68 4-door "Sleeper"
Well... I guess no one gives a **** about this thread. I posted 10 days ago and no one commented. Oh well. I don't really care. Really, what I am trying to do is help others who might want to put a modern hemi into a 4-door, column shift, 68 Dart "sleeper". Considering the small pool of people who might want to do such a stupid thing, the lack of comments is to be expected.
That being said, here is my progress...
I searched for "convert 904 transmission linkage to 727 transmission linkage"
I searched for "column shift 904 transmission to column shift 727 transmission"
I searched for "torqueflite 904 transmission linkage to 727 linkage"
No matter what I searched for, I could not find an answer to my dilemma. So, I am going into unchartered territory.
That is what I am posting today. With the keywords that I posted today, maybe someone else who is looking to put a modern hemi into a 4-door, column shift, 68 Dart "sleeper" will run across this thread and comment. (I don't expect it, though.)
Anyway, here is my update for those looking to put a modern hemi into a four door, 68, A-body Dodge Dart with the column shift, here you go.
From everything I read, no one had any problem converting the shift linkage from a 904 transmission to a 727 transmission. Yeah, right!!!
First of all, the horizontal "bar" is too wide to fit. So, I decided to narrow the horizontal "bar". (I don't know the real name, or I have had too many beers to think of the correct name of the horizontal "bar") I am getting off on a tangent. Back to the subject...
I decided that the horizontal "bar" needed to be shortened.
I cut out this section and rewelded the horizontal "bar". This gave me the correct width.
The bracket that bolts to the transmission was too high vertically, so I created a new one. Now, I created this thing with the captive bolt that you see in the picture. However, I later grinded it off and put on a captive nut, instead. You see, the only way to put in the bracket with the captive bolt was to lower the transmission, put the bracket in, and then raise the transmission. Screw that. Sorry that I didn't take a picture of the bracket with the captive nut but, trust me... that is what I evetually did.
The next picture shows how the alignment of the horizontal "bar" needed to be adjusted. The yellow line is where the horizontal "bar" needs to be fore and aft.
I almost forgot. I am going to have to re-do one of the brake lines for the 3rd time. The brake line will interfere with the column shift. It's a good thing I haven't bled the brake lines, yet.
I finally got the horizontal "bar" in level with no binding.
Now, the problem is with the length of the shift rods. You see, I moved the steering column towards the driver side about an inch. This allowed it to clear the hemi head. Of course, it created a new problem. The shift "rod" (Huh, huh huh... I said "rod") needs to be moved, also.
To make the move, I taped a piece of bailing wire to the shift rod and bent it to the length and angle that I needed.
Then, I found some rod from the kickdown lever rod from the original slant 6 and cut it to get the new rod angle and length that I needed. I will weld it all up tomorrow.
That's all for now. I will repost soon for all of the other people looking to put in a column-shift, modern-hemi, 4-door, 68 Dart sleeper.
Well... I guess no one gives a **** about this thread. I posted 10 days ago and no one commented. Oh well. I don't really care. Really, what I am trying to do is help others who might want to put a modern hemi into a 4-door, column shift, 68 Dart "sleeper". Considering the small pool of people who might want to do such a stupid thing, the lack of comments is to be expected.
That being said, here is my progress...
I searched for "convert 904 transmission linkage to 727 transmission linkage"
I searched for "column shift 904 transmission to column shift 727 transmission"
I searched for "torqueflite 904 transmission linkage to 727 linkage"
No matter what I searched for, I could not find an answer to my dilemma. So, I am going into unchartered territory.
That is what I am posting today. With the keywords that I posted today, maybe someone else who is looking to put a modern hemi into a 4-door, column shift, 68 Dart "sleeper" will run across this thread and comment. (I don't expect it, though.)
Anyway, here is my update for those looking to put a modern hemi into a four door, 68, A-body Dodge Dart with the column shift, here you go.
From everything I read, no one had any problem converting the shift linkage from a 904 transmission to a 727 transmission. Yeah, right!!!
First of all, the horizontal "bar" is too wide to fit. So, I decided to narrow the horizontal "bar". (I don't know the real name, or I have had too many beers to think of the correct name of the horizontal "bar") I am getting off on a tangent. Back to the subject...
I decided that the horizontal "bar" needed to be shortened.
I cut out this section and rewelded the horizontal "bar". This gave me the correct width.
The bracket that bolts to the transmission was too high vertically, so I created a new one. Now, I created this thing with the captive bolt that you see in the picture. However, I later grinded it off and put on a captive nut, instead. You see, the only way to put in the bracket with the captive bolt was to lower the transmission, put the bracket in, and then raise the transmission. Screw that. Sorry that I didn't take a picture of the bracket with the captive nut but, trust me... that is what I evetually did.
The next picture shows how the alignment of the horizontal "bar" needed to be adjusted. The yellow line is where the horizontal "bar" needs to be fore and aft.
I almost forgot. I am going to have to re-do one of the brake lines for the 3rd time. The brake line will interfere with the column shift. It's a good thing I haven't bled the brake lines, yet.
I finally got the horizontal "bar" in level with no binding.
Now, the problem is with the length of the shift rods. You see, I moved the steering column towards the driver side about an inch. This allowed it to clear the hemi head. Of course, it created a new problem. The shift "rod" (Huh, huh huh... I said "rod") needs to be moved, also.
To make the move, I taped a piece of bailing wire to the shift rod and bent it to the length and angle that I needed.
Then, I found some rod from the kickdown lever rod from the original slant 6 and cut it to get the new rod angle and length that I needed. I will weld it all up tomorrow.
That's all for now. I will repost soon for all of the other people looking to put in a column-shift, modern-hemi, 4-door, 68 Dart sleeper.