Questions from a newbie...
I've only done the long/short swap twice, and both times yes it went well. You may need some tools;unless the rear bearings you want to swap in,match the ones that are coming out.
I wouldn't fall for this tho, cuz you may not find a good deal on the A/F version. You may end up owning two trannys,which may not be a bad thing,cuz sooner or later you might need some of the parts from the second box,lol. Be careful, the O/D boxes look very similar, and an unscrupulous person might try and sell a newbe an O/D box disguised as a 2.66 box. The O/D boxes normally sell at about 1/4 to 1/2 of the regular stuff, from what I have seen.
AJ, man thanks for your awesome reply, there's a ton of good info in there. If you live anywhere close to Houston I'd like to fly you in for a couple of days so you can help me out. Kidding of course... but kinda serious.
Anyways, I'll just go ahead and say it... I'm totally and utterly lost now. I spent a few hours researching last night and I'm more confused than ever. Now I'm wondering if I shouldn't just drop in a 727 and go the A/T route, since the car is already set up for A/T. Yes, yes, I know that a 4 speed car is the best but sometimes I do like the "point and go" ease of an auto trans. And driving in Houston requires A LOT of shifting. I know that Ebay is a high price haven for car parts, but I'm seeing trannys anywhere from $850-$2500 (I've only seen 1 A body). That's both A833 & 727. There's one or two on local Craigslist but they need rebuilt. So, now I'm trying to figure out areas to cut cost on this build but I'm not sure where to start.
I'm under the impression (please correct any of these points that are wrong) that since I'm doing the /6 to V8 swap, I'll require the following:
-Upgraded K member to handle V8 weight (I'm thinking about the tubular type)
-New front suspension for V8 (might as well do upper & lower control arms too)
-New torsion bars
-Motor mounts
-Trans cross member
-Drive shaft altered
-New floor hump
This is at a minimum...
In another post I saw someone say that 4 speed conversion parts would be about $1500, but I can't see how that's possible.
I also figured I might as well drop in a rack and pinion steering set up since the entire front end will be out, and a front sway bar too. All topped off with disk brake conversion. Not to mention radiator, engine accessories, and wiring.
So back to my original comment, maybe an A/T would save me a bit of money to put towards other needs...
