A833OD inspection results... thoughts?

sccachallenger said
I've enjoyed reading this!
Three questions come to mind.
1 Can you swap all OD parts in a non OD iron case, with the correct cluster pin and dodge the wallowing hole problem?
2 I saw one in an early '80s Ram250 318, a few years ago in a junk yard. I was surprised to see it in a 3/4 ton truck!
Popular wisdom says this box isn't known for strength, anyone know if this was a factory option?
3 I've heard you can machine the large input shaft seal retainer down to a smaller size to fit the more common bell housing size, has anyone seen this done?

1)no, the OD cluster gear will not fit into the non-od case. One would have to grind it heavily,down in the bottom to accept the od driver. Plus the standard case is the heavy cast-iron. I tried this, but was too lazy to commit to the grinding; it looked like I would have to take a lot of metal outta there.
2) unknown by me
3)Adapter retainers are available, just not from the 5.125/308 bearing to the 4.35/307 bearing. You can make a ring tho to put either of the smaller retainers into the 5.125 big-hole bellhouse.Since I already had the big-hole bell indicated to my engine, this is what I did, to install the standard A-body box.
The rings are also available now,aftermarket.
IIRC you can lathe off the 5.125 retainer to fit the 4.80 bell, but IIRC the 4.80 bell is a BB only bell. Some guys have bored out the small retainer bell to accept the larger retainers.