66 dart 904 tranny problems

[mrbadwrench]

the car had been fine no problems left late to run to store and i lost 3rd gear got to gas stion not even 1/8 of mile away from house got gas made it home in 2nd doing 10miles and hr. leaving gas station realised i had no reverse. kind llost here i un hook kick down cable and it work in rev but it wouldnt engage till 900rpm drove to end of stret and it worked in3rd fine didnt make snse. parked car. i was going to to jack up and remove pan before i could i went out next morning came out it leakatleast a qt of trans fluid out. this is a number matching 66 dart great condition except trans and is for sell. on another note an ideas on how to fix my problem i have a 727and a 360 and i heard 727 wouldnt fit. i just need a problem solver or were to start first

 

[fishy68]

Reverse and 3rd gear going out simultaneously generally points to the front clutch pack. Either a blown seal or worn clutch plates. Either of those means a trans. rebuild. As far as the leak you'll just have to climb under it and find out where it's leaking. No way for me to guess that.

Can't say why taking the throttle pressure linkage (what you called the kickdown) off made it work. That's not a good thing to do as that is the pressure regulator that regulates pressure to the clutch packs. If anything it will make a problem like you described worse and if you run the car with it unhooked it'll fry the trans. pretty darn quick.

 

[mrbadwrench]

can i use a 727 trans in place of the 904. and bolt it to the 273. or keep it oringinal and fix 904 and put it back in. i also have a 360 should i build it and put it in with the 727

 

[RustyRatRod]

Yup the 727 will bolt right in. You'll need a different converter and need to shorten the driveshaft and get a new driveshaft yoke because the 727 output shaft is larger and the tailshaft is longer. Other than those differences, it's a bolt in deal. I still wouldn't do it though. I'd fix the 904.

 

[fishy68]

I'd keep the 904 too for 3 reasons. A converter is hard to find that has the pre 68 trans. input splines and a big center button (register) that all 68 and newer engines use, and 2 the 727 is a pretty tight fit in a early A-body so it's harder to work around, and 3 the 904 is plenty tough in stock form up to 425-450 hp. Even then you can use a 904 with more horse power if beefed up. It's your choice on keeping the original engine or putting in a 360. The 360 will make a lot more power especially if built up but the 273 is a fantastic little engine. It's a matter of preference.

If you do put in a 360 the torque converter for the 273 will bolt up but the center button is smaller on a 273 so it'll let the converter wobble and break the input shaft and trash the front pump. You have to get an adapter that slips on the converter register to use it with a 68 or newer engine.