F-body Volare 4 speed

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cmorrow

cmorrow

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Hello All,
I have a question I found a Volare /6 A833 yesterday, well it looks to be an A833 it is a 4-speed. Anyways can this transmission be used behind a 318 if you used a 318 bell housing? And since this was in a Volare how difficult would it be to use in a Duster if you had the Volare linkage and shifter?
Thanks,
Chris
 
most likely will be an 833 overdrive

behind a slant six its most likely the 26 spline output shaft.

get an OD small block bellhousing and it will bolt right up in a duster where a 904 once was as long as your engine was drilled for a manual....most likely it is :glasses7:
 
I knew a guy back in the 80's that had an old Volare wagon with a 360 and a 4 speed.

It can be done....
 
That sounds sweet, I purchased a 68 833 from a B-body already but I think the one from the F-body would be good enough as well. How much horsepower do you think that OD trans can hold up to? I have a 318 now and might switch to a built up 340 in the future, something around 400 HP.
 
cmorrow said:
That sounds sweet, I purchased a 68 833 from a B-body already but I think the one from the F-body would be good enough as well. How much horsepower do you think that OD trans can hold up to? I have a 318 now and might switch to a built up 340 in the future, something around 400 HP.
Click to expand...

the F-body trans will bolt right up but the B-body trans is going to have some issues fitting in an a-body.

If its a cast iron case. 30 spline output shaft then it will take any horse power your SB will throw at it.

If its an aluminum case. 26 spline output shaft ....you may have some problems with higher amounts of horsepower.
 
cmorrow said:
Hello All,
I have a question I found a Volare /6 A833 yesterday, well it looks to be an A833 it is a 4-speed. Anyways can this transmission be used behind a 318 if you used a 318 bell housing? And since this was in a Volare how difficult would it be to use in a Duster if you had the Volare linkage and shifter?
Thanks,
Chris
Click to expand...

It fits perfectly, shifter, linkage and all. The difference will be the neutral balanced flywheel, O/D bellhousing, and clutch linkage for the Duster. The driveshaft should also be good depending on what transmission you have now. It should hold up fine, I'd drain the fluid and replace with 90 wt gear oil. Check seals, and or replace them while it is out.
 
I was always told the overdrive A833 was just as tough as the 4 speed A833. But the way they were designed they just wore out faster. It is still an A833 the gears are just flipped giving an overdrive gear.
 
alpha13 said:
I was always told the overdrive A833 was just as tough as the 4 speed A833. But the way they were designed they just wore out faster. It is still an A833 the gears are just flipped giving an overdrive gear.
Click to expand...

They are close, but not quite as strong.
 
And the large spline Will take at least 430hp, and with 325/50-15DRs, and with a GV shifted WOT, and with Centerforce II. Right up until you forget which tranny is in the car this week, and bang it into "4th". Boom. Its bye-bye O/D.
The o/d is STRICTLY for cruising.I broke a couple of those.

To Alpha; About the only parts that will interchange between those two is the synchronizer assemblies. And certain tail-housings. Oh and the needle bearings. And the Rev gear/pin. And the oil-flinger.And the cluster washers.I think I got it all?Anyway the point is; nothing in the gear-train interchanges. Nothing

To the OP; I put the B-body trans in my S-clone. Very little trouble besides the obvious.A wee bit of grinding on the tailhouse to clear the X-member. And a custom shifter mount.And a custom driveshaft.
I mounted my shifter about 8 or more inches back from the factory A-body location and high enough to be able to insert the top shifter pivot/mtg bolt from inside the cabin. Then I fabbed a custom set of longer,sturdier rods.This put the short-stick shifter between the buckets, very near mid-thigh. Perfect. No more missed shifts.Ever!Of course I had to also fab a new shifter hump, and cut the carpet.
 
alpha13 said:
I was always told the overdrive A833 was just as tough as the 4 speed A833. But the way they were designed they just wore out faster. It is still an A833 the gears are just flipped giving an overdrive gear.
Click to expand...

Earlier O/D's are better, before cost cutting, think cast gears. The main thing for strength is to swap the "floating" countershaft and aluminum housing for the standard main housing and countershaft. That minimizes the built in slop in the O/D's. Some of the input shafts, 30 spline Tailhousings, and first gear are the same as some of the standard 4 speeds but you pretty much need to swap the O/D guts, mainshaft and all. As long as you swap the whole synchronizer assembly they are interchangeable. Obviously 3-4 for 3-4 and 1-2 for 1-2. If you address the slop issue the weak point is the 23 spline input shaft.
 
Yeah, I broke one of those too. Zing. Call the tow truck.
I took the case to a machine shop and had them install steel bushings in the countershaft bores.Otherwise the case seemed to take it.I no longer use that gearset.

-To 66; I have found 2 different gear sets for the o/d box. one is a .71 od, the other is a .73 od.Between these 2 IIRC, the only gear in common is the low gear. The M/D, cluster ,2nd and o/d are all different tooth counts.This is what I found.
-Furthermore, the tooth counts of the O/D M/Ds were both different from any of the other non-O/D gear sets I have; namely; the 2.66 low, the 2.47 low, and the 3.09 low. I therefore concluded that there was no interchange of parts between the std sets and the O/D sets.
What have you found? and do I need to apologize, yet again?
 
AJ/FormS said:
Yeah, I broke one of those too. Zing. Call the tow truck.
I took the case to a machine shop and had them install steel bushings in the countershaft bores.Otherwise the case seemed to take it.I no longer use that gearset.

-To 66; I have found 2 different gear sets for the o/d box. one is a .71 od, the other is a .73 od.Between these 2 IIRC, the only gear in common is the low gear. The M/D, cluster ,2nd and o/d are all different tooth counts.This is what I found.
-Furthermore, the tooth counts of the O/D M/Ds were both different from any of the other non-O/D gear sets I have; namely; the 2.66 low, the 2.47 low, and the 3.09 low. I therefore concluded that there was no interchange of parts between the std sets and the O/D sets.
What have you found? and do I need to apologize, yet again?
Click to expand...

Interchagability is limited. Check out the Brewers performance site, http://www.brewersperformance.com/, there were 3 different gear sets, the two you noticed and another .73 with a different gear pitch, which uses the same input shaft as the 64-65 3.09 first gear. As a general rule it is safe to say what you did, but not necessarily correct. But you better know, or you will get in big trouble quick. No need to apologize.
 
Phew.
For a brief time I broke several of those boxes. I bought a couple of spares. Thats when I discovered the non-interchangeabilities. Two of the failures were my fault (weak O/D gears/ heavy foot). The stripped M/D, I never could figure out.That O/Dset works really well with the GearVendor splitting gears, 3.91s, and a torquey cam.
 
AJ/FormS said:
And the large spline Will take at least 430hp, and with 325/50-15DRs, and with a GV shifted WOT, and with Centerforce II. Right up until you forget which tranny is in the car this week, and bang it into "4th". Boom. Its bye-bye O/D.
The o/d is STRICTLY for cruising.I broke a couple of those.

To Alpha; About the only parts that will interchange between those two is the synchronizer assemblies. And certain tail-housings. Oh and the needle bearings. And the Rev gear/pin. And the oil-flinger.And the cluster washers.I think I got it all?Anyway the point is; nothing in the gear-train interchanges. Nothing

To the OP; I put the B-body trans in my S-clone. Very little trouble besides the obvious.A wee bit of grinding on the tailhouse to clear the X-member. And a custom shifter mount.And a custom driveshaft.
I mounted my shifter about 8 or more inches back from the factory A-body location and high enough to be able to insert the top shifter pivot/mtg bolt from inside the cabin. Then I fabbed a custom set of longer,sturdier rods.This put the short-stick shifter between the buckets, very near mid-thigh. Perfect. No more missed shifts.Ever!Of course I had to also fab a new shifter hump, and cut the carpet.
Click to expand...

Got it, nothing interchanges between the two. I figured it would be more simple since they have the same name.

And the overdrive is for cruise so don't hammer on it. I got that too! ;)
 
If the shift levers sticking out of the side of the 833 OD look strange because one is up and the other down, don't worry. It's supposed to be that way, otherwise you'll hit OD when you're searching for 3rd with the lever and 4th would be a step down, direct drive. Just remember to invert the 833 3-4 lever for the OD transmission.
 
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