NV3500 in my 74 Duster?

-
DusterDaddy

DusterDaddy

sledgehammer mechanic
FABO Gold Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2011
Messages
2,567
Reaction score
1,786
Location
Holmdel, NJ
I am beginig a total restomod on my 74 Duster.
I read somewhere along the way that an NV3500 is a good economical manual trans to put in an a-body.
Can anyone share any experience with this kind of swap?
My Car is a factory 318/904/8.25
I was going to freshen a 360 for the car but im now considering a buying a mild build 318 and rebuilding the car as a twister.........
 
I was going to do that swap also but had trouble finding that trany so ended up going with an ax-15 out of a 96 dakota 3.9 v6 as another option. They are out of the 94-2002 dakotas and rams which i had no problem finding, just a medium duty trany, step down from the nv3500 and the bellhousing is a separate piece compared to the nv3500 which is integral. Cheapest 5speed swap ive done, even used the 3.9 flywheel and i Have it in my 72 swinger; 318 mild build with 3.25s in the rear and for 2 years after the install and driving it like a mad man i still have no problems and its a daily driver. Im pretty sure someone did that nv3500 swap if you still wanna go that route, hopefully they will chime in to give you more info on it!
 
Schwinger, do you have some pic of the trans in your car? I like to see te position of the shifter, too... the pressure plate/clutch of a 318 A body fits with this setup? Any modification in the tunnel is necessary? Thanks!!
 
Do you have any idea what the 1st. gear ratio is on the NV3500 transmission is and what rear gears you must use?

1st gear in a NV3500 from a Dodge Dakota is a 4:01

Do you realize what height tire you will need in order to make this work?
 
Let's see pics of the ax-15 installed.

I'm looking a t a 6 cyl 3 speed Duster, and was wanting an 833 o/d if the deal went down.

This sounds like a possible alternative.
 
HotLines said:
Do you have any idea what the 1st. gear ratio is on the NV3500 transmission is and what rear gears you must use?

1st gear in a NV3500 from a Dodge Dakota is a 4:01

Do you realize what height tire you will need in order to make this work?
Click to expand...

With that first gear and a .73 od best of luck getting a rear gear/tire height that will work.......Unless you just plan on avoiding low gear altogether....what was the low gear ratio of the 833, somewhere around 2.7 if I remember right....
 
Hear are the pics, sorry its alittle oily!

vbpgimage.php
[/IMG]
Transmission mount i made is bulky but holds up. Just gotta get the pinion angle right wich took me awhile
vbpgimage.php
[/IMG]
vbpgimage.php
[/IMG]
ANd hears the shifter location, i installed a shorter shifter on it, same style but shorter.
vbpgimage.php
[/IMG]
 
The ax15 has a little higher 1st gear 3:80 but is somewhat of a granny gear, 1st gear at 25 mph with 205/70-14s tires and 3.25 gears in the back is at 3500 rpms to give you an idea of where its at but that overdrive at 75 mph its alittle under 2700 rpms which is great!
 
Interesting trans mount.

Looks like no floor cutting. That's cool.
Was there banging of the tunnel?

Our P/T "likes" to be shifted between 3K and 3500.
I'll have to check the speed at that RPM.

Seems like a trans with a low first would like a higher rear.
Might try 2.94...
 
Shifter in the middle?
 
YY1 said:
Interesting trans mount.

Looks like no floor cutting. That's cool.
Was there banging of the tunnel?

Our P/T "likes" to be shifted between 3K and 3500.
I'll have to check the speed at that RPM.

Seems like a trans with a low first would like a higher rear.
Might try 2.94...
Click to expand...

When i was test fitting the trany there was a lip that was sticking out where the firewall and floor was welded together in the tunnel so i bent that to clear the bellhousing, that was the only banging i did and the shifter is located close to the tailshaft housing.
Ive had 2.79s in the rear before and 1st gear was alot beter but the change from 1st to second kinda sucked. Also stepd up to 3.00 gears and it was about right, but i finally installed 3.25s and i think is ok, can even start it from the get go in second with alittle ease, but i think max is 3.40s anything more it would be low as hell which you might as well launch off in second, lol
Also The torsion bar crossmember where the center is, i only cut it half off to clear the tail housing and i moved the engine foward 1 inch by modifying the motor mounts to clear that area, I was really skeptical about removing that whole center section because ive seen other members do it so i did it this way to keep some structural integrity. Its a tighter fit close to the shifter mounting area and alittle more work but another forum member which i cant remember who it was that i got info on this trany swap did it another way which i think was alot easier. I just went this route which was kinda retarted but it worked out for me and i was able to use the stock driveshaft.:D
 
Any issues with your starter/exhaust? That's a 143T flywheel setup which puts your starter farther out than is factory.

I've been debating about relocating the starter on my Dakota bell so I can use my already matching 360 flywheel with an R154. Just curious what your experience was.
 
Seems to me lots of Dakota owners have done alright with these transmissions, even with 3.55 or 3.92 gears. I'll measure my tires, but I want to say 28".
 
schwinger said:
The ax15 has a little higher 1st gear 3:80 but is somewhat of a granny gear, 1st gear at 25 mph with 205/70-14s tires and 3.25 gears in the back is at 3500 rpms to give you an idea of where its at but that overdrive at 75 mph its alittle under 2700 rpms which is great!
Click to expand...

You sure your tach is right? Using a couple of online calculators and the numbers you provided, 3.25 rear gears, 25" tire, 25 mph and 3.8 trans ratio I came up with 4150 rpm.
 
Just measured tires. I have the 17 inch wheels and a 255/55 tire.

27 inches.
 
DionR said:
Any issues with your starter/exhaust? That's a 143T flywheel setup which puts your starter farther out than is factory.

I've been debating about relocating the starter on my Dakota bell so I can use my already matching 360 flywheel with an R154. Just curious what your experience was.
Click to expand...

Starter is really close to the exhaust and im using the dakota starter also, probably be alot worse with the stock unit

That is weird inkjunkie, im just going off what my tach says at that speed and my speedometer is close to accurate, 3 mph off. Unless for some oddball reason my trany that i got out of a 96 dakota has the r154 toyota supra case which is identical to the ax15 case that has a higher 1st gear ratio 3.25 which i punched in the numbers in on that calculation site, its pretty much dead on to what i got! Interesting!
 
I just can't bring myself to cut up my rancid, rusty old Duster like that....
I think I'll find an old 833, pedal box, shifter and linkage and roll down the highway turning 4300 RMP at 65 MPH............
 
Sorry inkjunkie and everybody else i got my speed all screwed up. I rechecked the rpms at that speed and at (20 mph) its at 3500 rpms and 25 it was at 4100! #-o
Thats understandable demondreamer, I didnt wanna do this swap at first because of those modifications but with some encouragment from my friend and another forum member that did this swap i decided to do it anyway. I was over my head at first but pulled thru and im really happy with it. Its time consuming modifying it in but if you have the patience you reap the benifits and it made a big difference, better gas mileage, engine doesnt scream like hell at highway speeds and the good thing is it costs far less than aftermarket overly priced transmissions, if you have the money to get them then go for it but if your on a budget and want something alittle better than do this swap. I only spent under 350 on everything including the trany, well had to replace the 1st one because it had over 180k miles on it and was already going out, but found another one low mileage 80k miles on it and after 3 years of driving the heck out of it its still running fine! Got all my stuff in phoenix tho at the junkyard, prices probably are different everywhere else. It has its ups and downs just like any other project but im happy with it!
 
Shwinger,

My car is only in the dismantling stage, there are so many sheet metal issues I need to deal with first. I have lots of time to figure out what I'm going to do with a transmission.

This car is a project that my sons and I work on together, they are 14 and 16. In today's world, its great to see them crawling on over and under that old car, taking it apart piece by piece, and sitting around with them talking about putting it back together and one day next summer, driving down to the local cruise night.

The car is a factory 318/904/8 1/4 car. When we adopted her, the motor was stripped of the carb and intake, and the starter opening in the trans was all split and pealed away.

Initially, the plan was to drop a motor in her and make her move and stop, but after seeing the condition of the 904, and seeing that under the carpet there is actually no floor pan left to speak of, we decided to scrap the motor and trans and strip her down to the uni-body.

Someone pulled the cluster out of the car and there were two non folding bucket seats bolted in there.........So the whole interior is coming out full dash and all.

So, we started to think, since we need to start at the bottom and rebuild and replace everything, why not put a manual trans in the car? That's what we wanted anyway. She will never be a daily driver, and now I'm convincing myself that she wont see many miles on the interstate so why get so crazy about high RPMs when in 4th gear? Where the heck am I going to drive her long distance to on the highway anyhow? So we think the 833 is the trans for our Duster.

I bought a super nice super clean rebuilt 318 that was in a car another member bought that was close to being fully restored, and they put a big block in that car so this motor became available. It sounds like to me the guy who built his mighty 318 has read the book " how to hotrod Mopar small blocks " a time or two. It's stock bottom with 318 heads with 1.88/1.6 valves .480 cam and a 600 CFM Holley on a Performer. And we got it for a song.....

So that's where me and my boys are coming from......
 
demondreamer said:
Someone pulled the cluster out of the car and there were two non folding bucket seats bolted in there.........So the whole interior is coming out full dash and all.
Click to expand...

Not on topic, but those non-folding buckets could potentially be converted to standard folding buckets, so don't throw them away just for that reason.

The buckets in my car came out of a 74 Valiant 4 door. Just needed the latches to make them fold. I had to make my own latches, but I have found some factory one's since. There's a thread about it here, too.

Just an FYI.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top