chevy turbo 350 transmission identification

The story featured a photo of the senior assembly line workers sitting in the car with the top down on August 26, 1993, celebrating the last Fox that rolled of the assembly line before switching to the SN95 platform. When he was 26 years old, he was working in the purchasing department at NPD when the latest issue of Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords appeared that included a story written by Jim McGraw called “Okay Everybody Wave Goodbye” about the last Fox-body Mustang. The story of how Schmidt ended up with the car is part luck and part perseverance, but mostly luck. Later versions of this transmission, referred to as the 4L60E (1993 and up), require an electronic controller for transmission operation and used an additional electric kickdown solenoid to engage the passing gear however, for this article we will be focusing on the earlier TH700R4 and the 1990-'93 4L60 units.

Several different detent cables were used, depending on the vehicle the donor transmission came from. A throttle-valve (TV) cable controls transmission hydraulic line pressure and the passing gearshifts. Although the later 30-spline version is more desirable, both units can be interchanged if the proper mating torque converter is used. Later production units were equipped with a 30-spline input. From 1982-1984, the TH700R4 came with a 27-spline input shaft. The electrical connector for this solenoid is on the driver's side of the transmission case. TH700R4 transmissions have a lock-up torque converter, and they use an electric control solenoid to operate the lock-up function. The governor is located on the driver's side of the transmission, and a sleeve for the speedometer gear is on the tailhousing on the driver's side of the unit. Another way to identify one of these units in the car is by the square, 16-bolt oil pan. The TH700R4 was first used in GM cars and trucks in 1982, designated as a Hydra-Matic MD-8 transmission, and this MD-8 is also cast into the bellhousing.

Chevy turbo 350 transmission identification