We put quite a bit of time and thought into the decision of puting a TH400 in our car.  First we looked at the ever popular Power Gilde, but after speaking with several people, we decided against it and the th400 will be going in.  A PG is a great transmission for those with track only cars, but since we are intending on street driving the car at the moment, it didn't seem like a very intelligent decision. 

We called several companies, pricing wasn't as much of a deciding factor as was the "gut" feeling gotten from conversations discussing transmissions, options, etc.  Customer support, and a general willingness to explain things to us, that frankly, we just did not know.  Automatic transmissions are new to us, and hiding that fact, or acting like we know more than we do could cause more problems than good, so we told them the truth.  We actually had a few companies talk down to us (We said, we didn't "Fully" understand automatics, not that we were stupid), and I will be sure to stay as far away from them as possible. 

Friend and Outlaw 10.5 racer, Jim Monson, recommended Hutch of Hutch's Transmission Service http://hutchtrans.com/  for the task.  I spoke with Hutch at length about what transmission would be best for our car, and it didn't take long before he said a TH400 (Turbo Hydro 400).  Hutch, has a reputation for building some of the best race automatics around, and after our discussions, I really cannot wait to get the new trans in the car.

At first thought we believed the th400 might hit the tires a little hard considering the power that the new turbo engine will produce, but we can work around that ;)  Plus the th400 will be more fun on the street.  We may even go with a 2.10 gear set, which would lighten the hit on the tires.

Note:  The th400 fits just fine in the stock transmission tunnel, however, with the TCI shield a good amount of hammering for clearance had to be done.  Another local racer had used a CSR composite shield and when the drum failed and came thru the case the shied knocked it down, but it was still able to come thru the floor and break the drivers ankle.  This, and the fact that a blanket would require building a cage structure around the t-brake solenoid, along with the heat that could be trapped by the blanket, helped make the decision to use the aluminum shield.