What tranny for a 318?

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How much lighter is the 904 ? Back in the 70's I blew 4 904 transmissions , 3 had kits and extra cooler on it , they just did not last . Put a 727 in and never had a problem again .

I believe their about 25 lbs. lighter if memory serves me. I noticed 904's didn't last good back in the 70's too and many guys swapped to a 727 and never had any trouble. The 727 is a much beefier trans. so naturally it'll take more abuse. I wonder if the reason 904's didn't last back then is because 1. a lot of guys didn't know the kickdown linkage also controlled the clutch pack pressure and when not adjusted right it'll trash the trans. pretty fast and 2. shift improver kits back then weren't up to par and caused just as many problems (if not more) than they helped. Torqueflites are very good transmissions but they have a couple things that have to be absolutely right or they won't live. One of those things is that in stock form your not supposed to manually shift them because they'll overlap on the 1-2 shift. You may not feel it but it's there and doing damage. The only torqueflites that were the exception to that rule were the ones used behind high perf. 340's, 440's and Hemi's.

Back in the late 80's to early 90's I installed 2 different brand shift improver kits in different torqueflites and they caused major 1-2 shift overlap. One vehicle was my truck I had to use everyday for work and I had to run it with the junk kit in it for about a month before I had time to take it back apart and put it back to stock. You wouldn't believe how much clutch/band material it had in the pan in just 1 month. I bet if I had left it in the trans. would have not lasted a year and it only had 33,000 miles on it when I put the kit in. Terrible, just terrible. That kit was labeled a Mopar Perf. kit and the other kit that overlapped was a B&M. It was at that time I studied up on how every part worked in a torqueflite so I could figure out why that happened.
 
I have a 74 car, I assume the tranny is original.. if it is, think that kit would work for my tranny? It's a column automatic.

The kit specifically said "60-71 only".

I might be wrong as I mainly know 727's but I believe they changed some seals and possible a bushing size so if I were you I'd get one for your year trans. and you need to verify that since your not positive it's original. The way to do it is look on the drivers side of the trans. right above the pan rail there's a machined pad with numbers on it (might be covered with grease/grime so you may need to clean it to read them). Get those #'s and post them and we can help you figure out what year it is.
 
If you're planning on having some fun with the car, the 904 is much further down your list of concerns than quality U-Joints, in my opinion. 727's behind small blocks are for those "power adder" fellas.
 
Okay cool, I'm on tour right now, won't be back till August 2.. But my mom is also doing some work on the car while I'm gone. I'll call home and ask my awesome mechanical worthy mom to take a look at it..

I have stock u-joints btw. Should I just get some built?
 
stock 7260 u joints are just fine....904 is take alot of abuse....

been using both in race cars for numerous years..
 
904 is the answer. A 727 takes close to 50hp to turn while a 904 is around 25hp to turn. 904 also weighs less. The 904 can be built to handle almost anything you can throw at it.

A local racer dropped 3 tenths in a change from a 727 to a 904.

I even once sold a 727 to a guy that was from behind a /6. The buyer said he really wanted the 727. I don't know why you'd need that for a /6...but hey, it was his $$ and time. Yes, argue all you want but they did make a 727 for the /6.
 
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