727 Torqueflite question,need advice.

[Forward_look]

Hi,I’m new here. I had posted this in the “general discussion” threads and realize it belonged here so I’m reposting it.
Im a new member and just joined because I would like to eventually find a 1967 Coronet. I know this isn’t a “B” body question but In my search I recently had a 1970 Duster present itself. It was converted from a 318 to a 360 w 727 torqueflite. The seller says it runs and drives well,but has a broken motor mount and manifold on the drivers side from accidentally being put into reverse when he let his son drive it. He said it was in “D” and at the time in second gear when he tried putting it into neutral and made a loud gear “grinding” sound,locked the wheels and stalled,but after he restarted it that it runs and drives fine. The price seems to be reasonable and the body is pretty decent,but I’m concerned about this and thought I’d get some opinions from the people here.

I know the 727’s are pretty robust transmissions. Do you think if I go to look at this and it drives and shifts alright that transmission and drivetrain are likely ok?
The fact it broke a motor Mount and manifold would indicate the motor twisted pretty hard. Are frames the steering box/mounts on pretty strong? I’d really appreciate any input you guys might have.
Thanks!

 

[pnora]

Story sound kind of shaky. My question is what side mount and what side manifold. Myself I have broke many mounts and never a manifold.

 

[Forward_look]

According the guy the drivers side manifold broke when the engine twisted and it hit the steering box. One of the engine mounts broke too. I suppose that makes sense if it slammed into reverse going forward at 20 mph or so. As another member said,It sounds like he did a half *** job on the linkage because he admitted the indicator no longer lined up with where the lever needed to be to find the selections.
The thing is the seller states it runs and drives and shifts fine. I was just wondering if anyone who’s an expert on these transmissions and cars had has this happened and thinks the trans and driveline are robust enough to not be harmed.

 

[pnora]

According the guy the drivers side manifold broke when the engine twisted and it hit the steering box. One of the engine mounts broke too. I suppose that makes sense if it slammed into reverse going forward at 20 mph or so. As another member said,It sounds like he did a half *** job on the linkage because he admitted the indicator no longer lined up with where the lever needed to be to find the selections.
The thing is the seller states it runs and drives and shifts fine. I was just wondering if anyone who’s an expert on these transmissions and cars had has this happened and thinks the trans and driveline are robust enough to not be harmed.

No one can tell you that with surety. Yes they are tough. Fact is there may or may not be damage. You have a crap shoot here. You need to run and drive it to verify what it does or does not do.

 

[Forward_look]

I kind of figured it would be like that. I just didn’t know if anyone hear had heard of that happening and could tell me what else I need to look for besides checking that it works. I’ll go look at it this afternoon

 

[Don Frelier]

Just be careful if you test drive it.
When the mount is broke it will jump pretty hard on accelleration.
If the hood to air cleaner clearance is tight it can/will dent the hood.
It will also give you some horrific torque steer in this situation (at least with a big block).
Make sure it goes in all gears including reverse.

I wouldn't let a questionable transmission break the deal.
They can be repaired look at everything else.

 

[Forward_look]

Thanks Don. I talked to the guy. I’m going to go look at it tonight

 

[khryslerkid]

Also if the driver's side mount is still broken the accelerator cable can be stretched as the engine raises up and and the pedal goes right to the floor. Wide open throttle will be the result and only shutting off the ignition will shut it down.

Good luck!

 

[Cranky]

Stuck it in reverse and made a grinding sound? Sounds to me like he was horsing around with the shifter and hit park. If you do that going fast enough it'll make a fairly loud grinding sound and if it's slowing down to around 10mph or so, park could finally engage and lock up wheels but it'll just make a grinding sound going faster. Putting it into reverse while going forward will usually stall the engine unless you are hard on the throttle then it'll either break something or spin the tires backwards. How do I know this? Yup....done that....but never broke anything. I would say they are tough.

 

[Forward_look]

Thanks Mr. Cranky,I know someone here had to have done it before! So was it fun? Lol. How fast were you going when that happened?

 

[multimopes]

You could bring a piece of chain with you and tie it from the manifold to the frame on that side temporarily. I had to do that 40 years ago when my 70 Challenger RT 383 broke that mount. Best of luck, I had quite a few A bodies over the years & always had good luck with them. My first car, (A 65 Dart Coupe slant 6), went over 300,000 miles while I hammered the hell out it on a regular basis!

 

[Lefty71]

Welcome to the group. Here's my two cents..... if it ain't rusty, grab it!! Just sayin. And keep Toonses the driving cat (and the previous owners son) out of it.

 

[66Satellite47]

Not sure about the broken motor mounts, That is concerning to me. Hitting reverse was fairly common back in the day. With my drag car, my partner hit reverse after the traps, maybe 112 MPH. spun the car off into the sand. Car stayed upright. Did bend the frame & K member. I don't recall it did much damage to the 727, but I did rebuild it.

 

[dvw]

Reverse loads the passenger side mount, not the driver. Selecting reverse at speed usually breaks the ear of the low reverse band. The entire story sounds suspect.
Doug

 

[451Mopar]

I don't buy the story either, but broken motor mounts are pretty common. The transmission may have been damaged?

 

[66Satellite47]

I don't recall much 727 damage on our 727 with our "hit reverse in the traps". But I'm sure I freshened the 727 just to be sure. All the big parts were fine.

 

[khryslerkid]

The early Torqueflight 8 (First year all aluminum) had a "Reverse blocker valve" which prevented reverse engagement at any speed over 20 mph. Don't know if this setup was continued in newer transmissions?

From the 1962 FSM...

 

[66Satellite47]

Sure don't think so. Later model model with either column or floor shifter could hit reverse from neutral. Push button trans are different than the later models.

 

[451Mopar]

Neutral drop will break drivers side mount and can damage the rear sprag of the transmission.

 

[66Satellite47]

451, I sure agree, a neutral drop will break a lot of parts. Not sure what that gets you for demonstration. Probably hurts more than just the sprag.