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Parts needed? 3spd to 4spd upgrade
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Author:  EC_CO [ Wed Jan 22, 2025 11:32 am ]
Post subject:  Parts needed? 3spd to 4spd upgrade
As some may know I'm restoring a 1970 Barracuda with a slant six. I'm upgrading the manual 3-speed to a 4-speed OD, and I just got it back from being rebuilt. When I bought it it came with its /6 bellhousing already, I'm pretty sure the shift forks are the same but I'll have to check the length against the one that came with the three-speed. My big question is whether or not I'm going to need a different flywheel and if there's any recommendations on clutches. Any other parts that you foresee me needing in this changeover?


Pics here
https://forum.e-bodies.org/your-restora ... 238/15#new
Author:  Greg Ondayko [ Thu Jan 23, 2025 7:58 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Parts needed? 3spd to 4spd upgrade
I will give you some Ideas when I have time to type them all up for you.

Greg
Author:  EC_CO [ Thu Jan 23, 2025 10:19 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Parts needed? 3spd to 4spd upgrade
Awesome, thanks Greg. I was finally able to put the bellhousings side by side and the huge difference is the clutch fork and how it attaches to the Bell. My older one has the tab style and it's a shorter fork, the new one uses the ball style attachment. I think it may just be best to cut and shorten the new one to the same length as my old one (otherwise I need to try and find the ball type in my length)
Author:  mcnoople [ Fri Jan 24, 2025 6:21 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Parts needed? 3spd to 4spd upgrade
When I was a kid my parents had a few slant e-bodies. Build it to have fun, drive, and be different than everything else on the road or at shows.

I remember a 72 barracuda that got sent to the scrapper, they only made 195 of that particular model/engine combo.

My father spent a bunch of time/money fixing up a 72 challenger with the slant floor shifter 3 speed combo. He planned to sell the car. I don't remember what he got for it, but I know that it was less than what he wanted. I like the slant but if someone is building a car to sell it should be built as a small block. A non original smallblock will sell for twice what an original slant sells for. He made the exact same mistake prior to that with a 65 chevelle 2dr resto, nobody wants a powerglide with a 194 in a shiny red chevelle.
Author:  EC_CO [ Fri Jan 24, 2025 6:34 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Parts needed? 3spd to 4spd upgrade
Quote:
I like the slant but if someone is building a car to sell it should be built as a small block. A non original smallblock will sell for twice what an original slant sells for. He made the exact same mistake prior to that with a 65 chevelle 2dr resto, nobody wants a powerglide with a 194 in a shiny red chevelle.
I'm specifically keeping the slant because there are so few left anymore, more rare than a Hemi Cuda anymore. This one will not get sold, it was my dad's car that I've been restoring for 10 years and it will eventually get passed down to my own son. I even have a dedication plaque on it with all three names and my son will be on the shared title
Author:  Greg Ondayko [ Fri Jan 24, 2025 8:45 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Parts needed? 3spd to 4spd upgrade
Quote:
My older one has the tab style and it's a shorter fork, the new one uses the ball style attachment. I think it may just be best to cut and shorten the new one to the same length as my old one (otherwise I need to try and find the ball type in my length)
You have an '80's Truck Bell - They are not hard to modify for the tab style but you do need the tab mount from some other OD bell housing, as I am not sure if they are shared with the V-8 Bell housings at all?
Brewers' performance may be able to sell you the fork / tab you need a'lacarte, or it may be better to find that bell from an F body - they were used behind 3 and 4 speed OD's by the late 70's and 80's.


If you want to PM me your Number, I can call and chat through what you need to do to use the bell you have, as I have mad the truck bells work in A and F bodies. It's not hard and you need a drill press, an end mill some standard drills and a Tap.

Too much to type up currently.

Greg
Author:  EC_CO [ Fri Jan 24, 2025 2:35 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Parts needed? 3spd to 4spd upgrade
I'll drop you a PM, I'd love to chat. I'm thinking the easiest and cheapest route is to just have the one fork cut/shortened? The only foreseeable issue I might see would be geometry (minor), unless I'm missing anything?

I assume shaft diameters are the same. Not sure if my '70 3spd flywheel is fine or if I'll need one with a different tooth count - I assume since the bell is the same dimensions mine is fine to use.
Author:  Rick Covalt [ Fri Jan 24, 2025 4:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Parts needed? 3spd to 4spd upgrade
122 tooth flywheel for both should be the same. If you were doing a high rpm performance setup you may want to do some upgrades.
Author:  EC_CO [ Fri Jan 24, 2025 6:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Parts needed? 3spd to 4spd upgrade
Quote:
122 tooth flywheel for both should be the same. If you were doing a high rpm performance setup you may want to do some upgrades.
At this point I'm not sure exactly what's going in as far as the motor, it could be a baseline or it could be something with a mid-performance range. I pretty much tapped myself out with body/ paint, rebuilt transmission and all the rest of the parts, by the time I get it back from the body shop at the end of next month I should be able to start putting it all back together with the exception of two items, the motor and a front disc brake kit (and a few other miscellaneous items like the steering wheel adapter for the flaming River column I have). The nice thing is slants pop up on Craigslist a few times a year, so I will probably just end up dropping a baseline in there for now and building a motor later as $$ allows.
Author:  Greg Ondayko [ Sun Jan 26, 2025 6:38 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Parts needed? 3spd to 4spd upgrade
Hello Cole, As per our discussion:

Some Reminders:
Slicing and dicing your existing Ball stud fork to work in your chassis is not a problem.
I did it here with an F body fork (Top) and needed to put the '64 Dart Gland end (bottom fork) on the end of the F body fork for for proper geometry etc.
Image

Measure 2X cut once.
Image

If you are skilled with the welder this is easy (but time consuming) work.
Image
Image

What we are trying to do here is to get your existing Clutch Torque shaft (Z bar) (above the Exhaust and torsion bar in this picture) Perpendicular to the ball stud mount (on the Bell housing) and parallel to the Spot weld seam near the toe box.
Image

When I did this swap in my '64 Dart the Ball stud needed to move a lot to get the angles correct.
As you can see in this picture the ball stud mount from the old 3 speed bell aligns nowhere near correctly on the 4 speed /OD Bell from the F body.
Image

I had to add metal where the lower bolt was and then it was fine.
Image

Hope this helps!

Good Luck saving and documenting those Slant 6 E bodies!

Greg
Author:  EC_CO [ Wed Jan 29, 2025 2:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Parts needed? 3spd to 4spd upgrade
Allllrighty then! I talked with Dan and the best route sounds like I just need to mill off the ball stud mount, drill/tap a couple of holes and use this bracket. My existing e-body outside ball stud bracket should fit and work just fine. Great news! Thanks again for everyone's help, teamwork makes the dream work!

https://www.brewersperformance.com/prod ... hort-fork/
Author:  Greg Ondayko [ Wed Jan 29, 2025 2:49 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Parts needed? 3spd to 4spd upgrade
Sounds Good!
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