Overdrive tranny in an A-body
i think all three of them did 500's? can you do a 518, not cut the floor, and still get good drive shaft angles. i don't know. maybe i'm just worrying about something that isn't a problem :eek:
I can't say for sure on the 518, but the bell housing would be the area where there might be clearance issue's as CFHJ mentioned.
Two things that would apply to both is the hoop over the top where the trans cross member is and where you tap into the governor port for switching pressure if making the OD and lockup shifts automatic.
That area of the trans where the governor port plug is, is very close to the to the passenger side of the hump between the seats. (or under the seat if a bench)
For automatic shifting you need to put a fitting in that port, and even though I used the shortest 90 I could find right there, I still had to ding the hump about 1/2 inch to get the rear of the trans up high enough.
If using manual/switched shifting for OD and lockup you don't need to add that fitting.
You don't need to cut out the entire hoop over the trans, but just the rounded part leaving the two straps that are left over that are welded to the floor metal.
I also have 2x3 .085 wall subframe connectors that add support to that.
Make no mistake, it's tight pretty much everywhere.
It takes a lot of patience.
I modified my cross member and built a new spool mount bracket for the trans.
Basically that cross member is two pieces now that the big bolt for the spool goes through along with the mount.
It took me a couple of days on the ground with the car on blocks while I made the mods, replaced cooler lines with 3/8 like the 500 uses, and set up my linkages.
I swapped over to a cable throttle pressure setup to simplify that.
There was also a longer speedo cable involved. (80 inch)
I probably raised and lowered the trans 4-5 times during fitting and modding, and I cut off every bracket and stub on the case that wasn't going to be used just to make things a bit cleaner and as to not interfere with the hump.
I also helped a buddy put a Gear Vendors unit in his 71 Dart and it did require cutting and raising a section of the hump the length of the OD unit.
We had to raise that section about 1.5 inches and weld in some new metal to close the gaps.
Fortunately that raised section is right under his bench seat and can't be seen.
We also had to remove and re engineer his exhaust because his X pipe was right in the way where the OD unit was going to be.
That was kind of specific to his car though, and may not be a problem with others.
We spent about 20 hours total starting at removing the seat, underlayment and carpet, so my A500 and his Gear Vendors literally took about the same amount of time.
