After all my auto (904) woes, I have started to change my 65 Bcuda to what it should have been from the factory, a 4 speed. I pulled the 904 out today, installed the flywheel/clutch/bell housing onto the engine.

Next I need to figure out how I am going to disengage the clutch (hydro or mechanical and CUT a big hole in the floor for my shifter.

I am using a truck 833OD as that was what I could get locally. I will use the shifter relocator per this article over at bigblockdarts:

http://www.bigblockdart.com/techpages/abconv.shtml

Tomorrow I will install the clutch pedals and get the required materials to move the shifter. Wish me luck.

sb

this did come up not long ago; someone did a long tail 833 OD in a 68 Cuda and I believe there was an Article done here about it. might be of help to you; I did the opposite back in the early 90s; I had a 79 D 100 that I couldn't find parts or a replacement 3 on the tree column readily as this was my daily driver at a time i didn't have the "luxury" of a 2nd vehicle; but I did find a 833 OD from an F body cheaply at the time and wound up making it work in a P/U truck which it did really well; I probably abused that truck by overworking/overloading it way beyond design expectations, more than all the other vehicles I have ever owned, put together! I built a custom flatbed for it and my only "gauge" for being overloaded was whether the side frame of the flat bed (3" channel) rubbed the rear tires yet. 10 Small block Chevy shortblocks and parts to assemble a couple more, in 1 load? (don't ask; favor for a truck-less friend) 2+ yards of dirt on the bed+another 2 yards in a utility trailer made from a sawed in half '71 Chevy Pickup on the ball? Yeah. I USED that truck. Sold it 2X and had it back a while in between! That 833 never gave me a minute's problem; not even a clutch job! I had already previously killed the 8-1/4 (8-3/8? It WAS a truck) and put an 8-3/4 out of a 10 year earlier D 100 into it; my 79 was a shortbed, and conveniently a driveshaft I had left over from a previous thrash job (8-1/4 in place of 7-1/4 in an 84 5th Ave) the stock DS from the 5th that came with it originally when it had the 7-1/4 rear in it, fit my truck perfectly; I don't even remember having to swap slip yokes though its been a few years. Its unbelieveable the combos that are found to work, without having to custom make anything! This was my overworked daily driver for over 7 years. and it still ran when I got rid of it, both times. No power steering OR brakes; still my favorite vehicle I've ever had. I plan on trying the same thing as you are considering, as far as a hydro clutch into my Volare; my 5 speed came out of a Dakota so I'm gonna see how close the Dakota hydro setup comes to fitting an F body with minimal mods. I know itll fit and work perfectly-at the trans end anyways. You'll get there.

Thanks Don. I'm not 100% on the Hydro idea just yet, but the more I stare at it the better it looks.

sb

Well the tranny is in....still need to figure out what to do about clutch disengaging.

By the way, to install this tranny the B-body shifter mount needs to be ground ALL the way off. At least in this early A of mine. Any remnant of the b body mount made it impossible to put the tranny in the tunnel.

This is not for the faint of heart. Cutting a big honking hole in the floorboard is daunting! Anyway, should be on the road soon, I hope.

sb

I cut the top of my 4 speed tunnel off when I dropped my 5 speed in. thats a big hole. I'm not a fan of hydraulic clutch setups at the moment. I recommend exhausting all mechanical possibilities before going down that road.

_________________
64' Valiant Signet 5.9, 64' Dart 170 moredoor 3.7, 67' A100 3.7, 00' Dakota SLT 4.7

I have run into a snag...I need to know how to route the shift rods. I don't have any shift rods at all and I'll need to make my own.

sb

You might check with Brewers. They'll most likely have rods in stock saving you a bunch of time.

I'm using an OD, they don't have a set for it.

Additionally, I need some guidance in regards to cutting the floor pan. What about the crossmember area? There is no room there. I'd like to see pics of a working set up if any one has some.

sb

Talk to Jamie Passon at:
http://www.passonperformance.com/

He can probably help.

bwhitejr

_________________
'72 Duster (Performance 360)
'83 Ramcharger (Performance 318)
'80 TrailDuster (360)
'80 D-150 Truck (See Below)
CompCams 252S, Holley 390cfm, Offy manifold
Ported, Polished and Gasket Matched
P4286813 Springs,0.040 Overbore,
0.090 Shaved Head

Hello,

Glad to see you moving along. First, there are 2 kinds (at least) of hydro clutch mechanisms. I tired both a hydro TOB and a external hydro pull slave with conventional fork and TOB. I loved the ease of work and feel of the pull slave arrangement and it let me use the existing clutch pedal and MC. I had no real way to conect a conventional " Z bar" to my vehicle, thus went to the easily mounted slave. I just didn't trust a hydro TOB inside my bell.

Then, as to shift rods, the lengths depend on which kind of shifter mount bracket you put on your tranny. Mine came with no rods and no bracket. I tried a Ford, Mopar and Chevy bracket. All work but the two non mopar mount at different angles cocked forward and backward from the Mopar. THE cost of the Mopar one is what made me try others before going to Mopar.

I can send you a sketch of how the rods connect from shifter tabs to tabs on tranny, or pics. BUT beware, you will find two kinds of rods, ones that whose diameter mate directly to the tranny tabs, and ones too large (or too small) for the tranny tab holes.

It also is important to observe the way the rods enter the shifter adn the tranny tabs ...some point "in" to the tranny body, some point "out" . I say this because I bought boxes of used rods cheap as dirt and then had to remake them, kinda aggravating but cheap. You CANNOT drill the tranny tabs, the holes in them are case hardened and to driil one you have to anneal the tab, drill it then re harden. I even did this on some as an experiment, but it is too much trouble compared to remaking rods. I would also be glad to send you the exact lengths your rods need to be for a few brackets if you want to try a collection of used ones.

Good luck and its worth it!
rock
'64d100