3 speed trani to 4 speed bellhousing

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yeah it should bolt up but the strength may be an issue the three speed may not be strong enough to hold up behind that 360 you built if thats what your doing besides that 4th gear is just so much fun. :-D
 
jjr426 said:
yeah it should bolt up but the strength may be an issue the three speed may not be strong enough to hold up behind that 360 you built if thats what your doing besides that 4th gear is just so much fun. :-D
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haha, trust me, i have a four speed OD for it, i am just going to use the 3 speed and 7.25 to break the motor in (no abuse) and so i can get the car drivable again in the next few weeks, (prom is coming up on april 12 and there is no way in hell im taking my uncles 67 mustang to prom). As soon as i complete the rear and put a few miles on the motor ill drop the trani and rear and she will be screamin. I just want to make sure that i can bolt up the 3 speed to the bellhousing and the flywheel/clutch will work till the 4 speed gets put in
 
wodering if my slant six three speed manual transmision(floor stick) will bolt up to a small block 4 speed bellhousing
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does the bell housing have 2 bolt patterns? i thought some only had 1 bolt pattern .
 
Three speed has a different bolt pattern than the four speed. What year is your bellhousing? My info says that by the early 1970's most bellhousings had both bolt patterns. You also need to be sure that the input bearing retainer on the front of the transmission is the same size as the hole in the bellhousing. Depending on what bearing you have, some of the bearing retainers can be swapped to make the trans fit the bellhousing. The bellhousing hole & input bearing retainer MUST be the same size.
 
'64 Cuda said:
Three speed has a different bolt pattern than the four speed. What year is your bellhousing? My info says that by the early 1970's most bellhousings had both bolt patterns. You also need to be sure that the input bearing retainer on the front of the transmission is the same size as the hole in the bellhousing. Depending on what bearing you have, some of the bearing retainers can be swapped to make the trans fit the bellhousing. The bellhousing hole & input bearing retainer MUST be the same size.
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i agree..
 
'64 Cuda said:
Three speed has a different bolt pattern than the four speed. What year is your bellhousing? My info says that by the early 1970's most bellhousings had both bolt patterns. You also need to be sure that the input bearing retainer on the front of the transmission is the same size as the hole in the bellhousing. Depending on what bearing you have, some of the bearing retainers can be swapped to make the trans fit the bellhousing. The bellhousing hole & input bearing retainer MUST be the same size.
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It is an early 70s bellhousing, i just cant remember for sure if it had two different sets of bolt paterns or not. Its down at the machine shop so ill have to go down and look tommorow to make sure. How do you swap bearing retainers?
 
thanson_mopar said:
It is an early 70s bellhousing, i just cant remember for sure if it had two different sets of bolt paterns or not. Its down at the machine shop so ill have to go down and look tommorow to make sure. How do you swap bearing retainers?
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There are three different diameters of bearing retainers (4.309", 4.8", & 5.125") & two different bearings ("307 & 308). The 5.125" bearing retainer was used on the OD transmissions, which all had the 308 bearing. There is also a 4.8" retainer that fits the 308 bearing.

There is some good info at this link. Just keep in mind that when they mention bellhousings, they are talking about slant 6 stuff.

http://www.slantsix.org/articles/4-speeds/ODA833fourspeed1.htm
 
here is my bellhousing, there is two threaded holes twards the bottom and four threaded holes towards the top, this means it has dual bolt patterns correct?

bellhousing.jpg
 
You've got it. Now you just need to be sure the bearing retainer you use on front of your trans is the same size as the hole in the back of your bellhousing.
 
'64 Cuda said:
You've got it. Now you just need to be sure the bearing retainer you use on front of your trans is the same size as the hole in the back of your bellhousing.
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ok, so what if its different, where can i buy them from if i need a different size? But it should be the right size i believe....i hope:read2:
 
'64 Cuda said:
You've got it. Now you just need to be sure the bearing retainer you use on front of your trans is the same size as the hole in the back of your bellhousing.
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so the 307 bearing came on all non overdrive 3 and 4 speeds correct? and chances are that my bellhousing is 4.8"? do i measure the diameter of the hole correct? and chances are that my slant six three speed has the 4.309" retainer right? I see that brewers performance has a retainer adapter http://www.brewersperformance.com/proddetail.asp?prod=BRA0605&cat=225 so as long as i get this adapter i will be ok? :-D i hope.....hope im not missing anything here
 
You're correct about the hole, you just measure it. There is a 4.8" bearing retainer that fits the 308 bearing. I think it was used on some late 70's 3 speeds, maybe F body or truck. I can't remember where I read it so I can't go back & check it but if I find the source I'll let you know. This retainer can be used to fit an OD trans to a bellhousing with a 4.8" hole. You're correct about the adapter ring in the link you posted. It lets you fit a 4.309" retainer into a 4.8" hole.
You asked about linkage problems. As far as clutch linkage I think somebody like Brewers is your best bet to get your questions answered.


OK, I found the info & I had it bass-ackwards! An A-230 3 speed trans from the late 70's or early 80's (don't know for sure what the trans is from) has a 307 front bearing & a 5.125" bearing retainer. So the retainer from it can be used to mate a non OD trans to an OD trans bellhousing.

I also know there is a 4.8" retainer that fits the 308 bearing because there is one on a trans I have, but I don't know where it came from. The trans is a bit of a hybrid thing & the retainer was on it when I bought it.
 
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