Who builds the better TH200-4R?
- Thread starter DonutGuard
- Start date
KL Mallender
Certified Dumb****
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2007
Sure glad I learned how to repair things myself, it really will cost you for not paying attention in class.
There are many people here at TurboBuick can rebuild a 200-4R adaquately, but there are extremely few that actually know and understand the workings of the 200-4R to not only survive punishment, they will know "How" to tailor it to your particular needs or wants, I respect all the vendors here.
I have no doubts that they have earned their "gray hairs" from what THEY have learned through the years(decades to some) what chaos a turbocharged engine can and will send into a torque converter while becoming the "fuse" of the driveline, which is what it should be considered. You actually "want" it to give up before overwhelming the axles, learn this...
Screwing the boost without proper tuning earns a damaged engine and a "Oil down/Track contamination" if you make a mistake, typically pissing off everybody behind you in the staging lanes, not a good way to make friends at the track.
Inferior rear axle preparation will scare the crap out of you when pushed to failure, the embarassment of busting your ass is something you have to live with, along with tire/quarter panel damage, your luckiest when you crap your shorts at the line, not so when looking at a guradrail at mid track.
In my opinion, you "Need" the transmission to be the weakest link.
I did the "dual feed" deal back in the nineties, all it got me was snapped forward shafts during a 2-3 shift, we didn't have the billets available back then, but those failures always bothered me, which is why today I lesson the friction clutch count in the forward clutch from 4 or 5 to 2 or 3 depending on application of line pressures. I want the forward clutch frictions to "slip" or act like a "yield" clutch before the stopping/accelerating of the reaction drums inertia tries to reverse direction, it works for me, I'd love to brag about a "new" technology, but it's not.
I use less forward friction discs with higher line pressures because I haven't figured out how to limit or "blow off" the required pressure to the forward clutches without screwing up line pressures to the servo for 2nd gear or directs on the 2-3, the bleeding of line pressure to the forward can be done drilling the valve body using a "blow-off" design, the trouble comes in as a higher fluid pressure loss that the pump can produce trying to maintain that pressure, the trade off will be needing to R&R to service the forward fricton discs based on usage, for which I see no way to estimate.
Good luck gentlemen,
Kevin.
There are many people here at TurboBuick can rebuild a 200-4R adaquately, but there are extremely few that actually know and understand the workings of the 200-4R to not only survive punishment, they will know "How" to tailor it to your particular needs or wants, I respect all the vendors here.
I have no doubts that they have earned their "gray hairs" from what THEY have learned through the years(decades to some) what chaos a turbocharged engine can and will send into a torque converter while becoming the "fuse" of the driveline, which is what it should be considered. You actually "want" it to give up before overwhelming the axles, learn this...
Screwing the boost without proper tuning earns a damaged engine and a "Oil down/Track contamination" if you make a mistake, typically pissing off everybody behind you in the staging lanes, not a good way to make friends at the track.
Inferior rear axle preparation will scare the crap out of you when pushed to failure, the embarassment of busting your ass is something you have to live with, along with tire/quarter panel damage, your luckiest when you crap your shorts at the line, not so when looking at a guradrail at mid track.
In my opinion, you "Need" the transmission to be the weakest link.
I did the "dual feed" deal back in the nineties, all it got me was snapped forward shafts during a 2-3 shift, we didn't have the billets available back then, but those failures always bothered me, which is why today I lesson the friction clutch count in the forward clutch from 4 or 5 to 2 or 3 depending on application of line pressures. I want the forward clutch frictions to "slip" or act like a "yield" clutch before the stopping/accelerating of the reaction drums inertia tries to reverse direction, it works for me, I'd love to brag about a "new" technology, but it's not.
I use less forward friction discs with higher line pressures because I haven't figured out how to limit or "blow off" the required pressure to the forward clutches without screwing up line pressures to the servo for 2nd gear or directs on the 2-3, the bleeding of line pressure to the forward can be done drilling the valve body using a "blow-off" design, the trouble comes in as a higher fluid pressure loss that the pump can produce trying to maintain that pressure, the trade off will be needing to R&R to service the forward fricton discs based on usage, for which I see no way to estimate.
Good luck gentlemen,
Kevin.
Yup
TURBO BUICK PERFORMANCE
DAVE HUSEK
I was having issues with my converter not locking and it had absolutely nothing to do with his work and he worked tirelessly with me to help me solve my problem.
Ended up being because my car didn't have a thermostat in it.
DAVE HUSEK
I was having issues with my converter not locking and it had absolutely nothing to do with his work and he worked tirelessly with me to help me solve my problem.
Ended up being because my car didn't have a thermostat in it.
turbo nasty
Turbo Dojo / MNTR
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2001
CK for me was bad... Lonnie or Jason White have have done the best for me
longball
I fought the lawn...
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2009
thanks for the reply........tranny's look good on his website.....don't see many of his tranny's in sig files........nothing in feedback either good or bad.............
longball
I fought the lawn...
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2009
Oh, I meant I didn't find any for CK Performance. I was looking at them because I can drive to the shop but................
Found plenty for Lonnie - lots of excellent
Was hoping to find someone I could drive to, not ship too...........thanksxrunner123
Member
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2002
Don't tell me this... I got one on order with them. What was bad about them?
turbo nasty
Turbo Dojo / MNTR
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2001
Never shifted right and died in short order. Then nothing but lip and excuses. Hopefully yours will be fine
turbojimmy
Supporting Member
- Joined
- May 26, 2001
Yep. I sold my car years ago, but the topic of 2004Rs came up today in the Caddy forum. I thought I'd pop back over to TB.com to see what's what and stumbled across this thread. I would stay away from CK. I spent thousands with him and never got a working transmission. They finally blew my motor apart after an apprentice allegedly took the car out for a "test drive". Despite having delivered the car with a full tank of 104 octane gas and a full tank of alcohol, they ran it out of alcohol. Someone cranked up the boost and bent 2 rods, burned a hole through a piston and blew both head gaskets. CK called and said "there's something wrong with it". I brought it home on a flatbed. After trying to get some sort of satisfaction, I got nothing but lip and excuses. CK thought firing the apprentice somehow meant justice was served and was actually pissed at me because he was short-handed as a result.
I sued, won by default because he didn't show in court after dodging process servers I hired. I never got a dime in compensation. The icing on the cake was when I had the engine rebuilt and put his trans back in. Still wouldn't hold 3rd gear. The guy I sold the car to said the trans was junk, but I warned him first so there were no hard feelings (I don't think...). I think he finally had Lonnie do it, but I've lost track of the car.
In all honesty, if it wasn't for my experience with CK I'd still have the car. Between the $5k engine rebuild and the cost of a working transmission, I couldn't afford the hobby anymore.
EDIT: As an aside, my brother had the same experience with his '87 TR. Wouldn't hold 3rd gear. Based on my experience, he took his lumps and walked away before CK could do any more damage. He sold the car with a bad transmission just like I did.
turbo nasty
Turbo Dojo / MNTR
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2001
Good advice x2!!!
