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400 hp auto options

90volvo

Active member
Joined
May 27, 2017
Location
Eldorado Springs Mo.
I know my aw71 isnt gonna take the abuse for ever of my new motor. I dont care if it has overdrive or not. I thought 350turbo, but most that have one in their car isnt happy with them. Turbo 400 gonna rob alot of power. Not to crazy about having a comp. controlled trans. Level 10 claims they can build bullet proof aw71 but they was 4000. I know nobody has done this yet but I would think a Ford C4 trans would be a good option. But lack of adapter plates. Id like to keep is auto for numberous reasons.

car- 90 volvo 240- B230ft- GTX3076- treadstone IC- RSI stage 3 cam- 3 inch ex- klracing intake- custom header. Huge trans cooler.
 
I know my aw71 isnt gonna take the abuse for ever of my new motor. I dont care if it has overdrive or not. I thought 350turbo, but most that have one in their car isnt happy with them. Turbo 400 gonna rob alot of power. Not to crazy about having a comp. controlled trans. Level 10 claims they can build bullet proof aw71 but they was 4000. I know nobody has done this yet but I would think a Ford C4 trans would be a good option. But lack of adapter plates. Id like to keep is auto for numberous reasons.

car- 90 volvo 240- B230ft- GTX3076- treadstone IC- RSI stage 3 cam- 3 inch ex- klracing intake- custom header. Huge trans cooler.

honestly id go either a good aw71 with a good converter and the normal mods, or a 200r4 or th350 with a good converter,
 
My plan is a 200-4r (get it right Eric. :-P ). Bowtie has a stage 2 for $1700 or so off the shelf, not sure if that includes a converter or not, but I already have that covered anyway. Just need to dial in the kickdown/tv cable situation, grab a couple adapters, crossmember and driveline. The 200 has ratios that are very similar to the AW71, similar weight, and can be had with or without a lockup converter as well.
 
I’m on a built 700r4 with a 3200 stall and one piece driveshaft, with truetrac rear. Great street or strip setup. 70mph is about 2500rpm for me
 
eww. 400's are heavy, I'm not quite sure about how overstated the "horsepower loss" is with them, I mean the gold car did fine with it, but spinning the **** out of the thing eventually took it's toll on the direct drum spirroloc.

the upside to an electronic transmission like say, a 4L60 (I know, coming from me. stop it, I hate them, but they have their light duty place along side 700s and 350s) lies in being able to control line pressure based on boost and not tps (like the ol detent on the 700), so you can have good shift quality and still limit the abuse put on the transmission. Since you've already got a microsquirt, getting a micro set up for trans controll and connecting it to the engine microsquirt will allow you to share all the relevant sensors and use the same tuning software for everything (once you configure it, at least).

with the aw 71, you could get a bit better converter, do the accumulator mods and 4 clutch c2 build with high-energy frictions, it'd hold 300 or so honest whp for a while, but then those things become service items... every so often you'll find yourself in there replacing the brake clutches and c2 clutches. the real question there though is do you want to read and learn how to do that? because it'd cost a decent amount of money to pay someone else for a weekend's work (or less once you get the hang of it---if you have a good place to drop the trans and do the service). This is the appeal of a trans swap. having a lockup would be nice too.
 
With the chevy adapter for trans and conv. Will the volvo 2.4 flywheel still work with the sensor? I have the adapter and just order the conv adapter tonight. I dont drive the car on the highway much so will probably go with 350 or 400. Thanks for input everybody.
 
if you have a builder you trust, you can probably get the 350 to live. going to go manual valve body or leave it automatic?
 
if you have a builder you trust, you can probably get the 350 to live. going to go manual valve body or leave it automatic?

I’d say it would be wise to learn how to build auto transmission. I bet there is enough info online to walk you threw it. You might have to buy some specialty tools.
 
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My 3rd gear is going south. Im gonna try couple of things to buy me some time. My sons car did the same thing once, I dropped the pan and cleaned the screen out and he is still driving it. Figured I dont have much to loose. But Ill be getting the gm stuff in to do the swap asap.
 
I've only heard from one person who had a possible issue with the 2.4 RPM sensor. One thing I played with on the bench, since I haven't done the swap yet, is some adhesive aluminum tape inside the tone ring, which should help mask the magnetic properties of the converter bolt that sits so close to the tone ring.
 
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