Hello All,

You may have heard this one before but I am a Blue Oval guys recently converted to a Bowtie Guy. I own and operate a junk car buying business in South Florida and for some reason keep coming across AMAZING deals on 80's GM vehicles.

I have been sitting on a 1985 Monte Carlo and a 1985 El Camino for about 6 months now and have decided to start building one/both of them.

As many of you know, these vehicles BOTH came with 305's. The Monte Carlo was actually bought as a donor car for the El Camino to recieve a new front end. After friends kept complimenting me on my "Great condition" Monte Carlo, I decided to keep it.


Now for my question. I recently came across a 1977 Monte Carlo with a "Ghetto'd out suspension". It would have been too much work to convert in back to regular height so I instead pulled the drivetrain. I am seriously considering dropping the 350 from the 77 into the 85 Elky. My question is which Trany should I use? The 85 Elky came with a 700r4 and the 77 TH350 is still attached to the 350 motor. I have read that the 700r4 has a better gear ratio for take off however I plan on moving up to a 496BB within the next year. Will the 700r4 be able to handle it (without too much modification)?

To answer a question I am sure to be asked, I am planning on making the Elky a Street/Strip ride hopefully running in to the low 12's/High 11's. The Monte Carlo will be mostly stock and just for show (Mostly Show/Not much go)