Thread: best tranny for 383 but still want overdrive

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hey guys i am building a 383 stroker for my car that is going to have anywhere from 400 to 500hp. i was wondering what would be the best way to go about getting a tranny with overdrive in it. Like would a tranny out of a camaro or somethin like that be good and get it beefed up?

You can get 700r4's that will take 600 HP if beefed up and a Torque Drive kit installed. The other bet would be a 4L80E. It's a truck transmission, or course you will need a controller since it's electronic.. If you want a stick, your checkbook's the limit, there are many choices...

thanks man thats what i was leaning towards was the 700r4. another question would be about headers sense they dont really make them for my car. i have a 1988 cadillac fleetwood brougham and the isnt made for speed but i am turning it into one. so what would be the best bet for headers in my case?

Any "B" body header for a small block will fit. Your chassis is vitually identical to the Caprice chassis. I would suggest going with coated headers also if you hadn't thought about that. Money well spent.
Mark

aight man thanks cuz i didnt know what to do to get any for my car, i also have one more question. with all this power i am going to need to lower my car and maybe some sub frame connecters. i dont know any companies that do that type of stuff for my car so if u could tell me how to do it or where i can get the equipment from that would be great thanks.

Well, like I said, your chassis is virtually identical to the Chevy, Pontiac, Olds and Buick line of "B" bodies. Any performance equipment you find for a Chevy will work on your Caddy.

Another interesting fact is the matter of brake rotors and bearings. Your Caddy has a 5 on 5 wheel bolt pattern. It's a simple job to swap over to the smaller "G" or "F" body brake rotors to get the more popular 5 on 4 3/4 bolt pattern.

What I would suggest for you to do is go to an online parts store. Look up all of your suspension pieces and then cross-reference those numbers with the other GM lines. That's what I did while researching my Astro Van Project. The early Astro's use ALL of the same bushings, bearings, spindles and brakes as your Caddy. Astro's also have a 2" dropped spindle available that would work with your suspension and a set of the bigger ball joint lower control arms from a cop car or '95-'96 Impala. Any Impala suspension pieces will work also. Same chassis...
Mark

damn thanks man i didnt know about the impala parts that would fit on my car thanks a lot man. so would the drive shaft and all the work for my car to and maybe even a rear end. *crosses fingers*

This may be of interest to you...
http://schwartzperformance.com/cadillac.htm

i thank u again my good man. sorry if im being a pest ut all my friends have camaros and ss trucks and they dont think i can eat them in my car and i want to prove them wrong

This is just my opi and exp. I have trashed two 700's behind a lt1. Both lasted about 1 year. They were done by a well known shop in cali. Installed a 400 with a gearvenders od, end of problem. Not saying they are good or bad, just giving you my exp with them. good luck on what every you decide.

Hey grunch, do you know if any of your 700R4's had the Torque Drive Kit installed? Could you give me some info on those 700's that s**t the bed. Just curious?!

The key to making a 700-R4 live is in the correct adjustment of the TV cable, controlling the lockup and proper cooling. There are a lot of 700-R4s in fairly high horsepower Corvettes, and they last a long time. Properly installed and set up, a built R4 can take 500 HP (or better) all day long.

Check this site for info:
http://www.bowtieoverdrives.com

They were sup to be level 2 builds. New tqconverter, 2200 stall, can not vouch for or againt the internials. The ori in the car went 110 thou with out any problems, but stock was 300 hp. When we overhauled the engine it dyno'ed at 420 at the crank had the trans overhauled at that time. I'm not nocking the 700, its very possable we made a mistake, or the trans shop did. I personally did not look in side the trans. just passing on my exp with them.