Question - slant six w/ 3-speed - can you swap to an A-833 4-speed ?

[conv67bdere]

My Uncle has a 65 Dodge Dart with a 3-speed. And he's thinking of converting it to a 4-speed ( A-833 ).

The questions:

Will the bell housing match up to the A-833 transmission ? As is ?
Will you need to get w new bell hosing to make it work ?

The 3-speed has a bolt on attachment, and the A-833 has a slip-yolk - so a new drive shaft would be part of the process too - right ?

Any and all information would be of great help ! And help my Uncle to decide if it's worth the change ( upgrade ). Thanks in advance for any/all information.

 

[patrick66]

Yes. You need a trans with a short shaft (A-body) as a B- or E- trans is too long. The bell will work with the four-speed. The driveshaft will need to be modded to match up with the four-speed.

 

[mopar 3 B]

There was a short shaft overdrive 4 SPD? What years and from what?

 

[conv67bdere]

Yes. You need a trans with a short shaft (A-body) as a B- or E- trans is too long. The bell will work with the four-speed. The driveshaft will need to be modded to match up with the four-speed.

Thanks for the information Patrick66 -

I assume the B- or E- long shaft would work too but would also need some "mods" to get the trans support to work ?
Or if it's a long trans, is it not going to work at all for this application ? Which is the reason you pointed me to an A-body short shaft A-833 trans ?

Good news - that the bell housing is compatible between the 3 and 4 speeds - good to know - Thanks again ! !

Bad news is the one on CL that we were looking at sure had a long shaft - so it's probably not going to work . . . ARGH ! ! !

 

[71airgrabberRR]

There was a short shaft overdrive 4 SPD? What years and from what?

Yes there is. Try looking for a 4 speed from a /6 Duster from 1974-76. Especially true if you are lucky enough to find a light weight "feather Duster". Seriously, that's what they were called, and will have a short tail shaft housing like you are looking for. Just make the input bearing retainer is the same size as what you have on your existing bell housing.

If you can't find one of these, you can try looking for a 4 speed from a late 1970's to early 1980's Dodge full sized pick up truck. They will have an overdrive gear box, but will have the long tail shaft housing and output shaft on it. These parts will be the same as used on the 23 spline 70-74 dual patterned "B" and "E" body cars. You can swap the short output shaft and extension housings between the two transmissions to get what you want. A little more work is involved, but it's not all that hard to do.

Hope this helps.

 

[A383Wing]

you will need to find a slant 6 4spd..one from a V8 will have the wrong first gear ratio inside

 

[396 Signet]

Good news - that the bell housing is compatible between the 3 and 4 speeds - good to know - Thanks again ! !

Some bad info there, bells on early cars are NOT interchangeable w/ 3 & 4-speeds. The mounting bolt pattern is different. Later bells had both bolt patterns.

 

[A383Wing]

bearing retainer is also different on some models....larger retainer will not fit in smaller bell housing hole

 

[conv67bdere]

Some bad info there, bells on early cars are NOT interchangeable w/ 3 & 4-speeds. The mounting bolt pattern is different. Later bells had both bolt patterns.

Right on the money with this information . . . the bolt patterns were VERY different on the two transmissions . . . Thanks

- - - Updated - - -

bearing retainer is also different on some models....larger retainer will not fit in smaller bell housing hole

Right on the money with this information too . . . the 3-speed had a retainer size of 4 1/4", while the 4-speed had a retainer size of 5" . . .

At least, this one did not work . . . we will keep looking for another one to swap into my Uncle's 65 Dart . . . Thanks for all the information ! ! !

- - - Updated - - -

Yes there is. Try looking for a 4 speed from a /6 Duster from 1974-76. Especially true if you are lucky enough to find a light weight "feather Duster". Seriously, that's what they were called, and will have a short tail shaft housing like you are looking for. Just make the input bearing retainer is the same size as what you have on your existing bell housing.

If you can't find one of these, you can try looking for a 4 speed from a late 1970's to early 1980's Dodge full sized pick up truck. They will have an overdrive gear box, but will have the long tail shaft housing and output shaft on it. These parts will be the same as used on the 23 spline 70-74 dual patterned "B" and "E" body cars. You can swap the short output shaft and extension housings between the two transmissions to get what you want. A little more work is involved, but it's not all that hard to do.

Hope this helps.

This information was right on target too . . . the trans came out of a 74 Duster . . . but, it didn't originally come from that car either,
and the tail shaft was about 16" long ( this is the long tail shaft )
as the short tail shaft is suppose to be closer to 10" in length . . .
and the bearing retainer was not the same size . . .

Thanks - your information was right on target - we did not get this transmission ( even though he was only asking $300 ) . . . we will keep looking . . .

 

[396 Signet]

The simplest deal would be to find a complete setup from a 64-65 slant A-body which is easier said than done. I've only seen a half dozen or so 6-cyl 4-speed early A's in nearly 40 years of screwing around with old mopes. You will be running into various issues (register size, linkage, driveshaft, etc.) if you mix & match. I'd keep the 3-speed, not such a bad unit, I had one that ran nearly 250K miles years ago. They won't handle big torque but are more than adequate for a slant or reasonably powered V8.

 

[Meep-Meep]

I'd stay away from the later model aluminum case 4 spds. Reason is the counter shaft wallows out the bore in the case. However, you can take the gears and install them in an iron case. A383 has the right answer with the 3.09:1 1st gear.