18 Spine Aluminum Case A-833 4 Speed Questions

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SuperNovaSS

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I have not had much experience with A-833 transmissions. I got this in on trade the other day and am trying to figure out what it is.

From the little amount I know about these it looks to have an A-body tailhousing and has the stronger 440/Hemi 18 spline input shaft/gears. The part that puzzles me is it is all aluminum. Does anyone know anything about these? Is it an aftermarket piece, factory race unit, a converted late model overdrive tranny, or something else entirely?

Sorry for the poor picture quality. I snapped the shot early this morning and it was freezing outside, well California freezing.



Thanks and happy holidays,

Jason

























 
I'm not super familiar with all the 833 tranny's but it does seem to be that someone could have upgraded this trans with the 18 spline shaft. IMO, it was not needed. The 23 spline can hold a lot of power. If your deadaceded drag racing a car, that would be a different story. (And not a meek double digit 1/4 mile runner either,)

As far as I know, the aluminum case was part of the feather duster package.
 
Several companies, including Mopar Performance made aftermarket cases for the 833. It is either one of those, or someone swapped an overdrive case. Since there are no numbers on the pad, the former is more likely.
 
inertia said:
Are my eyes deceiving me,, or is that a "crash-box", with modified syncros ??
Click to expand...

It just looks "slick shifted" to me, every other engagement tooth is removed but it's still syncronized. Turning it into a crash box would be the next step.
 
I've seen one exactly like that before, except it was painted orange. Aluminum case, and tail, with cast iron side cover, in 18 spline slick-shifted. It had the early-style lockout on the shift forks.

Claimed to be a Hemi Dart piece by the seller and he wanted $250 (1998 price), but I'm not knowledgeable on them (or much else).

Is it just the pics, or has that one never had oil in it and appears to be new?
 
its a modified unit

maybe wrong but mamopar ever made alu a833 with the 18 spline
feather duster (few) hade alu case but never in big block form
hade an OD alu case it was from 1976 f body
its been modified to a a slick shift
and doesnt seem to have synchro ring either

aint gonna be funny on the street but on the track
huuummmmm plenty of fun

did a few like that but the rear end of my car didnt liked it
long long story

my 2 cents
Bob
 
Yes, every other syncro tooth has been ground off for more aggressive shifting. I also got this basket case trans in the trade. It looks to be an experimental unit. The tail housing was broken ans welded as shown. I have been told the tailhousing is 65 race Hemi.









 
The case is definitely aftermarket. Notice the extra strengthening ribs in front of the side cover like the direct connection case.
Direct connection had these available back in the 70s & 80s. I don't believe this is a direct connection case. I could be wrong on this but it is definitely not a feather duster or overdrive case.
There were other companies making aluminum cases besides Mopar. One of them was in Illinois that I know of that also made aluminum heads for both Mopar and Chevy as well as the 833 transmission cases for racing.
This was around 1973. Their name slips my mind right now. I have three aluminum case 4 speeds. All of them a-body all of them different. Two of them 18 spline.
These aluminum cases have been very hard to identify because you almost never see two the same. This has been my experience with them anyway.
Some of the differences are:
Front bearing bore size
With or without pad for Identity stamping
Speedometer hole machined or not
Backup switch machined or not
Chrysler star & casting #s or not
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I am learning more and more with each post.

SSBA,

I'm a bit confused by your post. How do you know it is not a factory case? It sounds like you have seem a lot if these but everyone is different.

You say,"I could be wrong but this is definitely not a feather duster or overdrive case."

It sounds like you know your stuff but it's hard to take much away from that statement.


Thanks again to everyone for all the input,

Jason
 
If it was a factory case, it would have a number stamped into the pad and it does not.
 
I'd think the WB oval logo would offer some proof of identity, but I don't know if that's a foundry ID or a manufacturer ID.
 
Definitely a HP factory piece. Casting number, 3690071, on the main case falls around the the old Direct connection number sequence. Gears are cut differently for 18 splines so you cannot just change the input shaft. Slickshift is another clue as to the intended usage of this box. I'd say you hit pay dirt there. Now, how hard was it used???
 
Hustle Stuff, Direct Connection and Mopar Performance are not "factory pieces". They are Chrysler's aftermarket parts division.
 
Thanks again for the replies. I don't think it was used hard or much at all. In fact, I don't think it was used at all since the syncros were modified. The guy that traded it to me bought it in the early 80's for a 66 Barracuda he was building. Kids came etc. and he never built the car. He traded me the trans, basket case trans, and rearend towards a vehicle. He also traded a few other cool pieces like early Hilborn fuel injection for early Hemi engines. Pretty cool pieces that had not seen the light of day in decades. He knew I was a gearhead and would have a hard time saying no to these parts on trade.

Thanks again guys,

Jason
 
I could be wrong that it is not a direct connection case. The reason is I have seen several direct connection cases, none looked just like yours. But of all the ones I have seen, they all had little differences. I believe they were changed slightly over the many years of production.

I have seen cases like the one you have but was never quite convinced it was made by Chrysler. Some were made in Illinois by a aftermarket racing head company.

It is definitely not a factory feather duster or OD case. These are marked well so they can be identified.

I have seen some aluminum parts that were made by or for Chrysler that are what
I believe to be cheater parts for a racing class they were involved in. Classes like super stock or even nascar. Parts like oil pumps for an example. The cars are not supposed to have aluminum oil pumps but they got snuck in. There is no chrysler part # for this pump but who else would or could have made it. I believe Chrysler gave these parts to their factory teams.

I believe some of the transmission cases out there are these cheater parts.

The direct connection case casting and part #s are in the old catalogs. I believe the cheater parts predate these catalog parts or were purposely unmarked.

Of course I was not there to be handed these parts so take what I type for what its worth.
Basically nothing. I was like you trying to find out what and when on a lot of my old parts
And finally just gave up as they lead to dead ends. Now I just enjoy them.
 
Funny,this post just answered the same questions I have. Not having any real experience with manual mopar trans,I was about to ask almost the same thing.
 
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