new tranny

[steve]

i have an 83 c20 with a th400 and a few weeks after i bought it, the tranny "just died" on me...turns out it had a broken flexplate that tore up the tranny.  so i replaced the flexplate and am now in the process of putting in a 700r4 and i was just wondering what kind of driving (acceleration/shifting...etc) i can expect from it.

[Captkaos]

In comparison to the TH400?  First is stouter so accelleration could be better and it has OD, so you could potentially see a slight mileage improvement.

[steve]

good to know.  thanks....one more question though: i heard that with this new transmission i won't be able to manually shift into first unless i switch from a column shifter to a floor shifter.  any truth to that?

[Captkaos]

There is no difference in a floor versus column shifter short of the mechanism of operation. 
I can put my 700R4 in first, you can't go 50mph and expect it to go into first though....but why would you want to...