Transmission + Engine Swap

[rob2337]

Does anyone know if it is possible to bolt a 700 R4 transmission to a transfer case from a 2000 4x4 Suburban. I am swaping the engine and transmission for a 5.7L with a 700 R4. I know this sounds stupid to most of you but the truck was tranformed into electric drive for a university project several years ago. Now I wish to get it running again. The electrical system is too messed up to put the original transmission and motor back. Also people have taken quite a few parts from the engine. I know I have to weld in engine supports as the 5.7L is different from the vortec. I am just worried about finding a non-electronic transmission that will bolt up to the transfer case. Worst case, I guess i just rip out the 4x4 system and lengthen the drive shaft.

Any suggestion would be great!!

Thanks.

[rob2337]

I heard that a TH400(turbo 400) should bolt right in, can anyone confirm this?

[ldmill]

Oh man, this is a dream project !!! It reminds me of my project last year.

I had a 1990 Chevy Silverado 4x4- Z71, short box, step side, snow white, grey interior with seats out of a 95 Silverado - a beautiful truck. It hit 200k miles and started to loose oil pressure - time for an engine. I had an extra chevy 4-bolt main 400 ci small block sitting in the basement. I bored it to 406ci, put in a Crane Hi Energizer cam, rebuilt the stock heads(3 angle valve job, pocket ported, pressed in new valve guides, new Z28 springs, screw in rocker studs, drilled i steam holes), kept stock intake TBI manifold but bead blasted it and clear coated it (shiny aluminum!), and put in new injectors in the TBI. I did minor port matching, and other misc. stuff I've learned over the years for more dependability on these suckers.

I then re-chipped the computer. (started with big block 396 numbers)

All said and done, this truck had the torque and HP to absolutely SMOKE the tires, even when pulling a trailer!

I kind of wish I'd kept the motor and put it in my '95 sub. Selling the truck and moving up to the sub, I lost about 150hp and probably 250 ft.lbs. of torque. It's a dog in comparison....

fyi, ended up selling the truck for more than I bought it for - including the new engine.... Sold it (within 20 minutes of posting it) to a local leadfoot gearhead.

The moral of this story is - with your electronics already screwed up - have some fun!! Build a sub with more power and torque than you think you need - cause you'll need it. Don't loose the 4x4 drivetrain, it increases the resale value by $1500 to $2k min. easily!