I've been planning on painting my 65 Dart for a while now, but I wanted the engine bay done also so I finally got the nerve to pull the engine and transmission. The car ran well before, but now that I have it out i'd like to freshen it up. It is an automatic transmission, and it does leak some where the cables go in. This transmission must be slightly different than other years. If I were to rebuild my transmission with the v8 guts, would there be any problems? I also just found a 79 volare that runs great,.. body is shot, but I can get that transmission cheap. Is there a possibility of using this tranny? I am planning on building this car up fairly well, so any insight is very appreciated. I'll probably post on the engine forum also, because I want to build my engine up also, but I'm thinking I may be better off building the later volare engine and head, and leave mine alone since it runs well. Thanks.

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65' Dart. A work in progress..
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Joe

Welcome to the forum

The 65's trans is special and you should rebuild it so you do not have to change the linkage. (cable linkage in 65, mechanical linkage rods in 66 and later set-ups)

On the 79 engine, it has a cast crankshaft which is OK but the 65 forged steel crank is stronger.

Keep asking questions and search the forum for info. lot's of info is already posted. Also review the articles section of the site, good stuff there also.
DD

Thanks Doc. I guess I'll be rebuilding the 65 trans. I hope to make it stronger. I've been told that I can change 1st gear to give me a couple of tenths in the 1/4... Is that true? I've already got an 8 3/4 rear end for it, I just have to get it installed. I still have 9" drums in the front which I just rebuilt, so I want to use them a while before putting the 10" drums with the 8.75 rear.

Thanks.

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65' Dart. A work in progress..
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Joe

Too bad you did not score a 1980 or later set-up, those have the 2.75 'low first gear' or wide ratio gearing. This can be swapped into you 65 trans. for a little better start-off gearing.
DD

Do you know where I might be able to purchase the 2.75 first gear? I think I can find a 80's slant six tranny. Is that gear present in trucks also? Thanks.




Joe

Hey Joe,

Good to see another Carolinian on the board - I'm in Chapel Hill. You can use the later V8 guts. I would recommend using the standard pre-80s gears with a high-stall torque converter, the lower 1st and 2nd gears in the later transmissions have too much split IMHO.

Happy building,

Lou

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