Who is a reputable transmission vendors for the 200r4? I was thinking about using transmission depot. Any suggestions are welcome. The transmission needs to live behind an olds 455
I knew about extreme automatics but I never heard of the other twoThere a bunch of guys that would probably be better at building a 2004r.
Janis Transmissions
Dave Husek
Extreme Automatics
Dave Husek actually manufactures some of the hard parts needed to build them. All 3 are very knowledgeable. The best builders come out of the Turbo Buick community as the turbo 6 is more than capable of putting a hurting on transmissions.I knew about extreme automatics but I never heard of the other two
This is in 84 Hurst but the the trans code. I have is KZF code. Also I'm out of the bootheel of Missouri,so nothing is real close in this area and no known reputable transmission builders for the 200r42004r's are a cult. I'd agree, you need to go to a 2004r specialist. It's not a th400 or 4l60e where everyone down the street has the parts and knowledge to build one.
I recently rebuilt a 2004r for my turbo Buick setup. I had a CA valve body (non performance) core. I went through Husek. He wouldn't use the CA valve body for my turbo Buick setup so I sent him my CA valve body and he put some parts into a core BRF valve body he had and sent it back to me. I also have typically cut down v8 governors to look like BRF stuff and he wouldn't use that so I had to buy a BRF governor from him.
I spent $2000 getting mine to hold ~500hp doing mostly everything myself. Husek set up my valve body with his personal calibration. For what it's worth it's still not in the car and I am working on putting it now. It might not work IDK. I had about $1000 in shipping, wear parts and seals and about $1000 in upgrade parts like a hardened forward drum, 3 friction overdrive carrier, pump pressure boost valves, BRF valve body and governor.
If you have a performance core to start with you can save $500-$1000. If I had a BRF GN core I might have had $1000 in parts. Performance cores don't exist around here so I had to piece a performance unit together.
Also factor in $650+ for a torque converter. Its a 27 spline unit so uncommon and is $200+ more than a typical turbo spline or 60e unit. PTC was $650-700 for a typical one, Hughes was $725. I splurged a bit on a $900 FTI as it's a billet front cover with anti balloon plate and free restalls for a year. With a 455 unless it's stock, you aren't going to be in the entry level torque converter area. I felt like the $200 additional cost got you a lot of good features, service, warranty and capability that the $650-725 didn't offer. If you can get a sub $500 converter builder that is OK doing something for 450 HP+ go for it, but I didn't want to screw with blowing up a fin and sending shrapnel through a $2000 parts trans.
Here's my synopsis:
CK Performance is probably the best priced but has poor customer service, stuff is not in stock, they don't answer the phone, don't provide updates, charge you and don't ship stuff out
Husek is expensive but he sources everything himself, answers the phone, is very helpful and loves to talk
No experience with Janis or Extreme Automatics.
None of them were close locally so I went Husek because he was willing to supply me parts and advice.
Honestly after going through it I'd recommend a $500 known working salvage yard 4l80e with 60% of a TransGo HD2 kit, an external controller and an adapter plate or cut the bell housing off and put a BOP one on. Especially for a torquey BBO
The KZF is one of the good cores to start with. It's considered a performance calibration. Any good performance torque converter is going to be at least a grand regardless of transmission type. You need rmto decide if you want to retain the lock up or go non lock up. Non lock ups typically et quicker. PTC is the converter of choice with a lot of the Turbo Buick guys.This is in 84 Hurst but the the trans code. I have is KZF code. Also I'm out of the bootheel of Missouri,so nothing is real close in this area and no known reputable transmission builders for the 200r4
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