Alright, here's how it plays out...

• I hate Automatic transmissions, they're no fun.
  The A-833 4-speed OD unit has cruddy gear ratios.
  Overdrive is a must.

So I got thinking, instead of spending thousands of dollars on a performance transmission I don't need, why not use a Dakota 5-speed? I've seen people put A-518's behind slants, so a 5-speed should work too.

Things I know I need...

• Special bellhousing or adapter.
  Pedal assembly and appropriate linkages.

Things I need to know...

• Input shaft dimensions VS. Slants accepted input shaft dimensions.
  Mounting options.
  Transmission tunnel cutting required?
  Gear ratio's

Has anybody done this setup or know somebody who did? Is there anything I left out here? Is this a good Idea, or just the result of too much thinking? Should I just go buy Mcleod's new 5-speed that uses the same dimensions as a stock A-833?

By the way, it's planned to be placed in a 1970 Dodge Dart with 3.91 gears out back.[/list]

Not sure where you got your input...I ran the A-833OD with 3.55's and it was fine on the street...I just changed to 4.56's and I don't see the major drop off in rpm like I did with the 3.55's or worse rear ratios...

I don't think you need to spend $$$, you can just do the search for the conversion here on the board and grab a T-5 out of a Ford in the junkyard or off Craigslist and have a mopar bellhousing modified to accept it.

-D.Idiot

Dakota 5-speed swap has been discussed. Search for it.

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Joshua

Unless you are just daydreaming and have no intent of actually carrying out any of these projects, you're getting ready to ruin your car. You tell us you have almost no money to spend on your car, but your dreams of tearing it apart and completely remaking it with a whole bunch of major modifications continue to get bigger and bigger and bigger. Starting from basically zero knowledge and experience, you're going to go right for the tricky and expensive and difficult stuff.

So no, actually, here's how it plays out: you take the car apart. You quickly run into the limits of your knowledge and money. Those parts that get put back together don't work the way you wanted them to or thought they would. The car's no longer fun or reliable, if it's even still a car. You burn out on it and sell it as a "project" for much less money than you've already put into it.

You've got what looks like a really nice, original, clean, unmolested car there. Why do you want to chop it up? You hate automatic transmissions? Okeh, why'd you get a car with one?

Wanna build up a car to your specifications? You'll be money, time and effort ahead by starting with one that warrants chopping up because it's in rough shape. Keep the one you have the way it is so when the project doesn't work out like you planned (or takes 10x more time and money than you planned...and it will) you still have reliable, classy transportation.

I know this is pointless to say; if I could go back in time and tell my teenaged self all this stuff (or grab him by the shirt, throw him up against a wall and holler "GROW THE F**K UP!" in his face) it wouldn't accomplish anything at all. Tenagers are teenagers, and twentysomethings are twentysomethings; listening to the experience of those who've gone through it before mostly just doesn't enter the picture. Unless you are an extraordinary exception, you'll have to learn this through unfortunate firsthand experience.

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

How 'bout this: I'll trade you straight across, my car for yours!

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O==\=/==O

"A mechanic is Somebody."
- Jim Preston

I have an 833 OD and also don't like it so much either, but they
work well for saving gasoline. In more than 30 years of driving
I've only used an automatic equipped car for a few months.

As your car is an automatic you'd have to gather some parts
to make the 833 work. Obviously the 833 is easier than
something oddball like the Dakota gearbox. I suppose you
could use the non-OD 833 with Gear Vendors OD. But who
does that ?

I would look at a T5, with a hydraulic clutch. If you are like
me and have not had a car payment in 17 years and a paid up
mortgage, then you can pay a bit to do it right. There is no
need to do a hack job as lots of people have experience with
the T5 swap.

Not daydreaming, just thinking. I have no intent to carry out any of these projects unless its a good Idea. I have almost no money because I can't find a job. Major mods, I take it that refers to cutting the transmission tunnel and MINI-tubs? Ok two major mods plus a host of other mods that MANY other people do. I see nothing wrong with upgrading my suspension, brakes and powertrain for a more seat-of-the-pants experience. Yeah speed costs money, that's why it probably won't be done 'till I'm 30. Starting from zero knowledge and experience? I guess I forgot to mention how long I've been throwing in a hand at my best friend's dad's body shop for experience. I'd also like to see you find another 16 year old with as extensive knowledge in cars as me. now I grant the fact that what I don't know far exceeds what I do, but that's why I'm here to LEARN outside of class (right now I'm in the "off semester of auto anyways.)
Actually here's how it plays out: after years of planning and learning (it's going on 3 planning and 7 learning now) and many more years ahead of learning and planning, I don't take the car apart all at once but build my project one section at a time so I can spend money when I'm ready and take mini-projects one at a time (see list ordered list at bottom). The car is already unreliable and it's not very fun when grandmas pass me on the interstate flippin me off cause I'm too slow. And lastly I would sell my soul to the devil before I sold the car.
The car is original. The car will remain nice, clean, and only lightly molested. So lightly in fact, that you'll be hard pressed to tell it's been molested. The car will be far from original but it will appear period correct, the only thing ruining that atmosphere will be the CD player with classic rock playing. I do hate auto transmissions, the only reason I have a car with one is because I didn't find the car and buy it. The car found me and bought me.

You know Dan, you're an alright guy. You tell things the way you see it, like I do myself. But sometimes I really don't like the snide, condescending tone that I hear when I read some of your comments at times. I'm just here trying hard to extend my knowledge and plan a build for my car by asking questions and exploring the thoughts of those who hold more knowledge than I (ex. you). I'll agree with you that 99% of teens are stupid, especially today's teens that go around witht their baggy pants around the ankles, hundreds of tats and piercings, rap so loud you just want to smack them, and complaining that they don't like their brand-ass new car that their parents got them. My peers piss me off just as much as I'm sure they do you. Don't think I'm not aware of the cultral and intellectual stagnation that's occuring in today's youth. Don't group me in with the rest of those spoiled, bratty hoolagins just cause I'm young and stupid (I'll freely admit that). I'm not trying to start anything or make anybody angry, just speaking my mind.


order of work

• Body repairs
  Brake upgrade
  Suspension upgrade
  Suspension tuning
  Power train
  Power train tuning
  interior repairs

But before all that, I have to land a job and get a second vehicle to tote me around while the Dart's off the road being worked on.

Only if you happen to have a 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner or 1970 Dodge Challenger.

Refers to much of what you've been proposing to do. An automatic-to-manual transmission swap is an enormous job even if you're installing a transmission that could've come in the car from the factory. The complexity and difficulty goes way up if you're trying to adapt a nonstock transmission.
There is nothing wrong with upgrading. It's just really important that you have a very clear, accurate idea of exactly what your ideas require in terms of time, money, knowledge, and effort.
Just going off the kinds of statements and questions you've been making (swapping ratios in an A833, etc.). I didn't say it to sneer or laugh at you — we all have to start somewhere! — but rather for the same reason I linked you the other day to my own tale of woe resulting from a situation very similar to yours when I was about the same age and at about the same experience level. That reason is as previously stated: to try and help you avoid the mistakes I made.
Yup, looks that way. Keep in mind that once you've made an irreversible mod (one that involves cutting, for example), the car will never again be original, no matter how much money or effort you put into it.
An interesting phrase...kind of like "slightly dead" or "a little bit pregnant"…?
I am what I am. You are what you are. I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together. If you don't like my posts, please disregard them.
I don't agree with that statement. Most teens are not stupid. Most teens are not yet very mature, wise, thoughtful, or experienced. Fortunately, those conditions are curable. Unfortunately, experience and wisdom are often gained just after we really need them.

I don't necessarily agree there's such stagnation to any greater degree today than there was in previous generations. The particulars of what outrages the older generations about the younger generations shift and drift.
First off, I'm not grouping you in with anybody. Secondly, you're obviously not at all stupid. Stupid people aren't capable of coherently raising topics like cultural and intellectual stagnation, for just one example. And stupid people don't make long-term plans.
Another excellent piece of data showing you're not stupid: you're planning on making the car stop faster before you make it go faster.

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Refers to much of what you've been proposing to do. An automatic-to-manual transmission swap is an enormous job even if you're installing a transmission that could've come in the car from the factory. The complexity and difficulty goes way up if you're trying to adapt a nonstock transmission.
There is nothing wrong with upgrading. It's just really important that you have a very clear, accurate idea of exactly what your ideas require in terms of time, money, knowledge, and effort.
Just going off the kinds of statements and questions you've been making (swapping ratios in an A833, etc.). I didn't say it to sneer or laugh at you — we all have to start somewhere! — but rather for the same reason I linked you the other day to my own tale of woe resulting from a situation very similar to yours when I was about the same age and at about the same experience level. That reason is as previously stated: to try and help you avoid the mistakes I made.
Yup, looks that way. Keep in mind that once you've made an irreversible mod (one that involves cutting, for example), the car will never again be original, no matter how much money or effort you put into it.
An interesting phrase...kind of like "slightly dead" or "a little bit pregnant"…?
I am what I am. You are what you are. I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together. If you don't like my posts, please disregard them.
I don't agree with that statement. Most teens are not stupid. Most teens are not yet very mature, wise, thoughtful, or experienced. Fortunately, those conditions are curable. Unfortunately, experience and wisdom are often gained just after we really need them.

I don't necessarily agree there's such stagnation to any greater degree today than there was in previous generations. The particulars of what outrages the older generations about the younger generations shift and drift.
First off, I'm not grouping you in with anybody. Secondly, you're obviously not at all stupid. Stupid people aren't capable of coherently raising topics like cultural and intellectual stagnation, for just one example. And stupid people don't make long-term plans.
Well forgive me, I'm afraid I just misunderstood the your tone before. Like I said, you call it like you see it and sometimes your a bit more blunt than what I'm used to. I hope you would accept my sincere apology, I jumped on the defensive due to the fact that the majority of adults won't take an teenager seriosly. I still think the majority of teens are spoiled and culturely stagnant. By the way see how they run like pigs from a gun, see how they fly. I'm cryin'.

I'm travelin' down the road and I'm flirtin' with disaster. I the pedal to the floor and my life is runnin' faster. I'm outta money, outta hope, it look's like self destruction. Well how much more can we take with all of this corruption. I don't know why, but I felt that song fit the occasion.

It's all good, bro. Ask Sandy in BC (user on this site) about perception vs. reality of young people.


(but you may want to go in and edit the extra quoting of previous text in your post.)

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Hang out on The H.A.M.B. and you'll think of plenty of possibilities.
Just needs a little "professional" work

http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/1640023058.html

DartMan,

Here is a link to a post where someone put a dakota 5speed behind his slant along with some other links you might enjoy. When I was your age I used to spend hours just sitting in my '66 Coronet and dreaming of all the possibilities. Enjoy it while you can.
I think this swap is do-able, but you will need some help from someone that is a skilled welder/fabricator in order for it to be safe and reliable. I think SixInTheHead has done this swap. He is in Western, NC. Perhaps if you ask nicely, he can show you the challenges involved with this swap.

This should keep you busy for a while:

http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic ... peed#52455

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/ ... 018/page1/

http://www.motivegear.com/tech_info/tra ... guide.html

Scott.

I swapped a 351C and a four speed out of a Mustang into my 1956 F-100 pickup truck when I was in the 10th grade. Had to do it by myself because my dad wasn't into hot rods. I screwed it up of course but it ran and drove okay enough to get me thru high school.

I learned it all the hard way on that project which makes life easier now!