Reverse Valve Body and Column Shift

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63TOAD

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I am ordering a trans for my 66 Valiant with a 360 LA engine. I want
to keep the column shift. What do I have to change on the linkage go to a manual reverse VB trans? Staying with a 904. I also had to put a spacer
in to mate the older trans to the 72 360 engine. Any help will be greatly
appreciated. Thanks in advance 63 Toad
 
I don't believe you have to change anything to just shift it except to eliminate the kickdown hardware. But the lack of safety features would be asking for trouble even if you are good at shifting a column. It would be illegal for sanctioned racing and simply not safe on the street if there is no reverse lock-out to prevent accidentally downshifting into reverse. Also, a "no braking" low gear valve body can cause problems on the street. No positive "stops" for each gear can also be an issue.

Will you be using proper weights on the converter or a B&M 360 LA flexplate for proper balance?

Early 904 and 727s had a smaller converter snout, so the spacer to fit the bigger 360 crank register was the proper thing to do. Early & late converters don't interchange in the transmission because of spline count.
 
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He said "reverse" VB. That would be that much safer with a column as "missing a ****" would simply skip up to the next higher gear from low. So a column shift would be safe, but not necessarily "positive." You can miss second!!!!
 
67Dart273 said:
He said "reverse" VB. That would be that much safer with a column as "missing a ****" would simply skip up to the next higher gear from low. So a column shift would be safe, but not necessarily "positive." You can miss second!!!!
Click to expand...

I understand that he would be shifting away from neutral. But he would be downshifting towards reverse. Also, downshifting from 3rd, missing 2nd and going into 1st at a higher rpm can cause problems, with or without a low gear braking VB, including locking up the tires.
 
RAT ROD AL said:
I never had an issue on the street or strip.
Click to expand...

I don't know exactly what valve bodies people have run with a column shift, but I have seen and heard of a few people doing it successfully. Since I don't know the skill level of the OP or others that make be following this, I figure it would be prudent to point out the possible problems from the uncommon use of a manual valve body with a column.
 
RMVB with column shift user for 25+ years on the street. Daily drivers. It's second nature for me. I usually don't downshift to first unless I'm stopped/crawling. Not much downshifting to second either, usually not much reason.
 
My question was what do I need to go to a reverse
valve body as far as shifter linkage. I know I can remove the kickdown linkage. I am kinda unclear
as to what I need as far as matching the trans to the motor.
 
Simple solution. Most drag strips are pretty flat. Just don't down shift. When I had my Valiant, I rarely ever down shifted on the street. With 4.30 gears and the car's light weight, it just wasn't necessary most of the time.
 
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