Thinking of going from Automatic to 4-Speed

[BillyBBad]

Well me and a friend have been thinking of what to do to the Cuda and the word 4-Speed poped up.

I have the pedals out of a 69 4-Speed Cuda but no linkage, Bellhousing or tranny.
My question is this...........

What 4-Speeds can I use in the Cuda? Will anything from a SB truck work? I would think they would be fine, I know you can use auto's but wasnt 100% sure on the manuals :scratch: .

Thanks guys.

Billy

 

[mikesduster]

WHY????? :scratch:

 

[BillyBBad]

WHY????? :scratch:

Why you ask?

Hmmmm :scratch:

Lets see....

1. I have allways wanted a 4-speed muscle car
2. It will open a new class for me to run at the track
3. for me it's cheaper then an automatic

This is not a done deal, I may not put one in. This is just a thought that came up and I thought Id ask a few questions about it.
I have always had automatic cars and the idea of a 68 Fastback Barracuda 360 Pistol Grip 4-Speed sounded kinda cool.
We will see what happens, Odds are I will stay with the auto.
But I know Brett has a blast with his

 

[HawaiiDuster]

I guess when trying to cross trannies, the tailshaft and shifter mounting locations would be what you need to match. I haven't had any experience with the truck trans, but I would check tailshaft length and shifter mounting pad location.

I was going to convert the Duster to 4spd for fun, but decided to go back bracket racing.

 

[halfaed]

4 Speeds r FUN! :twisted: :eye:

 

[67cudaS]

don't use the truck tranny. Its a heavy duty, granny low sort of thing. You need a 833 period. The shifter mount is on the very back of the tail shaft housing. The tail shaft housing is specific to an A and F body. 66 A body can be a donor to 67-69 cuda but no earlier than 66 as 65 and earlier have the wierd trunnion thing going on at the rear of the trans where drive shaft connects.

There are lots of little parts to chase as that what I've been doing for about 18 months (I haven't been diligent though). I lack the clutch linkage and then I will have a complete setup.

My 67 cuda was an auto that I'm converting. I did a decent job on welding the hump in by mounting the empty block and trans into the chassis and then centered up the shifter hole of the hump with the shifter mounted up. No guessing if its in the right spot or not. The hump doesn't absolutely fit into one spot.

It would be best to find a donor car with all needed stuff as the little parts are the pain in the a$$. But finding a complete car is a fat chance thing as well. Shifters are pretty easy to find. I see Hurst non-console type A body shifters with rods/swivels/ and handle all day long on Ebay. The clutch stuff is where it gets difficult. Bell housing is particular to whether you have a small or big block. You said you have a 360 so you need a bell with a bolt hole at the 12 noon position on the back of the block. Big blocks don't have a hole there (thats what I have for my 400).

 

[plum360415]

Not sure, but I think some crankshafts didnt have the pilot bearing hole drilled in them if they were for an auto????? Not real sure but I remember something about that,any one heard of this?

 

[dgc333]

Light duty pick-ups and vans came with A833's most were the OD variant that would not be the best choice for a drag vehicle but are great on the street.

The long tail shaft A833 from a van or pick-up (or e, b, c-body) can be used in an A-body, I have one in my 68 Barracuda. The front mount on these trannies is to far forward for an a-body (the mounting bosses wind up under the torsion bar cross member, I had to cut one off to make clearance but denting the cross memeber is another option). The rear boss is about 9" behind where the A-body mount is positioned, I used 1/2" alumium plate to make an adapter to move the shifter forward and another spacer about 1 1/4" to put between the shifter adapter and the 1/2" plate to move the shifter over to the drivers side so it would come through the floor in the stock location. You will need to get the drive shaft shortened. Everything else just bolts up.

If you happen to have a crank that is not drilled or not drilled to the finish size you have options. If the crank is not drilled at all you can cut about 1" off the input shaft of the tranny and use a late model Ram/Dakota pilot bearing that fits the torque converter register. This bearing is a roller bearing verse the bushing that was stock in these cars. If you crank is drilled but not to the finish size NAPA has a special thin wall pilot bushing that fits this size hole.

As far as the hump extension for the floor you can cut one from a doner car or get one new from Sherman. 67_Cuda when I installed mine (removed from a doner) there was not a question about the positioning of it. There was only one place that it followed the floor contours correctly (there was maybe a 1/4" wiggle room). I traced the hump on the floor and cut the floor 1/2" inside the trace marks.