4-Speed Rebuilder Recommendation

[davescuda]

Not to Hijack but I am doing an 18 spline now. I have done Muncies, Fords 3&4 speeds and the 833 is by far the easiest on to work on. It is a heavy ***** though. The reverse pin took some time but i rigged up a PS pulley installer to press it out. I posted on FBBO about repointing 2nd and 3rd gears as they are a bit rounded. $th will get a new shaft as it has been cut. Here are some pics of said gears tell me what you think.View attachment 1715898047 View attachment 1715898047 View attachment 1715898049

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Post your link to FBBO

 

[Jeremiah (jd)]

@desmo900 Don't be intimidated by it. I was at first until it came apart. There is nothing to it. All you need is a good pair of snap ring pliers, and a press for the main/input shaft bearing (but you can have a shop press it on and off for you)

We also used a thin long pipe that sat perfectly into the counter shaft gears to hold the rollers and thrust washers while setting the counter shaft gear in place and then put in the countershaft in and drove the pipe out. (hard to explain but makes sense when you get there.

I have Jami Passing rebuilding the A833 book and it's very detailed with color pictures if you want some guidance. I didn't take near enough pics, but here is mine. I upgraded to an OD gearset.

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Damn, that's a nice looking shop!


FWIW, the only thing weak about an aluminum case is the countershaft bore. I was spraying 175hp of nitrous through my aluminum a833 last weekend without issue.

 

[jtkaaa07]

That case can be sleeved at a good machine shop.

Yes it can, in this situation, it was cheaper and quicker for me to swap out with a different good case I had on the shelf.

 

[Indetrucks]

Easy. I'd charge 300 plus parts.

Hey there! Old thread, but your inbox is full
My name is Chris and I live in Torrance. Been a life-long gear head (49 now) but have limited 4speed transmission knowledge. (long post below, apologies in advance)

So I was browsing/searching for potential shops in the Southern CA area who specializes or is capable of rebuilding my Plymouth 4speed when I came across this thread where you mentioned it's something you might be interested in doing for a fellow member (for a fee of course).

Was wondering if you are still interested in helping a fellow gear-head out with a 4spd rebuild if I dropped it off?
After watching a few videos, I'm certain I can do it myself but I'm not sure what to look for when I have it apart because it's giving me a problem that I may not be able to diagnose due to my limited knowledge. I fear if I just perform a basic rebuild, it may not fix it.

The transmission shifts through all 4 gears fine and goes into reverse ok as well when driven respectfully. The issue is when I'm giving it the beans in 1st gear then shifting to 2nd, it wont go. It's as if 2nd gear doesn't exist. If I'm on the gas hard in 1st, I have to bypass 2nd and shift straight to 3rd when at higher RPMs. When this happens, it will no longer shift into 2nd regardless of RPM unless I either come to a complete stop and shift through all the other gears (including reverse) or I decelerate from a higher RPM in 3rd gear. This seems to "free 2nd gear" up and I'm back to driving the car gingerly so I have all 4 gears again.

What do you think?
Your time is very much appreciated, so thank you!
-Chris

 

[j par]

It's probably your second gear brass synchrose, which you would see...
And would be obvious when you pulled it apart...
You know, there's a first time for everything, and you certainly won't damage it, pulling it apart and giving it a visual inspection...
Sincerely, if you just buy a good four speed, rebuild manual with pictures.I think I paid twenty five bucks.It tells you what to look for and it shows you how to examine the gears...
These four speeds are seventy plus years old.They are terribly simplistic...
These transmissions are terribly terribly hard to break.Steph, you probably just have a worn out brass synchronizer, and they are brash, so they wear out and not hurt your transmission...
This is purely service work...
I thought I blew the transmission up once at the racetrack, but lo and behold, what I really did was blew up my eight and three quarter rear end...
There's absolutely no way you can hurt this thing by taking it apart going to brewer's performance.Buying a rebuild kit and for new synchros...
Simply take the old stuff out and put the new stuff in and reseal it...
I had only one problem.I had a hard time getting into reverse after I rebuilt it.. i thought I'd really screwed up...
Thank goodness for this forum.A member suggested loosening the side cover.Just ever so slightly not enough to make it leak, but just enough and push up on it really hard.And retighten it the side cover...???.. i'm thinking, okay, right, but I do it.It works perfect... thank you forum....
What are you gonna learn taking it to somebody else...
You'll be missing eighty five percent of the hobby...

 

[Indetrucks]

It's probably your second gear brass synchrose, which you would see...
And would be obvious when you pulled it apart...
You know, there's a first time for everything, and you certainly won't damage it, pulling it apart and giving it a visual inspection...
Sincerely, if you just buy a good four speed, rebuild manual with pictures.I think I paid twenty five bucks.It tells you what to look for and it shows you how to examine the gears...
These four speeds are seventy plus years old.They are terribly simplistic...
These transmissions are terribly terribly hard to break.Steph, you probably just have a worn out brass synchronizer, and they are brash, so they wear out and not hurt your transmission...
This is purely service work...
I thought I blew the transmission up once at the racetrack, but lo and behold, what I really did was blew up my eight and three quarter rear end...
There's absolutely no way you can hurt this thing by taking it apart going to brewer's performance.Buying a rebuild kit and for new synchros...
Simply take the old stuff out and put the new stuff in and reseal it...
I had only one problem.I had a hard time getting into reverse after I rebuilt it.. i thought I'd really screwed up...
Thank goodness for this forum.A member suggested loosening the side cover.Just ever so slightly not enough to make it leak, but just enough and push up on it really hard.And retighten it the side cover...???.. i'm thinking, okay, right, but I do it.It works perfect... thank you forum....
What are you gonna learn taking it to somebody else...
You'll be missing eighty five percent of the hobby...

I agree... with you. Ok, so maybe I might just handle it myself. After watching that video provided earlier in this thread it does look rather easy. Thanks for the confidence boost!

 

[MOPAROFFICIAL]

I agree... with you. Ok, so maybe I might just handle it myself. After watching that video provided earlier in this thread it does look rather easy. Thanks for the confidence boost!

As long as you can press the bearings on n off, go for it. As for j par and taking advice from him.. do so at your own risk.

 

[j par]

I agree... with you. Ok, so maybe I might just handle it myself. After watching that video provided earlier in this thread it does look rather easy. Thanks for the confidence boost!

 

[j par]

I had to dig deep to find pictures of when I rebuilt my transmission kind of out on the back patio of our old house...
If you have any questions, post them, I have the book.I'll take a picture of it.... So you know which one is the best.. of course that's my opinion...
Give me a few hours and I'll go out.And take a picture of it and post it here for you.And if there's anything you need, just ask..

 

[j par]

Now in that picture, I kind of went nuts and bought a bunch of extra stuff while I was in there, like putting steel shift forks instead of the brass ones.And I got new shifter levers, just so they were extra tight where they come out of the transmission and attach to the little ear... probably a lot of unnecessary stuff.But I was into wasting money at that time.I guess l o l...

 

[j par]

Also, people talk about not having room.Obviously that's on a four by four or smaller.Sheet of plywood on top of a pallet on top of three chairs on my back patio... many years of drag racing with wrinkle walled slicks and slightly pulling the driver's side front tire off the ground... " after the first time I ever rebuilt one of these transmissions or ever seen the inside of it..."

 

[Indetrucks]

Now in that picture, I kind of went nuts and bought a bunch of extra stuff while I was in there, like putting steel shift forks instead of the brass ones.And I got new shifter levers, just so they were extra tight where they come out of the transmission and attach to the little ear... probably a lot of unnecessary stuff.But I was into wasting money at that time.I guess l o l...

Thanks for the info and pics. Will have to carve out some time to put the car up on jacks and yank the trans. May be a bit before I respond with any Q's

 

[j par]

Thanks for the info and pics. Will have to carve out some time to put the car up on jacks and yank the trans. May be a bit before I respond with any Q's

Remember, it's just the four bolts holding the transmission to the bell housing.You don't need to take the bellhousing or the clutch off...
I bought a cheap transmission jack from harbor freight...
But i've used my jack and tried to balance it on there.It's a little tricky but doable... one thing I like to do is take one of those scissor jacks that are in a lot of the foreign cars.You can find one dirt cheap at the junkyard, but they don't hydraulically lose height over time, and I like to put one kind of under the bell housing.So the engine doesn't sag backwards too much, and maybe have your distributor hit the firewall..

 

[j par]

That one covers almost all of the four speed transmissions, and gives tricks... Maybe later down the road, if you're wanting to do some fancy stuff..
But most importantly, your concerns were how to inspect, and he goes over that with pictures and everything...
My favorite is when he compares the supposed to be famous chevy Munci rock crusher four speed to the mopar four speed, and he kind of chuckles or makes light of how much bigger the mopar transmission is internally..

 

[rwilson]

Hey there! Old thread, but your inbox is full
My name is Chris and I live in Torrance. Been a life-long gear head (49 now) but have limited 4speed transmission knowledge. (long post below, apologies in advance)

So I was browsing/searching for potential shops in the Southern CA area who specializes or is capable of rebuilding my Plymouth 4speed when I came across this thread where you mentioned it's something you might be interested in doing for a fellow member (for a fee of course).

Was wondering if you are still interested in helping a fellow gear-head out with a 4spd rebuild if I dropped it off?
After watching a few videos, I'm certain I can do it myself but I'm not sure what to look for when I have it apart because it's giving me a problem that I may not be able to diagnose due to my limited knowledge. I fear if I just perform a basic rebuild, it may not fix it.

The transmission shifts through all 4 gears fine and goes into reverse ok as well when driven respectfully. The issue is when I'm giving it the beans in 1st gear then shifting to 2nd, it wont go. It's as if 2nd gear doesn't exist. If I'm on the gas hard in 1st, I have to bypass 2nd and shift straight to 3rd when at higher RPMs. When this happens, it will no longer shift into 2nd regardless of RPM unless I either come to a complete stop and shift through all the other gears (including reverse) or I decelerate from a higher RPM in 3rd gear. This seems to "free 2nd gear" up and I'm back to driving the car gingerly so I have all 4 gears again.

What do you think?
Your time is very much appreciated, so thank you!
-Chris

I’m up in Northern California near Sacramento and I do the A833’s for people. Probablya 100 in the last 25 years.

 

[autoxcuda]

I’m up in Northern California near Sacramento and I do the A833’s for people. Probablya 100 in the last 25 years.

Consider a booth at Spring Fling show in Van Nuys? April 18 & 19, 2026

People are looking for specialist like you on West Coast.

 

[Illahe]

I had a reputable shop near Portland , OR that specializes in Muncie’s rebuild it originally. My builder had to send it back to him after it started leaking oil before we even ran it. He “fixed” it and we reinstalled (several years ago). Finally got around to getting the car on the road and she won’t stay in 2nd gear. We ruled out the linkage. Conventional wisdom says it’s the 2nd gear synchros. I’m hesitant to rebuild myself for fear of missing something like this. I’d rather have someone with direct experience with the A833 do it.

The "keys" are likely fkd up. They need to be replaced when the unit is torn down.

The unit is not very complex. Patience, a manual, and a couple of phone calls to Brews and your in business. Set up your bench with a hole in it to locate the transmission steady as you drop in the gear pack. Grease on the rollers in the input shaft bore will hold the needle bearings in place. There is also a sleeve for the cluster gear needle installation IIRC.

The only thing that got me was pinching my finger when I held the second gear slider back while lowering the assembly into the bore of the input shaft. A second person would have solved that.