I have a question for you guys; I have an 80 volare 2 door that I am doing a complete restification on. Now please don't kill me but I pulled the slant for a 318 Magnum (Yeah, I know. I was supposed to leave the slant in it) But the Mag was too cheap to pass up, so I couldn't resist. Anyhow, I have 2, A-833 O/D 4 speeds sittng in the shed waiting to go in.
I am definitely pulling the 7-1/4 rear to put in something stronger, so I already know that I will need to cut the driveshaft, but should I put in the long tail all cast iron van tranny, or should I use the short tail like the F bodies would have come with, this one has an aluminum main housing with a cast iron tail? I am building this as a driver/cruiser, not a quarter miler that needs to have every extra ounce shaved off of it. I am leaning towards the van one, the cast iron to absorb any vibrations better, and that would make for a shorter driveshaft also better for a smoother ride. And I would guess that the cast one would be more durable, too. Any thoughts/ideas? I have a few parts in the for sale/wanted post, too.

I have the long tail shaft A833OD in my 68 Barracuda. Beside the drive shaft length issue you mentioned you will also need to fabricate a mounting plate for the shifter. The front mount is too far forward and the rear one is too far back.

On an a-body the I also had to cut off the front most boss on the front mount for cross member clearance and I made an adapter that bolted to the rear mount and positioned the shifter forward to the proper position.

_________________

Dave Clement
68 Barracuda (Hot-Rod \6)
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze4pgxf/

I would use the A / F Body unit, that will be easer to swap-in.
Here is more info. on the differences in the 833's, this article also includes some of Dave's conversion information listed above.
DD
http://www.slantsix.org/articles/4-spee ... speed1.htm