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Auto to 4 Speed conversion

VFilms

VFilms

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Rebuilding/restoring a '66 Belvedere II. It's a 318 Poly and with Gary Pavlovich's guidance I've upped the cubes a little and installed a new cam. Found a cast iron 4 brl intake manifold with a WCFB. I 'hope' to replace my 727 with a 4 speed sometime in the near future and just now starting to find the needed parts. Can't afford $6,000 for a kit as some have mentioned. My question is this.
Is the clutch ball plate welded to the frame or bolted on. The car is in the shop for bodywork and is miles away so I can't look at it. I see there are ball plates available that bolt to the bellhousing but can't seem to find one for the frame. I'd appreciate any input. Thanks.
 
Think there's a hole in the inner fender to bolt ball stud. mymopar download a service manual.
wed2.JPG
 
The clutch z bar ball frame bracket is located by referencing the locating “slot” on the frame rail.

5EA331DF-20F4-41D1-AB4E-53ED48D79AA2.jpeg 64803DCA-1E30-4960-8221-DE5039FC481E.jpeg
 
Notice the “V” slot on the top of the frame rail toward the front of the car. You place the bracket notch there for reference and burn it in.
 
What they said....all of the above.

One thing did cross my mind...that "maybe" you don't weld that piece onto the frame until the motor/trans/bellhousing is in? You're going from auto to manual and if "something" ended up off 1/4" or something, you could weld it in "true"? Line up the z-bar, tack it in place, then weld? (all this may be unnecessary)
 
That was a concern of mine purplebeeper. There is a bit of liberty on the exact placement.
The idea of the reference slot was so that a line worker could burn that bracket in quickly and have it be within tolerance.
The “ball” feature on the Z-bar allows it to work even if it’s a little “off” from perfect.
Obviously, you don’t want it too far out of wack.

Much easier to weld it in without the engine and trans in, so I made the decision to trust the factory reference slot and it worked like a champ.

My car has never been in an accident and retains all its original metal, so I had that going for me.
 
Welding in the bracket and hump/floor tunnel for the shifter, was one of the main reasons I didn't do my own conversion on my 70 RR. I don't know how to weld or have any equipment to do so.
 
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