A500 in an Early A

-
i started at 4 inches and felt it was a bit too wide. It’s now about 3.5 inches which leaves enough room on either side of the transmission at where the motor mount is located. Once I actually start fitting the trans I will adjust the height of the upper crossmember to fit the trans. As you see I tried to follow the stiffening rib from side to side.

0F7BB87C-C5D5-4773-8F9F-79B2EF1A0AD2.jpeg


316ECA4A-8C46-485B-9D85-78B3BEABFF5F.jpeg
 
I did a conversion in my Challenger couple years ago. There is a good thread in the e-body forum from a guy doing a conversion on his Cuda. Its good info for the small details after the installation - piping, controls for OD and lockup, etc.
I am thinking on doing something similar to my 65 dart gt..... a little worried about the amount of floor modifications. My car is complete and running with a slant 6. Still debating - going with a regular 727 left over from my challenger, an OD 833 manual, or an A500.
Will follow your thread.
Good luck.
 
I did a conversion in my Challenger couple years ago. There is a good thread in the e-body forum from a guy doing a conversion on his Cuda. Its good info for the small details after the installation - piping, controls for OD and lockup, etc.
.

Do you have a link to that thread?
 
Thanks Chris - looks like lots of reading material while I’m “locked up” here at the house lol!
 
i started at 4 inches and felt it was a bit too wide. It’s now about 3.5 inches which leaves enough room on either side of the transmission at where the motor mount is located. Once I actually start fitting the trans I will adjust the height of the upper crossmember to fit the trans. As you see I tried to follow the stiffening rib from side to side.

View attachment 1715497173

View attachment 1715497172

I found that I needed to lengthen the sides to clear the transmission height-wise which meant the top section that I fabricated needed to be shortened quite a bit - down to about 2 inches. It’s all done and mostly welded to the rest of the crossmember on each side

69DC80E2-47F5-4864-ACE4-F4299DD544E9.jpeg
 
So what angle is your output shaft at? Getting closer to mocking up mine.
 
Angle of the output shaft: I will have to determine that when I fabricate the lower trans support and can do an accurate measurement. Reason: Right now the wagon is completely gutted including the K Frame. I used my transmission jack to raise it up into where it’s close to what it will be - thanks @sgrip65 for sending me the measurements from the top of the trans to the pinchweld and trans to firewall! So At this stage of the tunnel/crossmember mockup, all I was doing was making sure I had sufficient room between the transmission and upper crossmember support. I had to re-work my initial fabricated piece to raise the height for clearance so I’m good now in that respect. To get an accurate angle measurement I will temporarily mate the trans with the engine and that to the K Frame and back in the car. Then I can adjust the tail of the trans to get the angle as close as possible before fabricating the lower trans support. It will likely be awhile since I’m just an old one man band so to speak.
 
Hey Don. Maybe an old one man band, but you "TUNE" right in on the great old Mopars. Keep at it. sgrip65
 
Angle of the output shaft: I will have to determine that when I fabricate the lower trans support and can do an accurate measurement. Reason: Right now the wagon is completely gutted including the K Frame. I used my transmission jack to raise it up into where it’s close to what it will be - thanks @sgrip65 for sending me the measurements from the top of the trans to the pinchweld and trans to firewall! So At this stage of the tunnel/crossmember mockup, all I was doing was making sure I had sufficient room between the transmission and upper crossmember support. I had to re-work my initial fabricated piece to raise the height for clearance so I’m good now in that respect. To get an accurate angle measurement I will temporarily mate the trans with the engine and that to the K Frame and back in the car. Then I can adjust the tail of the trans to get the angle as close as possible before fabricating the lower trans support. It will likely be awhile since I’m just an old one man band so to speak.

I gotcha. I thought you had the motor bolted up. I’m definitely following along!
 
I’m debating whether to bolt the mostly assembled 273 or an empty 340 block to the K. I’m likely to need more help than my trusty helper (the wife) can provide to get everything in place. Will have to see if my Mopar buddy can give me a hand.
 
I’d probably go empty 340 since you likely gotta pull it in/out a couple times.
 
No doubt about it going in and out several times. I might have to advertise for a set of 340/360 steel mounts as I could use them later. Don’t want to modify my 65 273 mounts
 
this is a tough job without a lift... when I did this on my challenger I had to install that transmission so many times, I forgot the number.
best investment I ever made was a 4 post lift off ebay, 24 months payments no interest.
 
this is a tough job without a lift... when I did this on my challenger I had to install that transmission so many times, I forgot the number.
.

I’ve got the trans on my trans dolly and it’s been under there And back out several times already - luckily the dolly rolls pretty easy. When I mate the motor and K, it’s gonna be a one and done as far as fitting everything and then a one and done on the final install.
 
Here’s a shot of it from the front before it was completely welded on all sides to the left and right remaining crossmember.

D46A9F91-168C-48D1-8DF5-BE908B4D282C.jpeg
 
Looks good Don! Before you get too far along, are you gonna fix the passenger side of the trans cross member so it will be easier to run dual exhaust?
 
Don. One word......"COOL" Another comment, for certain, one of a kind all the way around. How much higher is the transmission hump going to be from OEM height? IIRC, you are going with a different year front seat set-up? Looks good....for sure!!! sgrip65
 
Hi Jerry - I hope to start the hump later this afternoon but based on the height and width of the upper crossmember, it’s going to be at several inches taller and wider from the cross member to the firewall. There’s no doubt in my mind some custom carpet will be needed, at least where the hump is concerned. The floors are still standard early A Body.

The front/rear seats are from a 66 Barracuda. Front seats are not nearly as wide as 63-65 seats so they should fit between the hump where is will narrow down in the back.
 
Hi Jerry - I hope to start the hump later this afternoon but based on the height and width of the upper crossmember, it’s going to be at several inches taller and wider from the cross member to the firewall. There’s no doubt in my mind some custom carpet will be needed, at least where the hump is concerned. The floors are still standard early A Body.

The front/rear seats are from a 66 Barracuda. Front seats are not nearly as wide as 63-65 seats so they should fit between the hump where is will narrow down in the back.


Don. Wish I had your fabrication skills!! Floor shift or column? Maybe the floor console would hide a bit of the carpet seam. Very Nice Work. JJ
 
I have a pair of 80 J Body columns - one for a 4 speed (or automatic on the floor) and a column shift with tilt column. Reason for either of those columns is I am using a highly modified J Body underdash harness because of the ignition connectors to the ignition module on the column. The initial plan was to use the floor shift column with the 833 but now I have the option of either/or column with the A500. If there’s a console for a floor shift, it won’t be very big from what I’ve seen with aftermarket shifters. I’ve got a couple of ideas for the carpet, so we shall see.
 
Excellent work! Please keep the pics coming as you progress. I am definitely learning from your experience here.
 
I'm putting an A500 behind a 5.2 in my wife's '64 Barracuda. As a previous owner had already chopped a huge hole in the floor (along with cutting out the crossmember hump) to fit a 727, the hard decision had already been made for me. Using a bare block and an empty 727 case, I found the angle that the motor sits at. I then installed the empty A500 case, held the back end of it up to the right engine angle, and built my trans support. Mocked it up out of 2"" strips of cardboard, then copied that over to 2"x3/16" flatbar. I also used the flatbar to roll a new x-member hump, welded it to the cut ends of the crossmember. My 2x3 subframe connectors are 100% welded to the x-member, so it's pretty stout.

20180813_191413.jpg


20180815_112801.jpg


20180815_113055.jpg
 
-
Back
Top