4 Speed with B/E tailshaft help

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smartken22

smartken22

U.S. Navy Senior Chief
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Previously posted in my resto forum, but got no ideas so I thought I would try in the tranny forum...Here are some pictures of my current tranny setup. When it was in the car, the clutch pedal was super stiff and it would eat throwout bearings like crazy! After I removed it, it appears as though it has a B body tailshaft on it and the crossmember was rigged to accept that style tailshaft. It also moved the motor back 2.5in and since the tranny was hard mounted, the motor and tranny sat at an angle. That would explain all the problems and the weird hack job in the floorpan. Well, I received the 4 speed hump and when I went to line it up, the shifter was too far forward. I have received a new B/E style tailshaft from Brewers performance (see pic example) since it is the same length as the B tailshaft. Once I swap that out it should move the motor back to its original location since I am using the correct crossmember and should move the shifter back farther. My problem now is that I need to make a bracket to move the shifter to the A body position (I saw an example/template on the Big Block Dart page). I live in a small town and there is no machine shop here. Is there anyone on here that makes those brackets or knows someone who can make one for me? Please let me know if I am going in the right direction with this one. Thanks!

Ken
 

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I made my own.... No machine shop needed. I used 1/4" (or 3/8", I forget) steel plate and used a torch to heat the plate to bend it to make my offset dimensions. Drilled the holes to mount it to the tranny and the drilled and tapped the other holes to mount the shifter. It isn't perfect but it does work. The web site you mention also has a template to use for the hole dimensions. No magic required :)
 
Google moparmuscle gear vendor swap '69 dart

Back then the only gear vendor overdrive they had was the long tail stly for the bigger cars, so they mounted a plate off the rear shft boss that brought it forward.

I used that article to make my own, I run the b/e 4 spd in my valiant even though I have an a body 4 spd in the shop, call me lazy..
 
also i would move the new tunnel forward to 1/2" from the seam...

if you dont it can be a pain sometimes getting the shifter bolts in...
 
hot rod valiant said:
Are you running torsion bars with the crossmember cut out in the middle?
Click to expand...

Yeah I know...

My buddies 70 340 4spd swinger's previous owner cut the torsion anchor also, an extra b/e 4spd came with the car....makes sense how it happend.

Thats why you MUST make the braket and mount the shift from the back, otherwise if cut the anchor like that the car will want to fold down the middle with major road dips.

Those that anchor really isn't holding together near as much as the front frame section where connects to the outer portion of the anchor.
 
805moparkid said:
also i would move the new tunnel forward to 1/2" from the seam...

if you dont it can be a pain sometimes getting the shifter bolts in...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip...will do! I plan to jack the tranny up and fit check everything before I weld up the new tunnel. I just need to get around to swapping out the tailshaft and get that bracket made up. Thanks everyone for the ideas and help!
 
If it was me I would get a tailshaft for an A-body. Send the tailshaft housing back to brewers on an exchange for an a-body housing. This is all you will need to convert the trans to an a-body. These are the only different parts. You can then weld your torsion bar cross member back in. And will then be able to use factory parts to assemble your car . I am sure someone near you must have an A-body trans for parts. I do but Shipping would be alot. The center of the cross will fit from any A-body The only difference in the crossmembers is from 70 back they are 1/2 inch bolts . 71 up are 3/8 . If yours is a 71 car make sure the cross member you have is the small holes. Also some of the later A-body 4spd's use a small slip yoke same. Make sure you get the matching tail housing for the tail shaft dia. B and E transmissions can easily be changed to A-body. Two parts.
 
The crossmember I was talking about is the channel that is welded to the floor and goes over the transmission. It keeps the load from the torsion bars from twisting the floor pan.
 
Oldmanmopar said:
If it was me I would get a tailshaft for an A-body. Send the tailshaft housing back to brewers on an exchange for an a-body housing. This is all you will need to convert the trans to an a-body. These are the only different parts. You can then weld your torsion bar cross member back in. And will then be able to use factory parts to assemble your car . I am sure someone near you must have an A-body trans for parts. I do but Shipping would be alot. The center of the cross will fit from any A-body The only difference in the crossmembers is from 70 back they are 1/2 inch bolts . 71 up are 3/8 . If yours is a 71 car make sure the cross member you have is the small holes. Also some of the later A-body 4spd's use a small slip yoke same. Make sure you get the matching tail housing for the tail shaft dia. B and E transmissions can easily be changed to A-body. Two parts.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about doing this, however, like you mention here, I would need to order the A-body tailhousing, the A-body main shaft, and then I would have the problem of needing a longer driveshaft as well. I was trying for the easier route, but I may be better off doing it original.
 
hot rod valiant said:
The crossmember I was talking about is the channel that is welded to the floor and goes over the transmission. It keeps the load from the torsion bars from twisting the floor pan.
Click to expand...

After looking closer, that particular crossbar you mention has been cut out. I guess that I need to find one somewhere and weld it back in. I definitely dont need any unwanted twisting. Thanks for pointing that out. Any ideas on where to get one?
 
I just cleaned up a 4 speed hump from a junkyard and I might have a piece of the cross member big enough to patch yours,pm me and I'll send you a picture to your email
 
Here is a picture from under the car of the hacked torsion crossmember. Let me know if you guys need better pics. I just need that section to weld in. Looks like I have lots of welding/re-enforcing to do.
 

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You need to go talk to the guy over in yer neck of the woods, the wreacking yad down the street from Tommy T's, cant remember his name at this second....OH gordon.
He'll have the crossmember to cut for ya.

A good guy to know is alao Ryan, he has 67 cornet/64 valiant...., Russ too, but he moved long ago.
 
1wild&crazyguy said:
You need to go talk to the guy over in yer neck of the woods, the wreacking yad down the street from Tommy T's, cant remember his name at this second....OH gordon.
He'll have the crossmember to cut for ya.

A good guy to know is alao Ryan, he has 67 cornet/64 valiant...., Russ too, but he moved long ago.
Click to expand...

Good to know, thanks for the info. I will go check it out.
 
.........I have a bracket that bolts to the front mount and moves the shifter back in between the 2 mounts............kim........
 
oldkimmer said:
.........I have a bracket that bolts to the front mount and moves the shifter back in between the 2 mounts............kim........
Click to expand...

How does it not hit the trans cross member and let alone the street?

I mounted mine from the rear mount to bring it forward and had to grind off one of the front mount bosses just so I could get the cross member to raise enough to get the bolts in and not have it contact and vibrate like hell.
 
If you cant find one locally I have one, it's a little rusty but it is big enough to patch in. Just pay for the box and the ride.
 
Oldmanmopar said:
If it was me I would get a tailshaft for an A-body. Send the tailshaft housing back to brewers on an exchange for an a-body housing. This is all you will need to convert the trans to an a-body. These are the only different parts. You can then weld your torsion bar cross member back in. And will then be able to use factory parts to assemble your car . I am sure someone near you must have an A-body trans for parts. I do but Shipping would be alot. The center of the cross will fit from any A-body The only difference in the crossmembers is from 70 back they are 1/2 inch bolts . 71 up are 3/8 . If yours is a 71 car make sure the cross member you have is the small holes. Also some of the later A-body 4spd's use a small slip yoke same. Make sure you get the matching tail housing for the tail shaft dia. B and E transmissions can easily be changed to A-body. Two parts.
Click to expand...

Well, I decided to take your advice and send the tailshaft housing back to Brewers and do this tranny setup the right way. I pulled the tranny apart today and separated the mainshaft from all the gears so I can send that in as well. I had to take the mainshaft to my local tranny shop to have the bearing pressed out...$5! I called Brewers up to let them know my situation and he was extremely helpful and said he would exchange the housing no problem. Looks like the A-body housing is a lot cheaper so I will put that difference towards the A-body mainshaft. Tranny looks good internally except some clips that were broken and some water in the bottom of the case. Good thing I decided to go through it. I see no rust or damage, so I think I caught everything in time. Thanks again for the help, and I will keep you posted.

Ken
 
I received the new tranny parts today. I partially assembled the tranny to see how things were gonna line up and everything is a perfect fit! As you can see from the pictures, I need to trim a little in the floor pan to get the shifter to fit in, but just looking at the way it sits right now, it lines up with the new floor hump setup with no issues. I mocked up the new crossmember as well and the tranny housing lined up perfectly. I am glad I went with the correct a body setup, because as you can see from the pictures, the old tailshaft crossmember mount was too far back which explains the motor position. I am gonna mock up the bellhousing tomorrow to see how the z bar is gonna line up. That may need some work! The only thing remaining will be the driveshaft as my current setup will be to short now. I plan to just buy a new one for an A-body setup.
 

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