I have a 1987 D150 shortbed with an A500 on a slant six. It came from the J/Y and the owner said it was good enough to wreck the 89 Dakota it came out of. Put in new engine and trans. It worked for about 200 miles, then the torque converter locked up and wouldn't unlock. The fluid in the trans is very contaminated. I know the trans needs rebuilt, but what mods can be made to an A 500 to make it more reliable?

Are you sure this is the OD 4spd auto? You need a special adapter plate to mount the A500 to the Slant. I know because I may have the only (other?) A500/Slant combo in existence in my 68 Dart.

I put a used A500 in this car about 40k miles ago and it has worked flawlessly. I did some valve body mods as directed in an old High Performance Mopar mag, similar to 904 VB mods. Tightened up the shifts quite a bit. TransGo makes a nice shift kit for the A500, I've heard.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Yes, it is a 4 speed auto with adapter plate. I guess that makes me #2. The installation turned out to be quite a bit of fabrication. But with a 3.90 S/G in the back, my engine was at 3300 at 65 M.P.H., I needed overdrive.The trans worked good until the converter locked up. It still shifts good, but the only way I can drive it is too let it roll down hill a little then put it in gear. If an A500 is an A904 with overdrive, can I add more clutch plates, and beef it up just like an A904?

You can likely add more clutches, but it is probably not necessary. It should have 4 already in the front.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Thanks Lou. It looks like all I need is a stock rebuild then. What were the valve body mods?

I don't even really remember (8 yrs ago). Somewhere I have that mag, but don't know if I can find it. I drilled a hole, maybe removed one check ball, and replaced a servo spring with a lighter one from the hdware store.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988