72 340 4 spd question
hi everyone I have a 1972 340 car numbers matching. It is a 4spd and I'm thinking about buying a 4 spd on Craigslist looks complete minus shifter lever and handle. The guy says its off a 360 and maybe barracuda. Because it has a long tailshaft. I was wondering if this would fit my 1972 340 demon? He says the flywheel is for an external balanced 360 would that work for mine? Was a 72 340 internally balanced or external? Or would I need a specific flywheel etc? Let me know please. Thank you
I like the long tail in my 68 Barracuda. If you ever want to add a GVOD to your Demon, you will have to start with a long-tail . I put the shifter way back between the buckets, and fabbed up some HD rods. S'nice. No more missed shifts since that day. And no more knuckles in the dash. The relocated floor hole was a bit of a problem.
I understand if you want to keep your car original. Mine was a slanty automatic, so it had no "extra value". I cut it, bend it pound it, move stuff, do whatever it takes to make it mine.
Be very careful when shopping for a short tail. As already mentioned, they come in several flavors, not all of which are what you want. Try to get one with a bellhousing and fork, if you don't already have those pieces. Resist the urge to get the OD version, they are not really 340-friendly. If you get a chance to buy a 3.09 low box;they are great!.......but you have to convert them to a slip-yoke output. The 3.09 low will take off with 3.55s, as if it had a 4.12 in the back, and that means you can cruise 65@about 2870 with the 3.55s. The rest of the gears are the same, so you have to wind first out a little before grabbing second. They are a perfect set-up for a 360, cuz the 360 pulls that 62% split like nothing.
Your 72 340 should have been born with a zero balance flywheel, but all these decades later, there's really no way to know, what she wants, even if you pull the pan, cuz you don't know what pistons are in it.
The 360 is balanced different than a cast-crank 340. And the Magnum is yet again different.
IMO, the factory shifter kit was not the best, Be prepared to fight it until you get it dialed in.The biggest problems were the levers coming loose from the trans, and the sloppy, rubber-band shift-rods, The shifter itself wasn't bad as long as it stayed clean. Resist the urge to get anything but an H-pattern shifter. I've had great success with a circa 1971 Mr.Gasket Bang! shifter with it's pretty short hi-mount stick. I love that thing. Yeah I bought it new,lol, in 1971, for my 1970Swinger340. It's been in near continuous use since that time,in one car or another.I guess it's coming 47 years old, and probably has 300,000 miles on it. Gee, I wonder how many shifts that would be?
