700R4 or 4L65e
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
From: Battle Ground, WA
700R4 or 4L65e I know. This has probably been tackled, but Google doesnt yield results either. Plus money is a factor in this post. So I have a 78 Corvette that is getting a 5.3 tossed in it. I have a 4l65e core that has no reverse. So after crunching numbers, the 4l65e is gonna run me around $550 to rebuild and swap the output shaft and housing. The 700r4 that's in the car now has fresh fluid and shifts great. To mate the trans to the engine, it seems the 700r4 needs the bowtie overdrive EZ TV setup and the flexplate and spacer (most likely from advance adapters. That would run me around $370. My question is would it be worth swapping to the 4l65e? Is it way stronger than a 700r4? The 5.3 is getting the TSP stage 3 low lift cam, shorty headers, and a tabbed intake with 102mm TB. So realistically it won't see more than 400 lb ft... any thoughts?
TECH Junkie
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,615
Likes: 1,327
From: Iowa
The 65e is the better option in many ways.
Mainly, you'll rebuild it so you will be able to do some good upgrades while you are inside.
You won't have the troublesome TV system. The bowtie kit is nice...but compter control is nicer
You can easily program shift points
etc
If it were mine I would use the 65
Mainly, you'll rebuild it so you will be able to do some good upgrades while you are inside.
You won't have the troublesome TV system. The bowtie kit is nice...but compter control is nicer
You can easily program shift points
etc
If it were mine I would use the 65
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 6,216
Likes: 236
From: Wichita KS / Rancho San Diego
While all would agree that the 65e has benefitted from a lot of internal upgrades compared to the old 700R4, from the cost factor standpoint you're going to have to consider a controller and tuning for the 65e. With the 700, unless you know your way around it, you'll have to find somebody expert in setting up the TV cable. Getting it wrong can be fatal. So that's a potential cost factor on that side.
If the 700R4 is fresh and works well that is already in car it would probably be your best bet certainly from an economic perspective . As mentions just make sure you get TV cable set properly even mile or two driven wrong can make a big mess of the trans .
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