Gear Vendors on a A833

[matthon]

What exactly is the A833OD. Is that a factory Chrysler.

Yes sir.
Made in cast iron and aluminum case for a-bodies, iirc just cast iron for b-bodies.

Have a 76 cast iron one in my a-body, a cast iron one on the way for my b-body.

Forgot to mention, need to get the correct 3/4 arm and rod for the shifter.

These are not the Chrysler truck trans or the GM A833, yes GM Chrysler A833, that have a different trans to bell bolt pattern.

If interested:

 

[kreauto]

I bought 3 Passion hemi overdrives. Put one in my 440 6pac cuda with 410 gears. Overdrive is very nice now in that car however it is like driving a three speed with overdrive. I’m not sure I would like it as good with 3.23 gears. That said I put one in my 66 Satellite that was a original three on the tree 273 stock engine with 2.76 gears and you just can’t get a better quieter and driving car. Torque is great down low and unlimited high speed cruising. The third is for a 73 Duster 340 currently original floor shift auto with 3.23 gears. Can’t get myself to switch the most original car I own. Have fender tag 2 build sheets original engine and trans and rear.

 

[HawkRod]

I installed a Gear Vendors overdrive for my 73 Road Runner 340 (416 stroker) with a 727 automatic.

The unit works the same regardless of if it is installed on an automatic or a manual transmission. You can put it in manual mode, and every time you push (or press with your foot) a switch, you engage or disengage the overdrive. This way, you can shift to first gear, first overdrive, second, second overdrive, etc.

The auto mode engages the overdrive whenever you reach a speed of about 47 MPH, regardless of gear (with an automatic, this is almost always third).

I found that the manual mode sucks. Too much going on, and it is really hard to time hard acceleration shifts to optimize acceleration. So the whole idea of a four speed becoming an 8 speed is BS. You'll never use it.

BUT, the unit is strong as hell, and it does work very nicely as an overdrive. Yes, it is "only" .78 to 1, but I found with my 3.55 rear it worked very nicely. I always left it in auto mode and I was happy with it. My 70 Road Runner has a .70:1 overdrive, so it is a more "steep" overdrive, but the GV worked OK with my 3.55 rear in my 73.

Installation: "You need to just dent a few spots on the transmission tunnel to install the GV." BS. I had to significantly bash/modify my tunnel to make it fit nicely.

Bottom line: Once it is installed, it worked very nicely. The reality for me is I left it in auto and used it as a highway overdrive.

Other options are to convert a A833 to an overdrive (Passon Performance does this), but then you end up with 3 gears and OD (I've done this too, and it works well). If you ask me about a choice between a A833 and GV, or a Passon Oberdrive built into an A833, I'll pick the GV OD. It gives you "standard" performance with the four speed plus an extra gear. The Passon setup works well, but you get one fewer gear and about the same OD gearing.

The only other option is a Tremec TKX. Good gearing and a 5 speed, but then you have to cut your transmission tunnel to fit the shifter and that has its own set of issues.

Hope some of this helps...

 

[andrewwoz]

Bottom line: Once it is installed, it worked very nicely. The reality for me is I left it in auto and used it as a highway overdrive.

Other options are to convert a A833 to an overdrive (Passon Performance does this), but then you end up with 3 gears and OD (I've done this too, and it works well). If you ask me about a choice between a A833 and GV, or a Passon Oberdrive built into an A833, I'll pick the GV OD. It gives you "standard" performance with the four speed plus an extra gear. The Passon setup works well, but you get one fewer gear and about the same OD gearing.

The only other option is a Tremec TKX. Good gearing and a 5 speed, but then you have to cut your transmission tunnel to fit the shifter and that has its own set of issues.

Hope some of this helps...

Any chance you have any photos of the tunnel massaging you did for the GV? I have been mostly happy with the Passon OD trans but have been missing have 4 regular gears around town and have been keeping an eye out for a regular hemi transmission.

Also, have you ever driven a manual trans with the GV? I recall someone saying engagement is a bit more harsh than with an auto.