bellhousing to attach mine, and have the lock-up torque converter that only activates in 4th gear. It can be turned on and off with a simple 12V switch. It drops it an additional 3-400 rpm on the freeway. It's the closest thing to a 5 speed automatic out there.

If you look at Treblig's notch in the crossmember, I removed the remaining rear section too. I reinforced that section by boxing it in, welded the crossmember to the floor across the car and added a 1/4" strap of steel on top of the floor to further box in the entire structure. It's flat and didn't change the shape of the carpet on the floor. I also made a new cross member that adds additional strength to the structure.
 

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Mine has been in, what? Three years now? It is the bset money I have spent on this car. I run P295/50R15 and 4.10 gears and still drive 2800 rpm at 80 mph. This year I'm changing to Nitto tires and am going a bit taller to P295/55R15. I'm also on the hunt for some Weld Draglites.
 
Mopar to ya is the MAN!! He inspired me to put a 2004R into my Barracuda. With 3.73 gear I'm running 2200 RRM at 65/70 MPH. It's so smooth and much better off the line. As for the cross member mods, here are some pics of what I had to do. Also a few pics of the shifter down rod (torque shaft) mods to keep the floor console and some pics of the home made cross member. Remember that the amount you have to cut is determined by the thickness of the adapter. TCI had the thinnest adapter so I went with them.
If you look close you'll also see where I installed (and welded) some 1/8" plate between the upper cross member and the body to reinforce the area where I cut the cross member.
Without Mopar to ya's thread on his installation I would probably never would have attempted the modification!!!

treblig
Nice job! Can I pick your brain on the 200 install, especially the shifter? I have a 67 barracuda with the console shifter. I'm sure I lose 1 to 2 manual capabilities,but I'd like to keep my shifter. Also since I have frame connectors wouldn't it be easier to fab a crossmember mount for the transmissions? Just ideas, haven't started yet.
 
Nice job! Can I pick your brain on the 200 install, especially the shifter? I have a 67 barracuda with the console shifter. I'm sure I lose 1 to 2 manual capabilities,but I'd like to keep my shifter. Also since I have frame connectors wouldn't it be easier to fab a crossmember mount for the transmissions? Just ideas, haven't started yet.


You will really like the 200R4 once you have it all together. I went with 3:90 gears but I should have gone with 4:10s. If you look here:
Will GM 200r4 work with factory floor shift location?

you will find everything I did to make the 200R4 work with the factory shifter. The biggest issue will be the 'trimming of the original upper cross member" which isn't that big a deal. I can manually shift through each gear if I choose to. I also modified the shifter detents to allow me to shift down into 1st gear, so I actually have first, second, third and overdrive. If you have any questions just ask. It was a bit tricky but it works really GREAT!! Hope you have a little patience and some imagination.

Treblig
 
You will really like the 200R4 once you have it all together. I went with 3:90 gears but I should have gone with 4:10s. If you look here:
Will GM 200r4 work with factory floor shift location?

you will find everything I did to make the 200R4 work with the factory shifter. The biggest issue will be the 'trimming of the original upper cross member" which isn't that big a deal. I can manually shift through each gear if I choose to. I also modified the shifter detents to allow me to shift down into 1st gear, so I actually have first, second, third and overdrive. If you have any questions just ask. It was a bit tricky but it works really GREAT!! Hope you have a little patience and some imagination.

Treblig
Thank you.
 
Thank you.
You won't lose 1st and 2nd manual capabilities. Modifying the shifter detents is really easy once you have the shifter out of the car (as shown in my thread). The frame connectors should make it easier to make your own mount. I think I posted some measurement so you know (more or less) where the 200R4 mount ends up. The more you remove from the upper cross member the fewer times you'll have to install the GM transmission to see if it fits. I think I installed it 5 times before I cut enough off the upper cross member. I was trying to leave as much material as possible for strength/

treblig
 
Ok, Thank you. It was a very detailed and informative post. The more I read it,the more I find. It's a great post.
 
You won't lose 1st and 2nd manual capabilities. Modifying the shifter detents is really easy once you have the shifter out of the car (as shown in my thread). The frame connectors should make it easier to make your own mount. I think I posted some measurement so you know (more or less) where the 200R4 mount ends up. The more you remove from the upper cross member the fewer times you'll have to install the GM transmission to see if it fits. I think I installed it 5 times before I cut enough off the upper cross member. I was trying to leave as much material as possible for strength/

treblig
Old post I know, but I was curious how the 2004r is surviving high horsepower street use before I spend the money. Thanks.
 
Old post I know, but I was curious how the 2004r is surviving high horsepower street use before I spend the money. Thanks.
The 2004R will survive well if it's built correctly. There are many option on HP parts to make it pretty tough!! A stock 2004R probably wouldn't last very long behind a high horse power car.

treblig
 
The 2004R will survive well if it's built correctly. There are many option on HP parts to make it pretty tough!! A stock 2004R probably wouldn't last very long behind a high horse power car.
Thanks. I was thinkin about making frame connectors. Then making a crossmember to go to each. Then making a transmission mount on that. Then cut down the original 904 mount and weld 3/8 metal to it,run it under the 2004r and tie each side of the torsion bar crossmember mount back together and no cutting the original torsion bar crossmember. Your thoughts?
treblig
 
Unless you lower the engine and trans about 3 inches it won't work. You'll have to trim the stock cross member no matter what. I'll post my write-up on where and how you have to trim the cross member if you like??
Besides having to trim the cross member your idea will work.

Treblig
 
Unless you lower the engine and trans about 3 inches it won't work. You'll have to trim the stock cross member no matter what. I'll post my write-up on where and how you have to trim the cross member if you like??
Besides having to trim the cross member your idea will work.

Treblig
 
Having a hard time getting the site to respond. Sorry no words. I have a nice 67 cuda notch. Like you I don't want th cut it up. I'd be very interested in installing the 2004r in it. Plus I'd be very interested in using the factory floor shifter in it. My only other choice is a tko600 5 speed and it reguires a complete conversion of the car and quite a bit of floor cutting. Sorry to ride on your coat tails, but I'm on a limited budget,so don't have the funds to experiment... And it seems you have it all figured out. Thanks.
 
Having a hard time getting the site to respond. Sorry no words. I have a nice 67 cuda notch. Like you I don't want th cut it up. I'd be very interested in installing the 2004r in it. Plus I'd be very interested in using the factory floor shifter in it. My only other choice is a tko600 5 speed and it reguires a complete conversion of the car and quite a bit of floor cutting. Sorry to ride on your coat tails, but I'm on a limited budget,so don't have the funds to experiment... And it seems you have it all figured out. Thanks.
I completely understand where you're coming from, I was in the same boat. I had limited funds but lots of skills. If you read through this you should get most of your answers including keeping the stock floor shifter!!:

Will GM 200r4 work with factory floor shift location?

treblig
 
Thanks to Treblig and Mopartoya I'm in the middle of my own 2004R conversion. Here are some pics of the reinforcement plates welded between the cross member and the floor, and the plate I fabbed to close the cut in the cross member. I may have to do some tweaking once we're ready to fit the trans so I won't weld it until we're sure of the fitment. I cut my cross member on the front and back side because I'm using the Wilcap adapter, which is a bit thicker than the TCI piece and will put the trans a bit farther back. Just showing another way to do this great project that the first 2 guys documented so well on this site.

Crossmember 1.jpg


Crossmember 2.jpg


Crossmember 3.jpg
 
Thanks to Treblig and Mopartoya I'm in the middle of my own 2004R conversion. Here are some pics of the reinforcement plates welded between the cross member and the floor, and the plate I fabbed to close the cut in the cross member. I may have to do some tweaking once we're ready to fit the trans so I won't weld it until we're sure of the fitment. I cut my cross member on the front and back side because I'm using the Wilcap adapter, which is a bit thicker than the TCI piece and will put the trans a bit farther back. Just showing another way to do this great project that the first 2 guys documented so well on this site.

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That really looks nice but I'm not sure if you cut enough out of the cross member. But I do like the direction you're going!! Remember that you'll probably have to trim a little off the passenger's side also and/or trim/grind some off the trans. Be prepared for the unexpected!!

treblig
 
I'm hoping I can trim the trans on the passenger side and not the cross member. I thought I might have to trim a bit more from the driver side. I used your photo as a guide so we'll see when I get the trans in place. I have to say thanks again for your excellent posts.
 
I'm hoping I can trim the trans on the passenger side and not the cross member. I thought I might have to trim a bit more from the driver side. I used your photo as a guide so we'll see when I get the trans in place. I have to say thanks again for your excellent posts.
You're more than welcome... I did it on Mopartoya's coat tails. The 2004R has a protrusion on the driver's side that sticks up where the cross member is located, I don't think it's something you can remove or trim but, in the end, it will depend on how much drive line angle you're willing to live with??

treblig
 
Drivers side? I thought it was on the passenger side based on other photos. Anyway, the driveline angle will be correct no matter how much trimming is needed. Broke a driveshaft on the track doing about 80 a few years ago. Not fun at all. And a lot of damage to the race car.
 
Drivers side? I thought it was on the passenger side based on other photos. Anyway, the driveline angle will be correct no matter how much trimming is needed. Broke a driveshaft on the track doing about 80 a few years ago. Not fun at all. And a lot of damage to the race car.
The driver's side requires the most trimming, the passenger's side only requires a little trimming (minor).

treblig
 
If your using the wilcap, you will have to trim a few pieces off of the tranny to fit in the tunnel. Also I used the mount from us car tool. I had to remove more of the cross member than what treblig and Mopartoya had to.
 
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