6 cyl a230 ?s

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My goal for this car would be a fun smallblock that can run in the 12's. Budget is a big deal for me.

Is rebuilding the 6 cyl a230 I already own not the place to save money to reach these goals? I know it has a low 1st gear, a big split, and yes only 3 forward gears.

If it is worthy to be used. I would just need a new bellhousing correct?(dual bolt smallblock)

If it is not, or I swap it out in the future for a a833. Can I reuse the pedals, bellhousing, z bar etc off the a230 (everything but the shifter/linkage)?.

Transmission tunnel the same?

Driveshaft would stay the same?

Thank you, I am a Mopar novice. Just starting this project and trying to hatch a plan that doesn't waste money or labor.
 
budget is factor get a magnum 318 and add a 4 speed a833 you can reuse pedals but not the torque shaft/bellcrank. and you need a new bell housing for the small block. Drive shaft is the same tunnel will need to be opened up not hard to do and add a floor hump a833 has its own shifter linkages and shifter.

i have a four speed with a 318 magnum rpm air gap stock cam this motor frys the tires alot of torque and the motor was used with 150,00 miles
 
Nice Basin Street Blue Duster in your profile! I take it that's the car for your goal? Is the four speed within the reach of your budget? If you can live with deep rear gears, the close ratio a230 from a 340/383/400 car may put the goal within reach with a small block. But the wide ratio will work with a small block if you don't mind carrying some extra atmosphere in a bottle, or if you have access to a 383/400 B engine on the cheap...
 
mid 12s with a 318LA and A230 is doable, but not on a budget, and it won't be very streetable.
In a 3400# Duster(car and Driver), yur looking at 340 hp, 4.10s and 27 tall tires. Doable with a 318?, yes but a lot of sacrifices will need to be made.
If I recall, there are two versions of the A230
the V8 A230 has close ratios of 2.55-1.49-1.00
and the slanty has wide ratios of 3.08-1.70-1.00

the slanty has a deep low, not suited to a 4.10 rear gear, bur worse is the 1-2 split of .55. With the cam you are gonna need to make a 318 fly, this shift alone will bring your Rs down from 5600 to .55x5600=3100, and the 318 is dead in the water right there. My conclusion is that this is a bad combo.
The Magnum 5.2 starts off with more compression, but again, with the cam required to make 340 hp, she will only suffer a slightly less embarrassing 1-2 shift.

IMO you will need a 360/5.9 based combo, and if on a budget, then a 5.9 is the only option. I still would not keep the slanty A230. But on a budget, you will have to. And that means your 360 is gonna need some juice at 3100.
340 hp is now within reach with a smaller cam, which will help keep the pressure up, which will strengthen the power at 3100. You will still need the 4.10s to trap well. And you will need to have some headwork done and that's where the money is gonna be.

So to recap;
5.9 magnum, worked heads, 4bbl conversion, headers and fat duals, HO fuel pump, new cam, and timing chain set, 4.10 SG/ maybe 3.91s, drag tires, some suspension work. a tach, a decent ignition system to go 5800/6000, a rev-limiter, a helmet, a coolant recovery tank, and I forget what else.
My 367LA powered 68 Barracuda went 106/12.9@ 3650# with 3.55s and an A833. I used a 270/276/110 FTH Hughes cam with .050s of 223/230 and lifts of .538/.549
This is a dynomite street combo, but as you can see it barely made it into the 12s.
If I can; my best advice is to set it up for the street, maybe a slight bias towards the Eighth-Mile, and forget about the Quarter. It takes completely different, NOT STREET FRIENDLY rear gears, between these two contests, and a completely different, also not street friendly, cam. A really good street combo will do reasonably well in the Eighth,with just tires and maybe suspension changes.
Happy HotRodding

Edit;
the A833od trans has ratios of 309-1.67-1.00-.73od very similar to the A230slanty, making 3.91/4.10s more bearable. And these boxes I have found for 50 to 75 bucks at swap meets. I ran one for awhile with the 223cam, it sucked.
 
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My goal for this car would be a fun smallblock that can run in the 12's. Budget is a big deal for me.

Is rebuilding the 6 cyl a230 I already own not the place to save money to reach these goals? I know it has a low 1st gear, a big split, and yes only 3 forward gears.

If it is worthy to be used. I would just need a new bellhousing correct?(dual bolt smallblock)

If it is not, or I swap it out in the future for a a833. Can I reuse the pedals, bellhousing, z bar etc off the a230 (everything but the shifter/linkage)?.

Transmission tunnel the same?

Driveshaft would stay the same?

Thank you, I am a Mopar novice. Just starting this project and trying to hatch a plan that doesn't waste money or labor.
What is the budget?
That's the only way we can offer legitimate suggestions.
12s mean a lot of engine.
Gears, suspension, driving technique all comes into factor here.
The 230 transmission is a good one, but wouldn't be my choice for your goals.
You need 400 H.P. to do this, and it's too weak for that and survive.
You need a 4 speed and a good clutch set up.
A stroker small block with some good heads and compression would be a good choice.
I would look at a Blueprint Engines 408 small block with headers, a 4 speed, and an 8 3/4'' rear end with 4:10 gears and some good sticky tires to achieve this goal.
It would be 10 grand or so, but you would be there.

The floor shift hump in the car already is good to go, and a dual pattern bell housing is good enough.
A scatter shield would be a lot better.
All of the other clutch linkage would be okay as long as it's in good condition.

Boy, it's sure fun to spend other people's money...........
 
And AJ drops the boom of reality again, and is right on the money! With a close ratio A-230 it looks pretty good with the 360 magnum, a 150 shot, and however much gear you can live with in the rear.
But unless you stumble upon either a close ratio 230 or a non O/D four speed that you can afford, I would be looking for an a-998 and buy as much converter as I could possibly afford and run as much gear as I could stand. Probably would be able to make goal without the spray if willing to do the aforementioned head work.
 
And I whole heartedly agree with Garrett, except I personally would stick with the 2.45-1.45-1.00 box which are close ratios, and put the 4th ratio in the TC with a lock up for the hiway. With this combo and a high stall, you wouldn't absolutely need the 4.10s, out of the gate.
A mid-12 is ~107/108mph. with 27" tires, and a 230cam this makes about 5500 as ideal at the top so that would be 3.99s which rounds either way. I choose 3.91s and that would get you ~5500, in 1.00 top gear.
Out of the gate, 3.91s and a 2.45 low will get you a starter gear of 9.58. A good hi-stall will multiply that at zero mph by about 1.8 so now you are up to 17.24
With a 360 launching at 380 ft lbs, your tires are trying to deal with 6550 ftlbs at zero mph, so there is no way you can launch at full throttle without tirespin.
Compare that to the slanty/A230(3.08 low) and 4.10s; I get; 3.08x4.1x380=4800 ftlbs .
Then,60ft out, the TC might be down to 1.4,or so; and I get 3.91x2.45x1.4x380=5100 still 6% more than the A230/4.10 combo.
When you hit second 1.45 ratio, the TC might average 1.3 for the entire duration so;
3.91x1.45x1.3=7.73 ratio, compared to the A230/4.10s at
4.10x1.65was it?=6.77, the automatic still out ahead.
In top gear;
the TC might be average 1.1 or so, and I get 3.91x1.00x1.10=4.30....
compared to the A230 at 4.10x1.00=4.10, the auto still out in front.

The downside of the 3.91/auto combo is; 65=3160 in loc-up, but hey
the A230/4.10s are turning 3310,lol, the automatic is still winning.

Now back up the bus;
With a 360 launching at 380 ft lbs, your tires are trying to deal with 6550 ftlbs at zero mph,so there is no way you can launch at full throttle without tirespin..

what are you gonna do about this? This is why you don't need the 4.10s. You don't even need the 3.91s here !
If this car also has to be a streeter then;
Put an extra 20hp in the engine, reduce the stall, and run less rear gear, and let the Quarter be what it will be. A 13 second street car is still a raging bull.
 
Well said! Oftentimes the people that get a hold of a legitimate 12 second car for the first time start thinking they've overbuilt, especially when they get out just to cruise. 3.55s or 3.73s with the 2.45/1.45 gear set in a 904 and even a quality high stall factory type converter will still need some help hooking up. Every 13 second car I've been in has been fast enough to get you killed, Lol!
 
yeah, what Garrett said..
From my 93 mph Eighth Mile trap speed, the Wallace calculates 433 hp.
From 433hp and my 3467 pound race weight, the Wallace predicts 116mph in the Quarter,from which it predicts a BEST ET of 11.65.
But, my car spent 2.4x seconds just getting to the 60ft mark, and so my Eighth mile took 7.92 seconds, a full second slower than the target best.
Well that same problem exists in the Quarter. So adding 1.0 seconds to the predicted best of 11.65, makes my car about a 12.65 second street car........ with 433hp!
How much would it cost to whittle my ET down to the predicted 11.65ET? IDK, but I'll tell you what; several thousand more dollars that I don't care to spend, so, I let the ET be what it will be.

On the street it is the most fun I have ever had, with my clothes on.
 
Thank you all very much. TO clarify a couple things.

This would be a once in a while to town type street car, with some strip use. I dont mind sacrificing comfort or cruising at low RPM for acceleration. 3k at 60mph would be fine for my uses.

I plan on putting some sort of 360 in it, that appears to be the most realistic bang for your buck.

I would be very happy running high 12's

No hard budget, just $=time.

This car will be a stick regardless of downsides.

You guys are great.

Chris
 
Here you go. 275/60-15 drag radials, 4.10 gears, '71-'74 23 spline transmission with 2.44:1 1st, 1.77:1 2nd, 1.34:1 3rd, Direct 4th.
Here's your 3000 rpm shift graph:
32BAD2FB-4D1D-4810-9469-ED76D4453034.jpeg

And here's your 6500 rpm shift graph:

BE7C9A49-1DEB-4AF9-A058-F7A76DFBD403.jpeg
 
It's a proven combination, there are a lot of folks closer to 11's than to 12's with 360's and this same setup.
 
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