AR-5, r-154 Anybody actually done this

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$1200 for an R154??!!?! Who knew I would ever own something that other people might actually pay for. Usually I buy high and sell low. :rolleyes:

I'm on the thread Buschi did on Moparts, started down this road with a slant 6 Valiant. That car was too rusty and I got my Duster back so I dropped it. Still have the transmission, but struggling with the thought of cutting the floor.

Not sure it is an issue in your Coronet, but in an A-Body, exhaust can be an issue at the starter as the 143T flywheel moves it out some and makes an already tight spot even tighter. Just an FYI in case you hadn't gotten there yet.
 
Kerry K said:
Again thanks a lot! This is more info than I could have possible dreamed of!
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Hey no problem. Figure we took the plunge with no one else doing it. Budget was low. Even factoring in the pedal setup we are at like $750. Way cheaper and if something goes boom its all off the shelf parts. Even a replacement transmission is about $200-400

DionR said:
$1200 for an R154??!!?! Who knew I would ever own something that other people might actually pay for. Usually I buy high and sell low. :rolleyes:

I'm on the thread Buschi did on Moparts, started down this road with a slant 6 Valiant. That car was too rusty and I got my Duster back so I dropped it. Still have the transmission, but struggling with the thought of cutting the floor.

Not sure it is an issue in your Coronet, but in an A-Body, exhaust can be an issue at the starter as the 143T flywheel moves it out some and makes an already tight spot even tighter. Just an FYI in case you hadn't gotten there yet.
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Yeah we have a set of cheap summit headers on the coronet. Craigslist special. The one tube for the starter needed a light amount of work. However it was not bad. As we have learned from Motor Trend engine masters. Banging headers does not matter. Passenger side had some factory bracket. That was trimmed. Now granted our 143 tooth starter is a much smaller as its a dakota unit. Well it came from a 95 Ram 5.2 Headers listed below are made for some A,B,E bodies. So you should be ok.

Headers that we used.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-g9040

I will add that on the b-body we had to cut some of the frame support for the transmission bracket. It is not cut all the way threw the bracket. But its a good half of the way threw. We could go box it in but since the engine is in for good right now I do not think we will. Maybe a fix for a later date. This is a lemons car after all. Plus the transmission mount is stronger than the older one we were using.

I also found in the b-body that the shifter is up high in the body. So going to have to build a simple box setup to close in the floor. Should be easy to make. Plan is it use the rubber shift boot from a colorado. Mainly cause it was free and it if fails we could replace it for cheap. Again lemons car. Car has zero interior so we are not worried about looks. So not sure how stuff will fit with a factory dash, seats, consoles...etc. We just did it because we wanted a manual transmission.

Here was our modded transmission mount. Pretty much we cut the factory ears off and rebuilt the center section. Is it pretty no. But is it going to fail, nope.

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Called my local pull a part and they had MA5's for $170. Might buy 2!
I think this tranny will work very well in a 2700 lb BMW with a 300 plus hp 5.9 with 3.10 gears
 
Can you posts some pics from underneath with the gearbox in the car? I'd like to see that if possible.
 
I appreciate it. I'd like to see how much you cut out of the torsion bar crossmember and the floor.
 
Greg55_99 said:
I appreciate it. I'd like to see how much you cut out of the torsion bar crossmember and the floor.
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Might be a while before I am next to the car again. Its moving this weekend to Augusta. If I remember we cut a section about 6 inches wide and about half the way threw. Granted this was a B-body so not sure where this could end up in a A-body. Kept this thread updated as people seemed to have answers on here. Might be a few weeks but I can try to snap a picture of it with the transmission in the car.
 
So just an update for anybody who might be looking to do this. We lost our fork and throw out bearing in our first race. We have found that we needed an ax15 Front bearing retainer from a dodge dakota. It is a direct swap over but has the sleeve for the throw out bearing to ride on. We just installed everything back in and the clutch seems stronger than before. Will update later with destruction photos.
 
So here was the damage. Seems not running a sleeve on the throw out bearing was allowing it to shift. Just needed up failing and shoving the fork into the pressure plate. Amazing failure but should be an easy fix.

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This fix to this is an ax15 front bearing retainer. Shown here it has a sleeve that prevents the throw out bearing from going to side to side. This one was junkyard raided with a fork and throw out bearing. $10 at the pick and pull. Got to stay on that lemons budget.

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Stock ar5 style. The internal slave has its own sleeve to ride on. So none on the bearing retainer itself.

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Now with our ax15 bearing retainer. One bolt whole was in a different location but the ar5 had both holes there.

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A little update. Drove the car last night and wow what a difference. The clutch felt heavy before and was close to the floor. Now its like diving my Svt Focus and Miata with stock clutches. Shutter is gone. Pedal is nice and light. It is also releasing near the top. We might even take some of the pedal rod out. Either way seems much better. Testing this weekend at barber will see if it is.
 
96Formula6spd said:
-Dakota bellhousing. Any ax15 one should work. Think it was 92-00. Just we have a 95. Have not tested with a 97-00 but it should work just fine. Clutch is the same 92-00 as well as the flywheel. Actually ebay has a 98 bellhousing looks the same as our 95.
- Dust sheild is NLA. So will have to hunt for one. Or make something up.
- Starter 143 tooth unit. Ours matched from a 5.2 95 Dodge ram. Came from a pick and pull. Seems the ax15 uses the older style starter. If raiding from a pick and pull the lower hole is a stud with a nut. You can not use the later bolted in style.
- Flywheel 3.9 Dakota 92-00
- Clutch kits Dakota 3.9 92-00
- Gm Disc. We used one from a 85 Camaro with a T-5. Disc is 26 spline. Used from the 70s-80s. 1 1/8 inch 26 spline unit. 10 3/8 inch diameter. Some places say 10.5 inch
- Clutch fork is 3.9 Dakota 92-00. Need the pivot ball and the spring from the Dakota.
- Throw out bearing is also 3.9 Dakota 92-00
- Pilot bearing will need to be either custom or the advance adapters unit could be used. We have not tested the advance adapters unit.
- Using the front case of from the Colorado that is unmodified.
- Yoke from the Colorado. Seems its the later Gm small unit. Ours is actually from a 4l60e. Ours was sourced from an automatic Colorado. Gm is lazy and has small yoke and big yoke for the 00s. Just need a small yoke. Uses a 1350 u-joint.
- Slave cylinder. We have a 97 style. It has a quick dissconect. We are going to swap to something like these.
Russell Clutch Adapter Fittings 640281. < Not actual part. Just looks like what we are using. For the pedal you can maybe use bmw. For us we are going with a Wilwood unit with a Wilwood master cylinder.

Bolts (Bolting to a 318 LA non Magnum)
- Flywheel we are using ones for a 318 mopar. ARP-240-2801
- Pressure Plate bolts are 3/8-16 - 1 inch long. Uses a lock washer from the factory.
- Bellhousing. We used factory 318 ones from our 727. 3/8-16 1.5 inches long.
- Bellhousing to transmission. We shortened ours down about a 1/4 of an inch. Bellhousing from the gm side is thicker than the dakota. Don't know thread pitch. One bolt will not be used. Colorado used 10. Dodge used 9. Still plenty.


As of now that is the current list. That does not mean things could change. Plan is to run it and then make up our list.
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Nice write-up for the parts list. What year Colorado transmission did you use? Is one year better than others?
 
We used one from a 2006. I herd there was a change on the 07+ ones. When I was looking originally we stuck to 04-06. Car-part lists the same up to 04-07. Granted we are not using any sensors off of it. No reverse lights or speed sensor. We just ended up getting a deal from a guy at my dads work who was parting out a 2006 GMC Caynon same as the Coloardo. But it was cheap and had like 90k on it. Shoot they are still being used in the polaris slingshot.

Still not sure what the change over was. Either way there are plenty of the 04-06 ones around. Looks like it was used in the trucks up to 08. So maybe in 09 they changed transmissions?
 
Thanks for the update! There's a Pick A Parts about 2 hours from me - any transmission $149.95 any bellhousing $39.95. I've got a 273/235 with a 65 833 going in my 65 Dart wagon. From previous experiences with the same transmission and a slant in a 65 Valiant, it always felt like it needed one more gear. Bet it's the same with a V8. I have no qualms about cutting the hump or the crossmember - it's just metal!
 
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