Aluminum 833OD behind a 440...your thoughts

Wouldn't be the first 833OD behind a 440, probably won't be the last. It's been done successfully plenty of times. People sell the 833OD's short over and over again.

I've heard of a few that were run on the strip behind 440's in E bodies without issues. If the 833OD is in good condition, it will do just fine, especially on the street. The aluminum tail housings weren't just a "light car" thing, it was also a year of manufacture thing. The 1/2 ton trucks that got 833OD's had both iron and aluminum tail shafts, the early ones were typically iron, the later ones were all aluminum. I have truck 833OD's in both varieties, although they have the longer B/E style tailshaft. The early A/F body style 833OD tails were also iron, they went to aluminum later in production, so the iron A/F body tails were out of A-body's.

If your buddy is concerned about strength, and it sounds like he's putting the transmission together anyway, one thing that will dramatically improve the life of the 833OD behind that 440 is using steel bushings in the case on the ends of the counter shaft. That's typically what wears out on the 833OD, as the countershaft rides right in the aluminum case. Not an issue in low mile transmissions, but as time goes on the countershaft can wear the case, which definitely causes problems. The countershaft had looser tolerances in the 833OD than on the regular 833 to begin with, which didn't help their cause. But if the transmission is coming apart, have the case machined and install steel bushings. There's a magazine article on having this done somewhere. I'll see if I can find it because I know I've referenced it before.

Your buddy could also buy one of Passon's "Hemi OD" kits or transmissions. It has a better gear ratio spread, better mainshaft, 18 spline input, etc. It can also be installed into a cast iron case, eliminating the countershaft case wear issue. [ame="http://www.passonperformance.com/images/stories/passon_documents/Passon_Overdrive_Flyer_20091109.pdf"]http://www.passonperformance.com/images/stories/passon_documents/Passon_Overdrive_Flyer_20091109.pdf[/ame]

What I wouldn't do is run it with 3.23's. The OD gear is .71 or .73 depending on which 833OD it is. 3.73's would be a better choice, even for a 440. A lot of the /6 folks like to run them with 3.91's, but that makes 1st gear pretty darn short.