The 200-4R's were also continuously evolving transmissions much like the 700/4L60 models. The factory continued to make improvements to them thru the years of production which included hard parts upgrades/modifications and also valve body improvements. For the most part the hard part upgrades were in place by 1986. Not all valve bodies are the same, nor are the separator plates. They even made mid-year model changes, so tread softly when you are rebuilding and/or upgrading your 200-4R transmission as you may run into differences between them not always noted in publicized literature on them. ATSG has been the most accurate in that area if anyone gets into trouble there.
It's been a while since I did one here, but I do remember it was from a 1984 Hurst Olds and the one I was into had an anomaly with the separator plate/check balls used but I can't remember exactly what it was since it's been at least 4 years ago and I suffer from bad cases of CRS and even worse cases of DGS these days.
Anyhow, over the years I've been into a good many of them. For the most part I made it a habit to upgrade all the "soft" spots even if it was a later model. The hardened/upgraded parts aren't really that expensive, and if nothing else you'll sleep better at night knowing they are in there. I also put aftermarket converters in them capable of handling a lot more power than the stock units, plus the triple disc option for the TCC if we were using lock-up. Doing so allows the use of lock-up under full power as early as the 1-2 upshift. This ceases all torque multiplication (the Buick 3.8 turbo engines love that deal) and puts all the power right to the pavement.
Overall they are pretty tough little units. I've had near perfect success with them here, other than having a customer burn one up in short order as his TV cable somehow got WAY out of adjustment and he was out hammering on it pretty hard........
