Moparchat - Home of MOPAR enthusiasts worldwide!



Go Back   Moparchat - Home of MOPAR enthusiasts worldwide! > Technical Forums > Performance Talk

Click here to search for Mopar cars and parts for sale.


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 01-11-2000, 02:03 AM
Tim_K Tim_K is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Southwest Pennsylvania
Posts: 899
Question

I've been thinking about putting a non lockup A518 in my '79 Aspen R/T. The original plan was to just change the 2.71 gears to 3.55's which I already have. But an O.D. transmission would allow me to use 4.56 gears on the street, which would come in very handy in stoplight drag races!
What I need to know, if anyone has done it, is if the floorpan needs to be cut or not. I know I'll need to make a new trans. mount, and that's ok, but I don't want to cut the floorpan or the crossmember. My car has a floor shifter, too.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 01-11-2000, 04:07 AM
dbdartman dbdartman is offline
Inactive User
 
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Trenton NJ
Posts: 73
Post

I did this swap in a 68 Dart. The floor pan was not moved, but the cross member was. I'm not real familiar with the F-body, even though I've been driving one for 5 years (I *HATE* it!). The stock floor shifter will require extensive mods because the mounts for the "through the floor" rod do not exist on the O/D trans. There are other minor mods needed (new cooling lines, kick down, etc), but they are really nothing compared to making new a mount. Thinking about it, those trans tunnels are smaller than an A-body, so I wouldn't be surprised if you needed to do some floor pan mods.

My 2ยข worth!
<font color = 990033>DB</font>

------------------
You're only young once, but you can be immature forever
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 01-11-2000, 06:24 PM
Tim_K Tim_K is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Southwest Pennsylvania
Posts: 899
Post

I expected I would have to make new cooling lines and kickdown linkage, and make a bracket for the floor shifter. Not a problem for those things. Anyone else? How much cutting needs to be done on the floor and crossmember to make it fit?
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 01-11-2000, 06:34 PM
Elwenil Elwenil is offline
Inactive User
 
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: Covington, VA USA
Posts: 345
Post

I'd say most of the rear crossmember needs to come out. You have to think about the size of the tailshaft housing, versus the size of the OD unit. A normal tailshaft is about the size of a beer can where it goes through the crossmember, and the OD unit looks more like the adaptor between a 727 and a transfer case on a 4WD. You really should find one of these trannys at a boneyard and do some measuring to get an idea of what you are looking at.

------------------
~Elwenil~ ~.\|/.~
Elwenil.cjb.net
DodgeChargerSE@aol.com
72 Charger SE
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 01-12-2000, 02:05 AM
Speedy#1 Speedy#1 is offline
Inactive User
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: MICH.
Posts: 166
Post

TIM i have the books on the 79 f-body electrical and chassis-body service manual i'll see what i can find out i had a 77 with 4 speed over drive .Some drunk broad hit it in front of my house and pushed it 2 doors down the street adout 170 feet on a side street.that was the last time i parked in the street ,in fact that was the second time when that car got totaled , i had company.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 01-12-2000, 04:16 AM
dbdartman dbdartman is offline
Inactive User
 
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Trenton NJ
Posts: 73
Post

Tim, the kick down linkage from my 904 worked just fine except for slightly bending the lever on the trans because it was binding up (or was that the column shifter?). Anyway, the cross member & floor shift linkage are probably going to be your biggest problems. Maybe you an convert the stock floor shift to cable operation? I've thought of this for my brother, but changed the whole shifter to an aftermarket. He's in a wheel chair & gets in from the pass side, pulls the chair into the back seat, then slides over. The stock shift lever was too tall & he needed to pull it into first to get by. New shifter (B&M) has a short "console" shift lever that doesn't get in his way now.

Another simple post becomes a novel...
<font color = 990033>DB</font>

------------------
You're only young once, but you can be immature forever!
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
A500/A518 TRANSMISSION IN E-BODY ROBERTL Performance Talk 15 09-06-2007 06:07 PM
A518 In B-body B/RB w/Ultra Bell Dart Performance Talk 24 12-06-2002 11:53 PM
A518 in A Body ?????? LA360Dart Performance Talk 3 09-08-2002 10:31 AM
A518 Tranny B-body retrofit rtriv Performance Talk 0 03-17-2002 06:51 PM
A518 OD in an A-body? goldduster Performance Talk 3 02-08-2001 01:39 PM




All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:06 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
. . . . .