A couple of A-body rookie questions.

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55Redneck

55Redneck

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I've got a 65 Cuda that I really want to put an A-833 four speed in. The car was originally a 273 Commando/Auto car with buckets and a console floor shifter. How much of a pain in the a$$ is this conversion going to be? I'm assuming I'm going to have to modify the trans hump and cut off all of the attachments for the stock console which I'm starting to have second thoughts about because the car is so solid. My next thought is to just stuff a 727 in it and be done with it and have yet another cool car with a slushbox auto in it. I don't have anything against autos, It's just that I really don't want another one. Banging gears floats my boat. If I do the 727 route will I still have to massage the trans tunnel to make it fit?

P.S. Whatever trans I go with, it will have a warmed over 360 in front of it.
 
Redneck,

As an early A-body owner for 20+ years I can say this.....
You can yo-yo engines and transmissions all day, but once you cut the car up, its just another cut up car. If the body is in perfect condition I would leave it as it is, a 360 is ok, a well tuned 904 is pretty good too.

A body with lots of rust to me is easier justified to put in a 4spd only because it will never be a perfect "untouched" car. If you are going to go the route of 4spds and total resto go all the way a commando 4spd formula s gold on gold car is one of the rarest.....
 
If you don,t plan on EVER selling your car,ya go 4 speed.But remember your cars originality is auto and 4 speeds are harder on the car and other susp.parts.e.g rear,u-joints,leafs and you,ll have to tie the frame.Your car was well known for popping out the back rare expensive glass.My 2 cents.
 
Sorry Custom100. The car did not come with a motor so I can't help.

64 BCuda. The car is very VERY solid and the body is pretty much primo. I don't like cutting up cars if I don't have to. My 55 Chevy was such a basketcase when I bought it I had no worries. ;) By the way, this car was a gold on gold car from the factory. I even have the Formula S emblems to go on the front fenders. I won't be putting them on though. It never came that way from the factory and I'm not going to put them on it to make an extra buck or two. Cloners make me wanna puke.

PBD. I can't say that I'll keep this car forever. I may but time will tell from this Chevy guy. I'm going to tie the frame no matter what trans goes in it because when all is said and done, I plan on beating the hell out of this car. It's gonna be a driver that gets raced 2 or 3 times a year. As far as the back glass goes, I have 3 of them so I'm good there. :)

I do still want to know if I have to mod the tunnel to put a 727 in it though.
 
All you need to cut is the floor hump, you can always change it back. Everything else bolts right in, actually pretty easy. Brewers Performance has your early a-body 4-speed conversion parts!! GO FOR IT!!!!!!!! Bang some gears, do what you want, I did and I love the 4-speed!!

www.brewersperformance.com
 
You need to cut the tunnel and weld in a floor hump. No biggie. You need carpet with a molded-in hump too, so it looks right.

You need a pedal assembly too, and bellcrank. Brewers is the best place to find what you need. http://www.brewersperformance.com
 
55Redneck said:
I do still want to know if I have to mod the tunnel to put a 727 in it though.
Click to expand...
Yes you do, but then it would be the same mod with a 10.5 clutch as a 727. I had to fold the lip over on mine where the floor meets the firewall but no big deal.
Early A body cars came with a smaller bell housing with a smaller clutch for the small trans tunnel for your info.
 
64_Barracuda said:
gold on gold car is one of the rarest.....
Click to expand...

Just out of curiosity, why do you say that? I have 2 65s - a Barracuda 273 4 speed and Valiant convertible slant 6 3 on the tree both gold on gold. Maybe I've hit the jackpot!
 
Dartman, I think he is talking about a formula S only 4 sp gold on gold.

I think I read that in one of those muscle car what it worth type books that a formula s gold on gold was the rarest. How they came up with that I have no idea.

But hey I don't won't to ruin your jackpot day!
 
So, go with a built reverse-pattern, manual-shift auto. You'll still be goin' through the gears one at a time. Back in the very early 70s, Had one in my original '69 340 Swinger with 4.89 gears and had to be in 3rd by the other side of the intersection in order to keep from chirping the tires with both the 1-2, and 2-3 shifts.
I plan on something similar in my 'new' '69 Dart when done, but maybe not quite so radical.
 
Thanks for all the replies gang. If I was going the auto route the plan was a 727. I don't really want to go that way though so I guess in the next few week I'll start collecting some four speed stuff and some cut off wheels for my trans hump.:-D
 
55Redneck said:
Thanks for all the replies gang. If I was going the auto route the plan was a 727. I don't really want to go that way though so I guess in the next few week I'll start collecting some four speed stuff and some cut off wheels for my trans hump.:-D
Click to expand...

ok Mark here is your list :::


clutch & Brake pedal with Z bar and all brackets and push rods

Early A body floor hump for 4 speed with shifter boot and ring

Abody 4 speed with Abody shifter and all the shifter rods for Abody And don,t get sucked in on buying a 3 speed with overdrive unless you get the bellhousing with it cause it is not the same as the 4 speed one

Bell housing, Fork , fly wheel for a 360 cause 273,318,340 are differant the 360 is externally balanced so it,s on it own

clutch and presure plate throwout bearing (now you will have to know what size clutch to use cause there is 10,11 inch)

You let me know for sure if this is the root you wanna go and I will try to find some of the hard stuff for you .... But be ready to pay cause most of this stuff don,t come cheap. I had all this stuff that you need 4 years ago and I sold all of it for 1.800. bucks use cause I didn,t know how it was. I have seen this set up for much more. but if you are not in a hurry and you can find a piece here and there then it may not be so bad ..... Let me know Bud whatcha wanna do
 
Thanks for the list Barry. Between your post and fourspeeds link to Brewer I'm sure I can get all the appropriate pieces together to do this swap. I'll give you a call in the next few days because I have an idea or two that might simplfy this whole swap plus a little good news I'd rather not share here in these forums at this time. ;) Email me with a day and time that's good for you and I'll give ya a shout buddy.

Thanks to everyone for their advice so far. It's highly likely I'll be bangin' gears in this one.:-D As the old saying goes, It takes a real man to cut up a classic.:toothy10:

I don't think a trans hump mod is any big deal and if someone down the road if I sell it wanted to do a stock resto I'll still have the pieces to put it back to stock. Obviously I'm not a stock kind of guy but I would never butcher a car either. I just have a few personal preferences that I want, and need to have with this car. The body will remain dead stock other than maybe eliminating some of the exterior trim pieces like the wheel well moldings/rust catchers and maybe one or two other items.
 
I have been through all this with my 64 Dart project

Brewers sells pretty much everything you need to convert to the 10.5 clutch. You will need their fork, fork pivot
pivot points, clutch adjustment rod kit.

TS 636 Torque arm

BSB 636 Pivot mount that goes on the BH ** See below

FP 484 Fork Pivot

CF 702 Fork

AK 636 Clutch adjustment kit

** The BSB 636 will only work with the following bell housing castings

2843887
2892482
3515734

I ended up modifying a 67-70 bracket part number BSB 482. I couldn't get the holes on the bracket to line up to the bell housing

http://www.brewersperformance.com


Give Brewers a call

Good luck
 
Thanks for the info Dart4forte. I don't care if it costs a lot more to do this 4 speed conversion and it sets the project back a year or so. This thing is gonna have a clutch in it (probably a scattershield too). ;)
 
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