I am getting feedback from every direction on which trans to put in my car. I am putting a 500 in a Model A Tudor Sedan. I have been told all sorts of things but mostly either a turbo 350 or a 200-4R. I would like to hear some more input before I get into the wrong trans. Thanks!
if you don't beat the hell out of it a stock 200-4r will work, other wise find any B-O-P TH400, short tailshaft preferably in a small car like an "A".
I put an edelbrock 750/performer intake on my '76 engine, with no other mods it's a great combo (my th400 is a long tail from a caddy by the way)
we did a model a tudor sedan with a 500 caddy. it has a BOP th350 that works great. http://www.foleybros.com/Projects/Rat Rod.htm
use the 200 and enjoy the overdrive..they can be built to take the monster torque of the cad (turbo buicks make big power and thrash all day with 200 trans...) dave
My 30 model A sedan has a big block caddy in it with a short tailshaft TH400 behind it,seems to work fine.. even at 160 mph at Bonneville I have pics of the bare chassis before the body was dropped on if you need em.
I just had one of the long t400 caddy trannys built and I had the tranny shop put the short input shaft and the short tail shaft on it. It will interchange. Any reputable tranny shop should be able to do it for you.
Im building a panel ( a few years to new for the hamb) I have a 500 caddy with a tci th400 (built with a short shaft) followed by a gear vendors overdrive. Rear end has 4 10's. Ive read that the caddy motors are real torque monsters, so I wanted a stout tranny that will hold up to it. Course a model a is a pretty light car so maybe that isnt as much of a worry.
Bgoodman: Nice work. What is your grill from. I have a very similar one from a 1947 International KB or the KB7. Appears as though a lot of people have good luck with the 400. I have a trans builder that says go with the 200 but have a couple rod builders that say go with the 350 or 400. For the price I may just go with the 350 or 400. 1/3 the price for a built one. All you Cad runners. Everyone build their own motor mounts? I havent decided how to go about this yet. I left the stock ones on the engine with the single bolt coming off. Figured I would make plates and go from there. What did everyone else do? Thanks
I didn't know there were any different flavors of 200-4R trannys. So, they all fit. Of course cadillac had the good sense to put th425s "behind" all the 500 engines. The TH425 is the front wheel drive version of the th400. The 500 engine was only used in Eldos which were front drive. And the 472 engines all had the (normal rear wheel drive) TH400 behind them. and rearend gears in the low-mid 2s.
i have a th425 for sale if your interested like 50-60 k on it, it was stock out of a 69 toronado which had 510ft lb's of torque so you know it will handle the torque of a caddy e-mail me if interested [email protected]
Had a 81 Regal where the 3.8's oil pummp went south, so I jammed a 472 in. Used the original TH350 with lockup convertor and 2.56 axle. Nothing broke - then I sold it.
Turbo 200R4 in reputed to be able to be built to handle more than a 700R4 by the handful of shops that specialize in them, stronger than a Turbo 350, and yes, even stout enough to handle a breathed on 500 inch Cad, and that's with the lockup and overdrive intact. For that matter, there's no reason why, if you're of the stir your own persuasion, you couldn't get a flywheel and clutch, use a Pontiac bellhousing, and bolt a Muncie 4 speed behind it either.
i would get the buick version of the 400 thats equipped with the switch pitch converter .400s are very stout and should give many years of trouble free service behind that 500 cad.
Make sure if you get a switch pitch it's a BOP version, the first years of switch pitch (64-66) were 401/425 Nailhead only...
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