I've built quite a few 200-4Rs for members of the TurboBuick community, and even more for retrofit into other musclecars.
I've dealt with almost every vendor in the performance transmission industry at one time or another, either buying or selling parts.
The 200-4R is a niche market, it has expanded due to the retrofit aspect but it is still a relatively small market. Every knowledgeable builder knows who the other builders are and in the past many of us worked together even though we were somewhat competitors.
Several months ago I quit selling 200-4Rs. I did so for several reasons. One reason being I felt they needed to be road tested prior to shipment and the time it takes to build and road test was hard to justify compared to other units.
Another major reason was the popularity of my 4L80E transbrake and the associated increase in 4L80E sales.
The third reason was frustration.
I got frustrated with the supply chain for specialty billet parts for the 200-4R.
You order parts that take weeks to get, sometimes legimately, othertimes because they "shipped yesterday" then you see them 3 weeks later.
You have a deposit or payment on a fairly expensive transmission from a customer who is calling daily, multiple times daily, and the customer thinks you are scamming them, when in fact you are/have been "waiting on parts".
There are multiple vendors for most of these billet parts, so it's not a specific vendor but I've seen quality control issues from some vendors with parts not fitting due to spline cut, too much runout, and other problems not specific to 200-4R parts.
I refuse to assemble shyt.
So we quit building them.
I didn't want MY reputation tarnished by the market forces at play in the 200-4R industry. It appears I got out at a good time.
I can say there are other vendors who are contemplating the same decision.
I've dealt with almost every vendor in the performance transmission industry at one time or another, either buying or selling parts.
The 200-4R is a niche market, it has expanded due to the retrofit aspect but it is still a relatively small market. Every knowledgeable builder knows who the other builders are and in the past many of us worked together even though we were somewhat competitors.
Several months ago I quit selling 200-4Rs. I did so for several reasons. One reason being I felt they needed to be road tested prior to shipment and the time it takes to build and road test was hard to justify compared to other units.
Another major reason was the popularity of my 4L80E transbrake and the associated increase in 4L80E sales.
The third reason was frustration.
I got frustrated with the supply chain for specialty billet parts for the 200-4R.
You order parts that take weeks to get, sometimes legimately, othertimes because they "shipped yesterday" then you see them 3 weeks later.
You have a deposit or payment on a fairly expensive transmission from a customer who is calling daily, multiple times daily, and the customer thinks you are scamming them, when in fact you are/have been "waiting on parts".
There are multiple vendors for most of these billet parts, so it's not a specific vendor but I've seen quality control issues from some vendors with parts not fitting due to spline cut, too much runout, and other problems not specific to 200-4R parts.
I refuse to assemble shyt.
So we quit building them.
I didn't want MY reputation tarnished by the market forces at play in the 200-4R industry. It appears I got out at a good time.
I can say there are other vendors who are contemplating the same decision.
