A518 and 450 horses?

[wallyghs]

I'm looking for a tranny to put my behind my 360 in an '81 M-body. The rear gear is going to be a phord 9" with 3.70:1 gearing and a locker. Tire size is as yet undetermined, but will be around stock for these cars. I can get you a rough number if it will help.
Question is, will an A518 mount up, work with, and hold up to a 'built' 360. Desktop Dyno shows the 360 making 450 horses @ 5500 rpm and 455 ft/lb of torque @ 4500 rpm.
I would REALLY like to run an overdrive in the car as this will need to serve as a daily driver at highway speeds. I suppose you can say i want the best of both worlds (or all three), acceleration, cruising RPM, and reliability.
I'd be willing (actually eager) to convert the car to a manual if anyone has seen it done before and knows how to fabricate or where to get an appropriate pedal assembly and possibly a linkage.
If an A518 will not work or won't hold up against the 360 I've been told that an A904/A999 style transmission will be up to the task if treated nicely.
Any transmission will receive the hardest shifting shift kit i can find (recommendations please) as well as any modifications required to make it live.

Finally, i'll give some engine specs in case that will help...

360 .030 over
Pocket ported 587 heads, port matched 2.02 in 1.60 ex (have flow #s available)
KB107 pistons
10:1 CR (approx, may be closer to 9.8 - will get exact #)
750cfm edelbrock carb
Mopar M1 single plane
CompCams 20-74 Solid Roller (.570in .576ex 282 dur)
ignition will be MSD pro billet and digital 6
exhaust will be 1 5/8" primary headers to 3" collector with 3" exhaust back to cats h pipe and flowmasters

Car is a heavy M body ('81 LeBaron). I plan on using the car primarily as a street/strip car, but it will be daily driven. If I must run a 3speed I'd prefer the efficiency of the 904 but an overdrive would be wonderful on a poor college kids wallet! Thanks all!!!!

[rumblefish360]

It will bolt up to the engine fine, the rear of the tranny is a fat one, so cutting the floor up will be needed to make it fit nice. The tranny mount is different. A little custom work is in order I believe.
Shorter driveshaft is needed.

The 518 is a 727 with the OD added on. The OD unit will not take abuse at all. So don't shift into OD when your on the hammer. You will fry it up.

A manual tranny set up may be possible. What other car line is closest to the M body. Contact Keisler . They have Tremac 5 spd kits for the older more popular cars. Perhaps, if under the dash is similar to older cars, you can make it fit in.

http://www.keislerauto.com
865-609-8187

[wallyghs]

Thanks for the reply. What kind of 518 should I look for (46RE or what?) I don't plan on using the overdrive anywhere except on the highway back and forth to class, so abuse on it will be very minimal. As long as the rest of the tranmission will hold up. I looked at the keisler setups and that's a bit too rich for my blood. Would be a nice idea and i'll run it by the ole pocketbook a few more times before i dive into a 518.

Another tranny question, the diesel 618, does that share a bellhousing pattern with the small block? That's just a curiosity question.

[pcrmike]

Get an A-618 for the Cummins diesel, swp the guts into a v-8 (A518) bellhousing, use the governor for the v-8, and the v-8 rear band. I run this combo in my truck spec'ed out below. Desktop Dyno shows my engine at 369 hp @ 5000 rpm, and 425 ft. lbs. of torque @ 2000 down to 404 @ 4500. The truck weighs 5300 pounds, and I run the heck out of it. Shifts are firm, etc. Why run the diesel/V10 guts? Because of this: The v-8 motor runs three-pinion planetary gearsets in aluminum cages. The 618 runs 5 and 6-pinion planetary sets in STEEL cages. Heavier, yes, but bulletproof. Get the 93-95 tranny for the steel sets (or ask for them from the tranny shop) and get ready, cuz it's heavy! On mine, the OD takes it's punishment well, cuz I run 4.10's, in the rear, and I manually shift overdrive. The reason these burn up it farts who drive with a load at 1200 rpm, and the front pump is not turning fast enough to keep it cool. Run a big cooler, and when you wire the tranny, run the three wires, one for 12V, one to a toggle for OD, and if applicable, one for lockup. you can email me direct for more info. Mine has been in and driven regularly for pulling trailers, hauling wood, 8,000 pounds of dirt or gravel, grossing out on the scales at 13,891 lbs. Got down the mountain, and drove it all the way home in OD. I run all the locals around here with the "Frankendodge" which is as ugly as sin, but the mechs make it great to me. Email me direct if you like at pcrmike@bscn.com :-) PCRMike

[fastmopars .inc]

have a friend with a 500 hp 408 stroker running the a-518, he even accidentally hit o/d at the end of a pass (left it on because he drove it to the track) he has never had a problem but insists on rebuilding it every winter. i don't like the idea of the diesel internals for a drag car but if reliability is a major concern i can't see the tranny being the first to go if you take this route.

on that same note, my dad's 94 cummins with the auto had gone through 3 trannies before being replaced by (hope your sitting down) a chevy travel van. and he isn't hard on vehicles. the most it ever had to do was tow a 70 runner through the mountains, and while it had loads of torque, the chev van can handle the same task and also hasn't cost him a 1400 dollar tranny yet. i would never have experienced this problem because i know that you don't order an auto when you could have gotten a manual =)

so if anyone can find a cheap and in good condition 360 3/4 dodge van (fuel injected) i can probably swap it out with the chev without my dad minding. his only reply to my criticism has been "find me a dodge for the same amount and i'll gladly buy it". i guess the only problem with driving the best is that you can buy the shit for less money and it will still do the trick as long as you get rid of it before it can throw a rod on you.