Okay I thought I had settled on keeping the 904, getting a late model lockup and saving the cash for a Gear Vendors OD unit. Wrong!

I've made up my mind that I'm going to go ahead and do the A833OD conversion. I'm going to get a junker late model tranny and work on rebuilding it and collecting the other necessary parts needed while I run the 904 (hey it still shifts great. No need to replace it yet). I was planning on sourcing one from a mid-late 70's A body, and looking at the rebuild kits available (planning on getting one from Passon Performance unless any of you guys have any recommendations), I can find a kit for '68-'74 trannies. My understanding is that this is simply for non OD units and that the only difference between OD and non OD was the fact that the 3rd gear was replaced by the OD gear and the 3rd-4th shift lever was reversed. I'm assuming that I can still use the '68-'74 rebuild kit for a mid-late 70's tranny (I already know to avoid ending up with a truck tranny). Correct?

I've also been eyeballing their "slick shift" kit for when I rebuild the tranny. Anyone have any experience with this?

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'74 Duster w/ HEI ignition, beat to snot suspension, A904, 8.25" 3.55 SG rear, still being tuned up and gets 17 MPG

Know how they always build a better idiot? That's me

Yes and no... the seals are all going to be fine, the synchros should be fine... the only thing that may be a problem will be the larger bearing retainer seal and the front replacement bearing (which should be the larger 308 bearing...)

If you get one that has the aluminum housing... check the threads in the bolt holes, check for cracks, and you may have to seal the sideplate with 'goop' if things are slightly warped....

-D.Idiot

The slick shift kit is a drag race only modification. You have to speed shift every shift except reverse and rev match if you ever want to downshift.

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Joshua

At this point I'm planning on ordering a new aluminum main case and tailhousing from Passon (which is why I plan on running the 904 for quite a while), and the main case I'll order with a 308 bearing configuration, so I was already expecting that.

Josh, kinda had a feeling the slick shift kit was a race thing (my car is going to be street only). I got entranced by the name "Slick Shift"

For the shift forks: steel or brass? I would expect steel would be best. Am I right?

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'74 Duster w/ HEI ignition, beat to snot suspension, A904, 8.25" 3.55 SG rear, still being tuned up and gets 17 MPG

Know how they always build a better idiot? That's me

I've had good success with Brewer's also... it looks like the RBK10 or 10A for the 1975-1987 A-833OD Truck kit would also work for the 1975-1980 A833OD A/F Body tranny also (all that changes with the truck tranny is the mainshaft and tailshaft length... also there are some differences in the output shaft splinage past a certain point in history too...)

Always call and talk to them before you do the deed, also pull your 'donor' apart, if the main shaft nose is scored or you have lots of metal at the bottom of the case you might need to order a new tranny all together... (been there done that...)

-D.Idiot



http://www.brewersperformance.com/products.asp?id=12

I've heard lots of good stuff about Brewer's too. I'll probably end up ordering my floor hump from them if I can't find a steel one for my year Duster somewhere else. I wonder why they specify different kits for the iron and aluminum main body trannies.

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'74 Duster w/ HEI ignition, beat to snot suspension, A904, 8.25" 3.55 SG rear, still being tuned up and gets 17 MPG

Know how they always build a better idiot? That's me

What is wrong with an 833OD from a truck? Did I miss something here?

TopHat

The guts are fine, the case is fine... but the tranny is long like the B/E body tranny and it doesn't have the shifter mounts in the right places for the A-body... so he'd have a lot of creative engineering like Dave Clement did to get one into his cuda...

-D.Idiot

Passon Performance is a great place to buy from.

Finding a donor car ('73-'76 A-body in your case) is always best, but a '76-'80 F-body could supply the transmission and BH for your '74. The BH side bellcrank (z-bar) pivot is different between A- and F-bodies, as are the pedals, the frame side pivot, and possibly the linkage.

You can get most of the A-body clutch linkage new from Mancini Racing or Brewers, as mentioned above. It's pricey, though- $99 just for the z-bar!

Jopapa,

I have a dissassembled A833OD (complete and no problems) I used it to study the tranny and take pics of its dissassembly for my files. Its bell, aluminum case and cast iron tailhousing are the same total length as the 727 Because it is apart (with components like synchros neatly put together) if you want it at a reasonable price PM me. Save me putting it back together to use this summer. Oh, it is beaded, polished and clearcoated.

rock
'64d100

One thing about the aluminum case 833O.D.trans from what I've read over the years is that with H.P./H.D.use or high mileage the countershaft will "pound out" it's pilot hole in the case.Can't remember which Mopar mag I read 'bout this in but they showed the repair/rectification in pretty good detail.In a nutshell,the pilot holes in the case are enlarged and a steel support ring is pressed into the case w/red Loctite.Some degree of presision required,not for novice DIYer.Passon or Brewer's should be familiar w/this scenario by now.Cast iron OD cases were made,I should know 'cause I have one(NOT for sale!)

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"Faith in Science"

Hi Warren,

What an interesting problem in statics and dynamics! Because I used to teach those subjects I always love problems that get my force arrows moving! I don't doubt you read what you report or that someone could write an article about sleeving the countershaft but would love to know how the author assigned the wallow to a problem with the aluminum case.

In essence, the person who wrote the article described the probability of "slop" in a rotating shaft receiving an input force while being carried in a hardened steel ball bearing as less than that in a non moving, fixed shaft acting as a fulcrum.

In the line of what can happen, most anything can, but an A833 countershaft wallowing out its bore in the aluminum case seems to me nearly physically impossible. I have had many of these I disassembled (good ones, junkers, and parts cases) the last two years to study, use or refresh and sell. As part of my refreshing I always use an expanding micrometer inside those case countershaft bores (in the front and rear of the case) to check for roundness, just because I always look at things when I have them apart. I have never found any ovalness in my small sample, even my strange one with an 18 spline input with chewed up gear teeth (you know what block that likely was behind!).

While a major force applied through the system from the input shaft is radial, the input shaft is stopped from moving laterally, except to the extent allowed by the bearings front and rear and the roller bearings inside the rear of the input shaft. While that lateral force is tremendous it can be calculated and planned for by creating a fulcrum against which to force. The countershaft is this can be seen as acting like a fulcrum and as we know, fulcrums work fine unless they are mashed away from the load (as is suggested in the article you mention) or unless the load against them is allwoed to lift and reload so that the load becomes a hammer and damges the fulcrum and/or the load device. Wear in the input bearings will allow the load to begin to pound, literally. While the bearings of course can wear, if they do wear the sounds produced would let a driver know something was wrong ...if not by hearing bearing sounds by hearing gear sounds. Some drivers will choose to ignore the signs and I guess if let go long enough the countershaft could get pounded laterally.

But I can't imagine that such a bearing wallow induced mismatch wouldn't cause gear tooth failure before it caused a fixed shaft to move sideways in its bore. This is one cause of why we see chipped teeth in a gear set. The minute spaces between the input shaft, its needle bearings, gear sets and the shaft they ride on, and between the cluster gear and its shaft all are spaces that can "absorb" shock, as is the rotational movement of the gears themselves.

In other words there are so many places where misapplied force can cause a problem before the end of the chain, that looking at the last place in the chain where a problem can occcur may not be as useful as looking earlier in the input chain. While the bore may have been wallowed, it may not be an aluminum case problem. This is not to say I don't believe a huge torque input couldn't flex the case and allow a wallowing to occur, merely that I believe a damaged aluminum case is a symptom of another causal agent. I would look at what was going on in the gears and bearings...with audible consequence... I haven't ever found metallugical data that would allow me to decide if the aluminum or the iron case was "stronger", just urban legend stuff of " I saw this" or "Someone told me that". It seems common to think the iron must be stronger for one reason or another, but I can readily envision an aluminum alloy casting as strong in the bore areas as that in any iron case. If the material were all that was involved, and if iron was known to be stronger than aluminum I guess we would have cast iron airplanes...

Oh, this is in no way an attack on you! I love slants because they lead me to ponder such weird things with such mellow people!It is why I am always taking them apart and measuring all kinds of things.

rock
'64d100

The A-833OD aluminum case has had some problems due stricly to abuse, I haven't seen one with a wallowed out hole, but I do know that sticking one behind a HP small block or big block will do that since the force is on the countershaft while in OD (in 3rd the lock collar is coupled to 'direct')...
I have a 1975 iron case, and it'd be fine for such an application, but the difference in weight negates any advantage of putting one behind the slant in a hi-po/drag car...(unless you are in the 275+ club)

-D.Idiot

Thanks dude, now I've gone cross-eyed...

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'74 Duster w/ HEI ignition, beat to snot suspension, A904, 8.25" 3.55 SG rear, still being tuned up and gets 17 MPG

Know how they always build a better idiot? That's me