I bought a 4 speed at the Fall Carlisle On Friday. I have several questions.
1. I think it is an overdrive tranny. I thought this when I saw the size of what should be the gears for 3rd. I shifted it into this gear and turned the input shaft. The output turned about 1.3 turns. This would be correct for a 0.73 output ratio overdrive.
2. The numbers stamped on the passenger side do not match any website that I find for decoding them. There is a picture attached.
3. The bosses for mounting the shifter near the end of the tail shaft have no holes drilled and tapped in them. Is this normal?
I was on the fence about whether I wanted to get an overdrive transmission. Now that I bought one, I think I am off the fence. I does look like the gears are in good shape. I plan to clean everything, replace all the bearings and put it back together. Not too bad for a rebuild I think.
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Thank you.
Pie date wheels are saying it was cast in 1982 or 1983.
1 - correct it is an OD trans , alum case & will have a 5.125 front brg retainer diameter , the Truck & van was .71 od , the A body used .73 with a different set of gears
2 - 82/83 would be correct
3 - The later Od trans had the rear bosses for the shifter but they were not tapped , it is not hard to drill the holes & tap them fro the shifter mount pad , you can get the Pad new from Passon or Brewers , use tapered allen head bolts & locktite to mount the plate .
The shift rods will also be available from the same suppliers , the front 3-4 shift lever is inverted on the shift plate on the trans , you will have to bend the shift rod slightly to clear the crossmember under the car
You can use a belhousing with the large 4.80" brg retainer hole & just have the front retainer milled down to 4.80" to fit
A driveline should be able to get a rebuild kit for it for around $170 this will include new brgs , syncros & gaskets , they can be tricky to assemble as you have to drop the counter shafy into the bottom of the trans then install the mainshaft & tailhousing assy upside down then lift the countershaft or as I do it drop the counter shaft into place with the whole trans upsidedown into place then slide in the countershaft pin & last rotate the tailhousing 180* & bolt it up .
I think you're running a big block. Build it with a nice fat torque curve and a set of 3.91 gears. It'll work quite well.
I've got one of those set aside for when the day comes. I can hardly wait. It came with a 71 vintage bell housing that I think was opened up for the 5.125" bearing retainer. If I had my druthers, I'd have turned the bearing holder down to fit the bell housing. I also fell into a stock '70 small block bell housing for $50 so I am covered either way if I want to go with a standard A833. I haven't opened it up yet but I was told it's in A OK shape, hopefully will look as good as yours.
I've got 3.55 gears now and I think I might go with the 3.91s with the OD trans. On the other hand, if I stroke the 340 to 416 or replace with a 408, I may keep the 3.55s because 450+ lb ft of torque will get the car moving just fine without steep rear gears. Also need to decide on stock clutch actuation or hydraulic throwout bearing, which is where I am leaning.
I prefer the hyd system but not cheap
I've had a bit of luck scrounging the parts and I think I'm only in a bit over $400 for the trans, shifter and rods, bellhousing with fork, TO bearing, flywheel, and usable three-finger clutch. I need the pistol grip handle, clutch pedal conversion, and either mechanical linkage or hydraulic. I've got a bit of room to splurge on a hydraulic unit which will be easier to make work with the headers. If I can borrow a pistol grip to trace a copy of, I have a crazy idea to cut one out of SS bar stock, forge the shape, weld/shape the bolsters and carve the grips from some really nice walnut I have left over from a rifle stock project. Got to have something to do inside during the winter, right??
The only draw back to the od trans was the aluminum case. It was common that the front bearing would get loose and spin causing a loud squeling. You can drill a hole in the front bearing retainer a put a set screw in to ensure that it doesn't do that.
Quote from: gzig5 on October 07, 2019, 05:40:53 PM
I've had a bit of luck scrounging the parts and I think I'm only in a bit over $400 for the trans, shifter and rods, bellhousing with fork, TO bearing, flywheel, and usable three-finger clutch. I need the pistol grip handle, clutch pedal conversion, and either mechanical linkage or hydraulic. I've got a bit of room to splurge on a hydraulic unit which will be easier to make work with the headers. If I can borrow a pistol grip to trace a copy of, I have a crazy idea to cut one out of SS bar stock, forge the shape, weld/shape the bolsters and carve the grips from some really nice walnut I have left over from a rifle stock project. Got to have something to do inside during the winter, right??
Sounds like a great plan to build your own Pistol Grip !
Since this is the OD tranny, what Hurst shifter do I need?
The normal Hurst E body shifter & rods will work fine , I prefer the 70 T/A shift levers as they have 2 holes & you can move the rods closer to the pivots & shorten the throw
Quote from: Chryco Psycho on October 07, 2019, 07:35:15 PM
Quote from: gzig5 on October 07, 2019, 05:40:53 PM
I've had a bit of luck scrounging the parts and I think I'm only in a bit over $400 for the trans, shifter and rods, bellhousing with fork, TO bearing, flywheel, and usable three-finger clutch. I need the pistol grip handle, clutch pedal conversion, and either mechanical linkage or hydraulic. I've got a bit of room to splurge on a hydraulic unit which will be easier to make work with the headers. If I can borrow a pistol grip to trace a copy of, I have a crazy idea to cut one out of SS bar stock, forge the shape, weld/shape the bolsters and carve the grips from some really nice walnut I have left over from a rifle stock project. Got to have something to do inside during the winter, right??
Sounds like a great plan to build your own Pistol Grip !
I'm a glutton for punishment.
I wasn't aware of the special shifter for the TA. Happen to have a pic? Quick search came up empty. That might be interesting to play with to adjust the feel/throw of the shifter.
The tabs have 2 holes in them for the rods to go into. One hole is in the normal place and the other hole is closer resulting in less throw. It's a great mod.
The shifter is the same , only the shift levers on the side of the trans differ as Sheldon described
Quote from: Chryco Psycho on October 07, 2019, 09:42:08 PM
The normal Hurst E body shifter & rods will work fine , I prefer the 70 T/A shift levers as they have 2 holes & you can move the rods closer to the pivots & shorten the throw
Quote from: RUNCHARGER on October 08, 2019, 07:08:07 AM
The tabs have 2 holes in them for the rods to go into. One hole is in the normal place and the other hole is closer resulting in less throw. It's a great mod.
Learned something new this morning. :drinkingbud:
:bigthumb:
Quote from: RUNCHARGER on October 08, 2019, 07:08:07 AM
The tabs have 2 holes in them for the rods to go into. One hole is in the normal place and the other hole is closer resulting in less throw. It's a great mod.
Ok, I did see some pics of the tabs with two holes, but they weren't described as the ULTRA RARE TA ONLY version so I figured it was just a design variation. Thanks.
Does anyone have any experience with turning down the front bearing retainer to fit the bell housing? I have a friend that is a hobby machinist that can put it is his lathe and make it smaller. It looked to me like it may be getting close to the bolts to make it small enough to fit the bell housing opening.
My friend had a lathe at the pool hall where he worked to make cues , we just used that to turn them down , I probably did 20 of them with all the conversions I did , it works just fine :bigthumb:
Jumping in on mine for this as well. Mostly to allow better highway driving. Willing to sacrifice some of the gearing range so I can quit staring at the tach during the miles of driving.
:popcorn:
Quote from: GoMangoBoys on October 08, 2019, 02:27:59 PM
Does anyone have any experience with turning down the front bearing retainer to fit the bell housing? I have a friend that is a hobby machinist that can put it is his lathe and make it smaller. It looked to me like it may be getting close to the bolts to make it small enough to fit the bell housing opening.
You should be able to go into the bolt counter bores and turn down the heads of the bolts or use cap screw if you have to. If you had room you could just redrill the hole pattern on a smaller circle but I bet they made it the size they did for a reason. I wish I had held on to the Rockwell 14" lathe I used to have, it would've been perfect for jobs like this or flywheel and brake parts. The 10" machine I use now is a little tight on how much it will swing.
IIRC when bearing come is turned down it will partially break into the bolt holes. Bolts can remain untouched. Just hand grind 4 clearance notches into bell housing diameter to clear them. Simple dremel job in 4 places.
An item not being discussed if going the other way and boring out the bell housing. The larger diameter hole will break into the mounting bolts for the bracket that holds clutch pivot fork in place. Semi simple fix by welding on a mounting tab on opposite side and thread tapping bell housing for new location.
Quote from: YellowThumper on October 09, 2019, 12:19:35 PM
An item not being discussed if going the other way and boring out the bell housing. The larger diameter hole will break into the mounting bolts for the bracket that holds clutch pivot fork in place. Semi simple fix by welding on a mounting tab on opposite side and thread tapping bell housing for new location.
I think I remember seeing this in my bellhousing and is why I mentioned I would go the other way and turn the bearing down. For me, just another check in the column of a hydraulic throwout bearing, which won't use the fork.
Here is a follow up for thread because I have both versions readily available.
I chose to purchase larger opening bell housing.
Larger opening in bell housing is appears to be clearance for 4-5/16 (4.313) diameter. Rough with calipers is 4.330.
Bolt circle for bolts on trans appears to be 4-3/16 (4.19).
This would leave only 1/16 (.063) past their centers remaining to capture bolts. Not something I would trust.
Possibly if front nose AND bellhousing were bolted on at same time and both had same shoulder height for bolt head to tighten on.
Pics also of the fork hinge plate mounting differences.
Their respective locations are the same. Only bolt mounting is different.
The retainer can be turned down to the 4.80 size Only , Not the 4.35 size , you need the bellhousing with a 4.80 diameter hole .
Milling the front retainer down to 4.80 you will not get close to the bolts & there is no need to clearance the hole for the bolt heads .
There is No Way to mate the OD with the 308 front brg into a 4.35 belhousing , don't even try !!
The 4.35 used the smaller 307 front brg & uses a smaller bolt pattern so the retainer & case are different , the 4.80 & 5.125 use the 308 larger front brg FYI
I want to be sure you see this post
@GoMangoBoys (https://forum.e-bodies.org/mlist/gomangoboys_5265)
:bradsthumb: