904 Transmission questions

[Odilon_df]

Hi Guys,

I am from Brazil and owns one of each Dodge cars built here until 1982 (including The last Dodge Magnum Produced in Brazil ... yeahh.... the last serial number until dodge leaves our country just 6000 kilometers used ).



I found ,one year ago, a plymouth satellite from USA embassy at Brazil and bought it ... now its time to make it real run.

The original engine was a 318 with an single plane mailfold(no brazilian dodges used it) and a 904 transmission.



I rebuild the engine as listed below:



TRW forged pistons .030

Eagle H connectin rods

Forged crank (stoled from the brazilian 318 between 1969 and 1972.. all was forged)

ARP cilinder heas studs

ARP main studs

Summit Damper

Edelbrock Performer RPM cilinder heads (fully ported here)

Crane Gold aluminium roller rocker arms

Competition cams 288R - Roller camshaft and lifters (288º /565lift) 110º lobe center

Weiand Stealth intake mainfold

Holley 4150 650CFm double pumper.



Ok.... I hope the engine to be strong on the streets (no track intented)



My question... The 904 will work well with these combination of car/engine ? I will rebuild it now.... I bought a complete kit with OEM materials.. any mods sugested ? And about the converter ????? I have no Idea what to use to have a nice street car....


I am plannin to buy a NOS system Mr. Big Shot..... Any comments on this ?



Thanks a Lot ,



Odil

[chromeazone]

Nice car by your description!
You can really do it justice by taking it down to Ipanema Beach and send us some good photos with the young female natives! We know they like fast cars!

Ditch the 904 and go with the small 727 if you can find one. I am sure you can order one from Summit, Jegs or other big catalog sales.
Others may disagree, but Art Carr built 727's (not 904's) back in the olden days of drag racing ('60's) We could not believe that an automatic beat a stick shift at Lions Drag Strip!.
Chrysler pioneered the high performance automatic with a 727.
Send us pics of a 727 with female Brazilian mechanics in thong coverless!

[dart662dp]

the 904 WILL take it, if built properly. get a non lock-up case, pump, input shaft and 4clutch rear drum. gut a 998/999 for the 5 clutch front drum (360 tranny, kinda tough to find most have a 4 clutch front drum. low gear set, sun shel, all planetaries, overrunning clutch drum, governor housing/weights. basically all the guts minus the front pump, input shaft, rear clutch drum, and output shaft. the lock-up unit has a heavier duty extension housing, so try to use it as well, i have shattered a few of the earlier. lighter duty, extention housings-(weak link) so use the later unit with the reinforcing ribs on it. be sure to use the non-lock up valve body as well. 72 up valve body will work on 67-71 cases, but the 67-71 wont act right on the 72 up case. (it'll never shift into 3rd!)
get some fairbanks red clutches or equivalant
cast iron, kevlar lined low/reverse band
HD kevlar kickdown band for an A500 od tranny
texture front drum with single pattern, 80 grit
same to far rear drum
texture clutch steels with circular motion on some pretty rough concrete, dont over do it. purpose being to channel fluid away from clutches/bands to increase friction during clutch/band application. too much fluid under the friction material causes slippage and clutch/steel glazing.
change ALL sealing rings, bushings, etc.. get a set of acumulator springs from an A618 diesel od tranny-makes for a nice, firm, non banging shift, unless you plan to run a manual valve body.
the 2.75 gear set really helps the 904 live, i couldnt keep one together more than 6 months with the stock 2.45 first gear. built the low gear tranny with all the toughest factory hard parts, and some good aftermarket soft parts and the thing has lived for 5 years! 3 of them behind a pretty stout 360, and the past year behind my premagnum 360 with magnum heads in a 87 dodge ram. sooooo the 904 will hold up, you just have to put it together right. it is lighter, more efficient, and therefore faster than a 727. i am not saying it is a better unit than a 727, (i build them too) but it as not as weak as many people think. if you plan on pushing more than 500 hp, do the 727, as high preformance parts are quite costly to make the 904 handle much more than 500hp. there are many serious racers out ther running 904s behind BIG big blocks,(they do have a ton of aftermarket high dollar parts in them) that has to say something. (besides more $ than brains)
just my .02 this ought to get interesting.
good luck

[dart662dp]

oh, the pre 68 904s had small input shafts, prolly why no good for racing in the 60's, and the low gear sets didn't come along till the mid 80's times change

[cageman]

Id stick with the 904, It is just a 318.

I have a decent 360 with a 904 behind it, non lockup, manual valve body, kevlar clutches and a deep pan, I would guess 400 hp, and it lives just fine behind the 360, so It would last a long time behind a 318.

Do you run gas or ethanol on this car, or a mix. Just curious.
I am planning on getting a device from Brazil to convert my Ram to ethanol, I have a friend who bought one from Flextek, it basically plugs into the injectors, and you flip a switch for gas or ethanol, Just wondering if you have heard of it and if you have any feedback on it, thanks.

[dart662dp]

the kevlar clutches work real nice, and take one heck of a beating for a long time. they engage a little better if you do a good rough up on the steels, and actually live longer. same with the kevlar bands. i know some guys that curse the kevlar, say it shitfs like poop, but they installed them them with the the smooth finish drums/steels

[eckertt@epri.co]

We are running a 904 manual valve body with 3500 stall converter behind our 360. With a 292 degree 0.501 lift cam, the 3500 converter works nicely. The 904 has held up nicely, but we are replacing it with a Tremmec 5-speed manual just because we wanted to use a Pistol Grip shifter.

So, anybody local to the Charlotte NC area that wants a nicely built 904 and wants to do some horse trading?

I hate to think what one would spend shipping the thing down to Rio. Been to Rio 3 times as I sometimes work at the Angra nuke power plant there. BEAUTIFUL country!!!!

[Odilon_df]

Hi Everybody, Thanks for the help.... let me give you mor informaion..

1) All my cars run on ethanol , including my daily drive 5.2Dakota ans my wife 300m. Ethanol in Brazil is a very good and economical option (we have natural gas too but not all cities can provide it) . I have extensive studied and teste the conversion the holley carbs to ethanol and the just works ok (a lot of work and irreversible to gas).

2) Its almost implossible to import an 727 ... not for the price only but freight and coustoms ... A U$ 1000,00 727 , plus U$ 600 trom freight Pluss 80% import duties on car parts ans belive me...... including the shipping chargers.. U$ 2880,00. To much money for me.... and stores like Summit don´t accept to declare a lowerr value for the products so...... impossible.

3) There is a Hughs Master racing overhaul kit for the 904 with red alto frictions, kolene steens and kevlas bands... any coments ??

4) I REALLY want to be near Ipanema beach witha that wonderful girls and yah... they like fast cars but , since I live 1200 miles from there I need a really fast car... I´ll send you pictures ASAP.

5) If you need some help from Brazil ou ethanol information I will be pleasure to help (since you never commento to GM ou Ford owners)


BEst regards,

Odil

[DartGT66]

You have good parts in the trans. Keep the pressure up in the trans, kick down linkage must be ocrrectly adjusted. A manual vavle body would be even a better idea. Use a deep oil pan, or deepen the stocker and use an adapter between the filter and the valvebody, and use a good transimission oil cooler. Keeping the transfluid temperature down is the main factor in keeping an automatic transmission alive. All the extra Simca Emisul / Chrysler Esplanada 2.5 hemi engines you happen to have in storage, can be sent here. I'll pay the freight!