cuda 4speed conversion

[redcuda]

I have the bellhousing off of a 66. but when I put my 10.5 flywheel on the crank the starter will not fit. Is there a 9'' flywheel or something? are they hard to come by, and what engines used them? Its going on a '68 318 engine. Thanks in advance!

 

['64 Cuda]

There was a 9.5" (IIRC) clutch with the smaller cast iron bell housing used in the early A body cars. Not sure when they switched to the 10.5" clutch. The smaller clutch uses a corresponding smaller flywheel. Somebody on here has mentioned getting a heavy duty 9.5" clutch somewhere. If you're piecing the whole thing together I'd recommend getting the 10.5" parts. Easier to find. You can try to source as much as possible from people here or other sources & the rest (or all of it) is available from www.brewersperformance.com

 

[chewy]

The 9.5" clutch and 10" clutch used the same flywheel. (10" was the HD). I just put a replacement 10" clutch when I installed the new engine. Carquest had the best deal. Carquest Clutch Set Part# 05-004

 

[chryslerfat]

I have the bellhousing off of a 66. but when I put my 10.5 flywheel on the crank the starter will not fit. Is there a 9'' flywheel or something? are they hard to come by, and what engines used them? Its going on a '68 318 engine. Thanks in advance!

In order to use that bell you need the smaller flywheel.

 

[caferacerx]

what you need is the correct BELLHOUSING for your car, you don't want to use the crappy early (66 and back) set up when you have a later (67 and up) car the smaller set up sucks. the later larger clutch set up is far better, sell your early bellhousing to someone doing a resto and get the correct one, you will be much happier in the long run

O.K. what year is the car 66 or 68? either way you can use the later clutch bellhousing and flywheel in an early car by getting a conversion Z-bar from brewers, the early flywheels are 122 tooth and the later ones are 130 tooth

 

[redcuda]

what you need is the correct BELLHOUSING for your car, you don't want to use the crappy early (66 and back) set up when you have a later (67 and up) car the smaller set up sucks. the later larger clutch set up is far better, sell your early bellhousing to someone doing a resto and get the correct one, you will be much happier in the long run

O.K. what year is the car 66 or 68? either way you can use the later clutch bellhousing and flywheel in an early car by getting a conversion Z-bar from brewers, the early flywheels are 122 tooth and the later ones are 130 tooth

Its a 66 car with 68 engine, I do have an aluminum bell housing... probly off an e-body? they look very similar side by side. I'd like to use it because I have the flywheel and clutch setup that was with it. but I was worried about clearence and fitment in that older a-body. what do you think?

 

[DonPal]

On a slant six the 122 tooth flywheel(approx a 11 1/2 dia) comes in two versions determined by the crankshaft flange diameter:
1) approx 1 9/16 dia
2) approx 2 3/16 dia

I'm not sure if the 318 followed the same case.

1968 slant six was the crossover year between the 1 9/16 dia & 2 3/16 dia. The smaller diameter was used in the earlier years. Maybe the 318 was similiar? Having a crank flange diameter would be useful.

Either a 9.5 dia clutch & PP assy or a 10 dia clutch & pp assy can be used on the 122 tooth flywheel on slants. I've tried both clutches on the same flywheel & prefer the smoother action of the 9.5 dia.

The extra force required to operate the 10 clutch will also cause a 60's "Z" bar clutch torque tube assy to fail quicker. If you compare an 80's slant six truck "z" bar torque tube (which had the 10 inch clutch) to your "z" bar torque tube assy you will see a large difference in diameter & thickness of the parts making up the assembly.

My 65 Dart was converted from an auto to the aluminium 4 speed OD assembly similiar to what your doing. My dart crank was not reamed for the crankshaft pilot bushing. I found NAPA had a "problem" pilot bushing that was undersized for such a situation. Maybe your 318 has this situation?

 

[chewy]

The extra force required to operate the 10 clutch will also cause a 60's "Z" bar clutch torque tube assy to fail quicker. If you compare an 80's slant six truck "z" bar torque tube (which had the 10 inch clutch) to your "z" bar torque tube assy you will see a large difference in diameter & thickness of the parts making up the assembly.

I had to weld my z-bar back together about 2 years. It had wore/tore on the one end. Rounded it out and laid a solid bead and ground it off.

Added metal to the ball studs and ground to make them round again at the same time.

 

[grimreaper]

I've switched the early As from the 122 tooth flywheel to the 130T with appropriate bell housing a few times over the years. I rounded up a B-body big block fork (if I recall they're just a hair under 12"), use the pivot from the small bell housing, shorten the tube on the original Z-bar and modify the Zbar ball mount for the bell housing side so it lines up squarley. I know all of the parts can be purchased through Brewers too.....

 

[cudamark]

You already have the correct bell housing for the car so why not just get the correct flywheel and a HD clutch for it? You can use the 10 1/4" slant 6 van clutch on the stock 273 flywheel if you use allen head bolts. This way you can use the stock '66 clutch linkage without having to make stuff fit. The flywheel you need can come from a '64-8 273 engine. It will bolt right onto a 318 (or 340 for that matter)

 

[caferacerx]

the smaller clutch and bellhousing are only available in a three finger borg and beck style pressure plate, the 67 and up style 130 tooth set up is available in a diaphragm type pressure plate which has the advantage of greater holding force AND lower pedal pressure so less wear and tear on the car and your leg, just make sure the aluminum bellhousing fits the trans, there are 3 different bearing hole sizes, here is the link to the conversion Z-bar
http://www.brewersperformance.com/proddetail.asp?prod=TS636

and here are some more 4speed info links

http://www.slantsix.org/articles/4-speeds/ODA833fourspeed1.htm

http://www.brewersperformance.com/

http://www.passonperformance.com/

http://www.darkside.ca/a-4spd.asp