At a swap meet last month, I saw a Northstar 4.6L bolted to a 700-R4, the one with the 2.8L bellhousing. So, apparently, the 2.8L 700-R4 is a FWD pattern. This makes sense, since the 2.8 was developed for the 1980 X-bodies (FWD), and not retooling the engine bellhousing saved money.