: I just found a 4 speed from a 1977 Dodge D100
: short bed half-ton pickup, with a /6, at a
: local salvage yard. Will it swap into my
: 1966 Valiant wagon, which currently has a
: 225 /6 from a ?75 Aspen? What other parts
: should I grab from the donor truck ( i.e.
: shift linkage, bellhousing, clutch, etc)?
: Will I need to change crossmember that holds
: up the trans? Are there any modifications
: that I need to do (i.e. shorten the drive
: shaft)? Will a floor hump from a Duster
: ,which had a 3 speed on the floor, work?
: What parts do I need to buy new when I do
: the swap (i.e. clutch, throw-out bearing,
: etc? Any tips would be appreciated. Please
: email me at <A HREF="mailto:theluketribe@hotmail.com">theluketribe@hotmail.com</A> .

:
: there were two type of 4spds installed in
: trucks in those years. one is the A-833
: overdrive 4spd which is basically a
: passenger car 4spd and shifts like one. The
: other 4spd is the A435 which is a huge truck
: 4spd that shifts like a truck with a truck
: "granny low". the 435 requires a
: huge bellhousing (BH) and a 143 tooth
: flywheel. the combo of the BH and the 435
: wouldn't fit in an A-body unless you hacked
: the firewall and the trans tunnel to
: pieces,,, and of course the shift knob of a
: 435 would probably bang into the rear view
: mirror on a A-body do a quick
: identification: the 435's shifter is
: integrated into the top of the trans, on a
: 833 OD, the shifter is side hung on the
: tailshaft and the trans is a side loader.
:
: If its an 833 in a truck, its a long tailshaft
: 833 unit and it won't really work in an
: A-body. It could be made to fit, but it
: would require significant modifications: the
: trans mount on long tailshaft 4spd
: (B/E/truck) sits farther back than the A/F
: body 4spd so a custom lower crossmember
: would have to be fabricated. A long
: tailshaft 4spd in an A-body will place the
: shifter directly in the path of the upper
: crossmember that goes up and over the trans
: and joins the the two t-bar mount frame
: rails. you'd have to cut this crossmember
: and either try to build a second one behind
: or ahead of the old one, or drive without
: one (not advised at all!). It might still be
: worth while to grab the long tailshaft OD
: 4psd to raise funds for the A/F body unit.
: The A/F OD 833 is much more common than the
: B/E/truck 4spd. they sell for $60-125 when
: priced right. They used to sell for $25-60
: just a few years ago, but then Hot Rod
: magazine (and a few other rags) labeled them
: "rare and exciting" and the price
: doubled.
:
: lets say you find an A/F OD 833 to install in
: your early A!!! Here is the lowdown: your 66
: driveshaft will work, no problemo. you'll
: need a 75-80 6 3spd/4spd BH, dust shield
: and inspection plate along with the matching
: clutch fork (note the OD BH clutch fork is
: the long one that was also used on LA V8
: BH's. and not the smaller 6 fork used on
: sixties G/RG 3spds and 4spds). you'll also
: need to the right flywheel to mate to your
: 75 crank... (question for Doc. Dodge: what
: year did the 6 crank flange
: flywheel/flexplate bolt pattern change?) if
: nothing else I can tell you that your 75
: crank will not work with a 67 or earlier
: flywheel (center register is sized
: different). the A/F body G/RG BH requires a
: smaller 124-some-odd tooth flywheel that was
: used on all passenger car 6 3spds and
: 4spds. I think the truck OD BH used a larger
: flywheel, perhaps a 130 or 143 tooth unit.
:
: if you are currently running an automatic: you
: need a 63-66 A-body clutch pedal setup, your
: crankshaft needs a pilot bushing, and you
: need to cut a big hole in the floor to
: accomodate the 4spd shifter and shift rods.
: Of course, you'll need to cover this hole,
: the 4spd hump to use is the 64-66 4spd
: A-body hump with can be somewhat elusive,
: but not impossible to find (there was one at
: Carlisle last week for $85, Brewers used to
: produce fibreglass repros, and I've seen 3
: in junkyards in the last 3-4 years...). It
: doesn't have to be an original hump, you
: could fabricate a suitable cover out of
: sheet metal. you also need a 63-66 3spd/4spd
: z-bar (torque shaft).
:
: there are a bunch of other small details I'll
: be glad to go into if after all this you are
: still interested in talking about it... by
: the way:if you had gone to Carlisle last
: week with the idea of collecting all the
: required parts to "OD-4spd-ize" an
: A-body, you could have done it for anywhere
: from $200 to $500 for everything....
:
: Included URL has some 4spd A-body info and
: trans
: ID info...
:
: good luck!
:
: Doug Ahern
: Athens GA:

:
: there were two type of 4spds installed in
: trucks in those years. one is the A-833
: overdrive 4spd which is basically a
: passenger car 4spd and shifts like one. The
: other 4spd is the A435 which is a huge truck
: 4spd that shifts like a truck with a truck
: "granny low". the 435 requires a
: huge bellhousing (BH) and a 143 tooth
: flywheel. the combo of the BH and the 435
: wouldn't fit in an A-body unless you hacked
: the firewall and the trans tunnel to
: pieces,,, and of course the shift knob of a
: 435 would probably bang into the rear view
: mirror on a A-body do a quick
: identification: the 435's shifter is
: integrated into the top of the trans, on a
: 833 OD, the shifter is side hung on the
: tailshaft and the trans is a side loader.
:
: If its an 833 in a truck, its a long tailshaft
: 833 unit and it won't really work in an
: A-body. It could be made to fit, but it
: would require significant modifications: the
: trans mount on long tailshaft 4spd
: (B/E/truck) sits farther back than the A/F
: body 4spd so a custom lower crossmember
: would have to be fabricated. A long
: tailshaft 4spd in an A-body will place the
: shifter directly in the path of the upper
: crossmember that goes up and over the trans
: and joins the the two t-bar mount frame
: rails. you'd have to cut this crossmember
: and either try to build a second one behind
: or ahead of the old one, or drive without
: one (not advised at all!). It might still be
: worth while to grab the long tailshaft OD
: 4psd to raise funds for the A/F body unit.
: The A/F OD 833 is much more common than the
: B/E/truck 4spd. they sell for $60-125 when
: priced right. They used to sell for $25-60
: just a few years ago, but then Hot Rod
: magazine (and a few other rags) labeled them
: "rare and exciting" and the price
: doubled.
:
: lets say you find an A/F OD 833 to install in
: your early A!!! Here is the lowdown: your 66
: driveshaft will work, no problemo. you'll
: need a 75-80 6 3spd/4spd BH, dust shield
: and inspection plate along with the matching
: clutch fork (note the OD BH clutch fork is
: the long one that was also used on LA V8
: BH's. and not the smaller 6 fork used on
: sixties G/RG 3spds and 4spds). you'll also
: need to the right flywheel to mate to your
: 75 crank... (question for Doc. Dodge: what
: year did the 6 crank flange
: flywheel/flexplate bolt pattern change?) if
: nothing else I can tell you that your 75
: crank will not work with a 67 or earlier
: flywheel (center register is sized
: different). the A/F body G/RG BH requires a
: smaller 124-some-odd tooth flywheel that was
: used on all passenger car 6 3spds and
: 4spds. I think the truck OD BH used a larger
: flywheel, perhaps a 130 or 143 tooth unit.
:
: if you are currently running an automatic: you
: need a 63-66 A-body clutch pedal setup, your
: crankshaft needs a pilot bushing, and you
: need to cut a big hole in the floor to
: accomodate the 4spd shifter and shift rods.
: Of course, you'll need to cover this hole,
: the 4spd hump to use is the 64-66 4spd
: A-body hump with can be somewhat elusive,
: but not impossible to find (there was one at
: Carlisle last week for $85, Brewers used to
: produce fibreglass repros, and I've seen 3
: in junkyards in the last 3-4 years...). It
: doesn't have to be an original hump, you
: could fabricate a suitable cover out of
: sheet metal. you also need a 63-66 3spd/4spd
: z-bar (torque shaft).
:
: there are a bunch of other small details I'll
: be glad to go into if after all this you are
: still interested in talking about it... by
: the way:if you had gone to Carlisle last
: week with the idea of collecting all the
: required parts to "OD-4spd-ize" an
: A-body, you could have done it for anywhere
: from $200 to $500 for everything....
:
: Included URL has some 4spd A-body info and
: trans
: ID info...
:
: good luck!
:
: Doug Ahern
: Athens GA:

: There are two mounting points for the shifter
: on the long tailshaft 833 tranny. One is
: right at teh tail and one is where it would
: be on the flange tail shaft 833 tranny (Ie
: same length from the nose of the
: inputshaft.) Howcome they made the stinger
: housing out of castiron? Has anyone ever
: seen an aluminum one?

: Yeah, the front shifter pad is for B-body and
: the rear is for the E-body. The only
: aluminum 4spd housings I know of.... lets
: see, there were some
: aluminum OD units, most were cast iron...
: Direct Connection made an aluminum case back
: in the seventies, rare as hen's teeth now
: and expensive to boot!

:
: Let me try and wade through this topic, because
: it's a good one.
:
: The first OD units to arrive on the scene in
: 1975 I hear came with cast iron housings
: (and some in 76 also). I hear all the units
: after 76 are aluminum (including the
: tailshafts.) The close ratio 4-spds for cars
: got redesignated A-822 according to the 1976
: Service Manual specs (never seen one).
: Not all truck OD tranny's came with long
: tailshafts, in the last of the slant truck
: run about the mid 80's, Dodge put
: "short" boxes into their trucks. I
: know this because I just rebuilt a 1987
: dated A-833OD tranny for my Feather Duster
: (installed by the previous owner). You may
: have more luck in that year range of Dodge
: Ram for a better fit. (You should still be
: able to use the bellhousing from any 75+
: truck/car with 4-spd or 3-spd).
:
: hope that helps,
:
: -DusterIdiot
:
: P.S. Gary, I still have that Super Six for ya,
: I will be in your area visiting family on
: Aug.19th,
: e-mail me.

: Now I am more confused than ever.