Turbo 200 3 Speed Automatic

I bought a '78 Cutlass donor car for my rod project. It was a decent runner with a 305/ automatic ( which I assumed was t.h. 350 when I bought it for $500.) I pulled the motor and trans the other day and discovered I had a t.h. 200. I have done a little research on it and have found a Transgo shift kit for it. Anyone else running one of these, and if so, are there any other aftermarket suppliers? Thanks..

 

I have never had good luck with th200's. I wouldn't spend too much $$ trying to make it better. Get a th350 or 700r4. Just my.02

 

I have had them in a couple of D.D's and put 200,000 miles on one and close to that on another.Both were still going strong when i sold them. Both were smaller cars('81 diesel cutlass and a early 80's regal)

 

Try ScottMcClayEngineering.Com;. he makes the TH200(Metric) for Stock and Super Stock drag racers. Might also try ClassRacer.Com to get an idea who uses them. Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

Also Paul forte @ turbo action.....the stock guys love those things.....supposed to be worth a tenth over a 350 turbo

 

The racers will spend a lot of time and money and effort to go a bit quicker. For a street car, you're probably better off with a stock rebuilt TH350, if you don't want overdrive.

 

Thanks, I think I'll pop $23.00 for the shift kit. It moved the 3300 lb. Cutlass along pretty good, so It should work on my 1500 lb. rod alright.

 

From what I remember from talking to forte....the have a better low gear than a 350, and take less hp to operate. Are you going to keep lockup converter..?

 

First gear is 2.74, compared to 2.52
for a T350.
A 78 wouldn't have a lock up conv. That would be A T200C from the 80's,
I've built a lot of them for race cars. I use a Turbo Action manual valve body though.
I don't see why one wouldn't work well in a light street car. They are a lot stronger than people think they are.

 

i actually have an 87 v6 cutlass supreme with one of these and im gonna tell you,your better off having the th2004r than a metric th200 exact same length but the 2004r has overdrive and can bolt to a chevy or late model buick,olds,pontiac the only difference externally that you need to put one in as move your crossmember back i believe and the 2004r is a much stronger transmission and the metric doesnt have very good road gears makes my v6 spin 3100rpm at 55 mph

 

http://www.drwtransmission.com/thm_200C.htm

Mine is the THM 200. The THM 200c had the lockup converter and the bad reputation from what I understand. My little comp coupe replica will be used for local cruising and friday night street legal drag racing at the local strip. After selling parts off the donor my investment in my engine/trans. combo is almost zero. If that's not traditional hot rodding well, you get the picture. I have heard the THM 200 described as a powerglide with an extra gear. 28" long and 96lbs. The powerglide was often maligned as a "slushbox" back in the day. It's funny how many drag cars run that unit.
We'll see how it works out.

 

Should be fine, until you fry the trans....if that never happens, great. If it does happen, you should be able to swap in a 350 without any trouble.

The "good" racing powerglides don't have any original Chevy parts in them. They are not cheap.

 

Right on. It's an inexpensive way to get into the hobby. I watched the supercharged gasser series run last weekend. A Willy's coupe set a track record, 6.42 @ 206 mph. Makes for future plans...
Thank's again.

 

What diesel has a 200? I'm not an expert on old GM diesels, but I'm pretty sure those cars all had a 350 trans.


Those transmissions were made very cheaply and earned a poor reputation. Making the situation worse, they weren't adequate for some applications they were installed in. Obviously not all of them broke, but if you have a better option I would go that way. I know they can be upgraded. Knowing what's inside of one I'm sure that requires swapping in a lot of parts.

 

the 200 was used behind the diesel, but not for long, GM figured out their mistake pretty quick.

 

I overheated one badly when I got stuck in a snowbank once. Reverse didn't work for over a year. I either parked strategically or popped it in reverse and pushed the car into the street.

Funny when you look back.

 

The 200 is not a bad little trans for a low weight/low hp application. Advantages are low parasitic drag and light weight, along with a low gear ratio. It shares all of its gear train components with the TH2004R but lacks the overdrive section, locking converter etc. Like the 2004R and 700R4, this trans uses a tv cable system for line pressure control so be sure you have this properly adjusted or your trans will hate you.

 

Yea..as has been stated, Scott McClay Engineering makes one of the best T-200's around.
He's building me a 4R version trans. right now.

I actually talked him into making this trans. work. It was about 25 years ago when we ran his Buick powered D/ED (mid/high 7. second dragster) and the Power Glide just wasn't working well with the little Buick (Stage II, V-6). It's torque curve was just too pointed to work with a two speed trans., no matter what trans. or rear end gear ratio we used.

It took a coupla years to get the T-200 right, and MANY broken parts. But as has been stated, he now makes them for Comp. Elim. cars, Super Stock and Stock.
Some of those Comp. and Super Stock cars run over 900hp.

Though a few people are now making the race/hot rod street versions of the T-200 and T-200-4R, Scott owns a few patents on pieces inside the T-200 transmissions.

Most of the rest are coping Scotts stuff.

Mike

 

I picked one up a few years ago for 20 bucks. I figure I could use it behind a 305 or a 231 V6 for a low buck project.