OK, so with my free time at home yesterday I found a stupid clean 88 Caprice with a 4.3/700R4 in a dry area of the country for $1500. At the same time, found a drop-out 4.8 LR4 (285hp/295tq) with harness, ecm, accessories and throttle pedal for $800. Other than mounts, electric fan and exhaust fab, what am I missing here to make this marry together and work? Long term goal would be a manual trans, so the 700R would be in there only temporarily. Set of springs/shocks for $500 and some 17x9 Soft 8's and 275/40/17's and this would be an awesome cruiser.
Well, get with it... chop, chop.
There is some adapter needed to hook the 700r4 TV cable to the ls. I want to say bow tie overdrive makes it.
Bobzilla wrote:
what am I missing here to make this marry together and work?
I'd say you're missing a build thread.
Dusterbd13 wrote:
There is some adapter needed to hook the 700r4 TV cable to the ls. I want to say bow tie overdrive makes it.
Forgot about the TV cable. The drop out is a TBW engine. that can be a small problem
MMM. Boxy caprice goodness.
I think just about any steelie looks better than soft 8's but thats just my opinion and it aint worth E36 M3.
Knurled
MegaDork
10/25/16 1:50 p.m.
Dusterbd13 wrote:
There is some adapter needed to hook the 700r4 TV cable to the ls. I want to say bow tie overdrive makes it.
Easier to throw away the 700R4 and install the 4L60. You're installing the computer that controls it, after all.
Seriously, though, there's an adapter to put a TV cable on a drive by wire engine? (I am assuming "comes with pedal" = DBW)
Abbott Industry makes/made some electronic to manual do-dads to do that. Google Cable X.
Abbott Industry makes/made some electronic to manual do-dads to do that. Google Cable X.
Knurled wrote:
Dusterbd13 wrote:
There is some adapter needed to hook the 700r4 TV cable to the ls. I want to say bow tie overdrive makes it.
Easier to throw away the 700R4 and install the 4L60. You're installing the computer that controls it, after all.
Seriously, though, there's an adapter to put a TV cable on a drive by wire engine? (I am assuming "comes with pedal" = DBW)
I agree that would be the easier option.... I was trying to get this on the road cheaply, enjoy for a while then do the serious work of manual swapping, cam, tuning etc. swapping to the 4L would add another 600 to a grand.
Remember, I'm trying to get the wife on board with this project!
Bobzilla wrote:
Knurled wrote:
Dusterbd13 wrote:
There is some adapter needed to hook the 700r4 TV cable to the ls. I want to say bow tie overdrive makes it.
Easier to throw away the 700R4 and install the 4L60. You're installing the computer that controls it, after all.
Seriously, though, there's an adapter to put a TV cable on a drive by wire engine? (I am assuming "comes with pedal" = DBW)
I agree that would be the easier option.... I was trying to get this on the road cheaply, enjoy for a while then do the serious work of manual swapping, cam, tuning etc. swapping to the 4L would add another 600 to a grand.
Remember, I'm trying to get the wife on board with this project!
well........ you could drive it with the TV cable pulled tight all the time and just let the RPM's scream until it hammer shifts to the next gear.....
edizzle89 wrote:
Bobzilla wrote:
Knurled wrote:
Dusterbd13 wrote:
There is some adapter needed to hook the 700r4 TV cable to the ls. I want to say bow tie overdrive makes it.
Easier to throw away the 700R4 and install the 4L60. You're installing the computer that controls it, after all.
Seriously, though, there's an adapter to put a TV cable on a drive by wire engine? (I am assuming "comes with pedal" = DBW)
I agree that would be the easier option.... I was trying to get this on the road cheaply, enjoy for a while then do the serious work of manual swapping, cam, tuning etc. swapping to the 4L would add another 600 to a grand.
Remember, I'm trying to get the wife on board with this project!
well........ you could drive it with the TV cable pulled tight all the time and just let the RPM's scream until it hammer shifts to the next gear.....
What about just manual shift it until it blows?
patgizz
UltimaDork
10/25/16 8:28 p.m.
Bobzilla wrote:
edizzle89 wrote:
Bobzilla wrote:
Knurled wrote:
Dusterbd13 wrote:
There is some adapter needed to hook the 700r4 TV cable to the ls. I want to say bow tie overdrive makes it.
Easier to throw away the 700R4 and install the 4L60. You're installing the computer that controls it, after all.
Seriously, though, there's an adapter to put a TV cable on a drive by wire engine? (I am assuming "comes with pedal" = DBW)
I agree that would be the easier option.... I was trying to get this on the road cheaply, enjoy for a while then do the serious work of manual swapping, cam, tuning etc. swapping to the 4L would add another 600 to a grand.
Remember, I'm trying to get the wife on board with this project!
well........ you could drive it with the TV cable pulled tight all the time and just let the RPM's scream until it hammer shifts to the next gear.....
What about just manual shift it until it blows?
Itll get you back and forth to work once, then you'll waste the 3/4 clutches, then itll stop shifting to 2nd.
Knurled
MegaDork
10/25/16 9:13 p.m.
Yah... I am thinking that the cost of whatever electronic-to-cable doodad you are going to buy is probably going to cost more than a 4L60 minus whatever you could hock a working 700R4 for.
I'm too lazy to look them up, but I have looked up devices that convert a VSS signal to speedo cable motion and those are a couple hundred bucks. The boneyards want 400-600 for a 4L60 with warranty for a 2wd unit, which seems high to me but 2wd pickups are rare up here too. Can't plow with a 2wd 
Scrub your wheel budget down you could do it. Trying to marry a cross-generational engine swap to another trans only makes sense if the trans is something specific/unique to the chassis, like that damned Hummer I did. And even that was fairly simple since it was already an electronic trans and I was installing a more modern engine with a computer that could control it, the main problem was trying to install a neutral safety switch after AM General hacked and modified the selector shaft for chassis reasons.
I think the older cable throttle bodies bolt on if you want to go that route and keep the 700R4. Is a 4.3 88 Caprice even set up for modern EFI? I think that would be TBI at best or maybe that electronic carb. So you'll need to figure out a fuel pump.
The 4.3 doesn't mount the same as a SBC for some stupid reason, you might need different mounts and brackets to hook up to the mount adapter plates on the LS.
Adapter? Hell! Get a welder and solid mount that bitch. You know, for the harshness.
