'82 240 Transmission Upgrade
 

Hello,
I have an '82 244DL,. I'm looking to upgrade the transmission from the original 3-speed auto to a 4 speed auto. Someone I know may have a tranny from a 700 series, but I am told that the speedometer may not connect. Can this match work by changing the speedo to an electronic one?... any other issues to know about before considering the the swap?
Thanks!

Your speedo is cable driven. 700 are electronic so You'll have no speedo. A conversion is possible under the "anything is possible" adage but it is not cost effective. There are other issues too, this is not a simple plug and play swap... For the mileage gain you'll get, you will likely have problems, no speedo, and a PITA to get it done in the first place. Especially if your current tranny is OK, I wouldn't mess with it.

the electronic speedometer connects to a sensor thats in the differential and picks up a 'tone ring' on the output shaft. so you'd need to change your speedometer, and differential/rear axle, and run the wiring to make it work. 240 and 7/9 rear axles are different (torque rods are top and bottom on the 7/9 and side by side on the 240) making this a very difficult task. and I don't even know if a 740 speedo will fit on a 240 instrument panel with major wizardy.

Darn. Thanks guys. I would have had this 700 series tranny for next to nothing, because someone I know has it lying around. I wanted to do the upgrade more for the "enjoyment" of driving on the highways. Currently the engine rev at 3000rpm on the highway and makes quite a racket. Would I be able to put a tranny from later model 240 (87-93) into my car though without major mods?

not 100% sure (its been my daughters car now for 2+ years) but I think our 87 240 with the AW70 automatic+overdrive does 3000 at about 65mph.