63 Dodge Dart, now let me see;)

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lol, you're funny;) Funny is good;) hm, no wood, but I have a cushy moving blanket, no deck lid latch, so he'll just have to hold it down while I check and mark. hm, just going to go put tools away, and clean up~ I do like organization, or say, less messy, varies from day to day~ lol


JDMopar said:
You go girl !! :) That looks great. Do you have a semi small piece of plywood laying around? If you do, lay it over the spare tire well before you crawl in there with the trunk lid shut to mark your hinge supports before welding them. Having a flat place to lay and wiggle around on beats the heck out of fighting that tire hole! Just in case your husband won't unlatch the trunk to let you back out, you can lay a screwdriver in the trunk to twist the latch with...lol. My veterinarian once told me to lock my wife and dog in a car trunk for an hour, and watch which one was glad to see me when I let them out! So far, I ain't been brave enough to test his theory!

:rofl:
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The shifter hump as arrived;) I was getting a little worried, but usps came through~ Marc (bb66cuda)(did a great job packaging, now a little trimmin and all will be GREAT! ;)

shifter hump Marc.jpg
 
when i swapped to 4 speed in my 68 valiant i fitted small nutserts to the original floor and tunnel around the new hole. that way i could bolt the 4 speed hump in place which with it removed made installing to shifter rods much much easier. just something to consider before you weld yours in place for good.
neil.
 
mygasser said:
when i swapped to 4 speed in my 68 valiant i fitted small nutserts to the original floor and tunnel around the new hole. that way i could bolt the 4 speed hump in place which with it removed made installing to shifter rods much much easier. just something to consider before you weld yours in place for good.
neil.
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Neil, I like your idea!! On my triumph tr6 ,for the trans tunnel, I welded in 1/4 weldable nuts, nutserts sounds easier;) Do you buy those as a kit, like rivets?
 
here's what it looks like and the superb access a removeable panel allows you.
neil.

68 valiant signet 2 door - Page 16

i bought this last december as it's easier to modify and keep within the 8 points rules we have to avoid a biva test. plus i like 60's yanks and it's different and i like different. it's one of only 2 in the uk as far as i know so i'll have a hard job parking next to another one at shows...
forum.nsra.org.uk
 
Thank you Neil! You answered my questions which are in my brain! ;) Do I just cut the hole/access, then put the transmission/shifter up through the hole to make sure the shifter is centered to the hump? I don't have a shifter yet:( guess I'll put out a wanted shifter post now.


1726784282844.jpeg
 
I'm converting my 65 Barracuda to a 4 speed also. I'm going to hold off welding my 4 speed hump in until I get the transmission mocked up. My hump is a 64-65, just like yours. I might be overthinking it, but I'm guessing with that itty bitty hole for the shifter handle....the hump placement may need to be pretty precise. 66 model humps had an elongated hole for the shifter, like later A bodies.
 
JDMopar said:
I'm converting my 65 Barracuda to a 4 speed also. I'm going to hold off welding my 4 speed hump in until I get the transmission mocked up. My hump is a 64-65, just like yours. I might be overthinking it, but I'm guessing with that itty bitty hole for the shifter handle....the hump placement may need to be pretty precise. 66 model humps had an elongated hole for the shifter, like later A bodies.
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yes, it appears to be a tight fit and I too wouldn't weld, or in my case, I'm going to do what Neil did, bolt it in, but still want it centered perfectly;)
 
oh, got a call from the machine shop regarding my slant 6. It was .30 over already, but he said the cylinders were not in good shape, so we're going to .40 over, needed valve guides, so a valve job. He's sourcing the pistons. so that's that:)
 
i pressed the 'hump' down while wiggling it and it settled in one place fitting the floor contours all round. i drew round it and cut the floor about 3/4" in from that line. the hurst comp' shifter with 'a' body bracket lined up in the hole spot on, but as you say the hole's much bigger in the later hump. worst way you elongate the hole and use a different (later) boot and bezel.
neil.
 
Dne007 said:
I was a little motivated today~ got to test fit the 318, looks like the distrubutor may work, it'll be close, but I'm waiting on the correct motor supports to see what that does. A radiator may prove to be a challenge;) Any ideas which exhaust manifolds might work better. The one on the drivers side probably won't work due to interference for the steering column.

View attachment 1716128611

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think I`d adjust that firewall about 1/4-1/2'' before final assembly/hammer .
 
lol, Famous Bob, the V8 is old news~ I'm going with a slant 6, with the super six upgrade. Engine is getting a mod for 9:1 compression;)
 
Neils picture:
1726864069957.jpeg


Do I cut the dog leg out too or leave it like I have it here? and what purpose does the piece serve?
hump outlinea.jpg


hump outline.jpg
 
My plan is to cut straight, being careful not to cut the crossmember. Then tack the dogleg down to the floor pan. On the shifter side, I will leave the floor pan metal on top of the crossmember to strengthen it and also keep crud out. The factory did it that way, so it's good enough for me. :)
 
agreed, cut it straight first and see what's under there. if doesn't ' need' to be cut out why do it. that bit can still be bolted down though. on my 68 i found the tunnel wasn't spot welded to the crossmember on the section to be cut out. almost like ma mopar knew we'd be cutting it out for a 4 speed, lol.
neil.
 
So, could the yellow line represent not cutting any further than that? leaving metal in place. Neil should be here soon;)
Neils pic again;)
hump outlinec.jpg
 
it only costs you the cutting discs to cut less first, then cut more if you need to.
oh, and anyone wondering what the 'shift lever' is it's an old alternator bracket i used for setting up the shift rod lengths (i didn't have the right ones, lol).
neil.
 
I had a little time before we go do other things, I used my old motorcycle lift to get the heavy A833 up to the floor of the Dart just to see how it all works. I now understand the dogleg thing, so that makes room for the shoulder of the right side of the transmission. Makes sense now. I have a better idea of what I need to cut out come Monday. Need to spend some time with my husband~ it's easy to get caught up on projects and vanish for hours on end!

tunnel stufff.jpg


tunnel stuffe.jpg


tunnel stuffd.jpg


tunnel stuffc.jpg


tunnel stuffb.jpg


I'm referring to this funny thing as the dogleg
Tunnel stuffa.jpg


Tunnel stuff.jpg


now it makes a little more sense of what needs to be removed;)
hump outline.jpg


hump restorec.jpg


hump outlined.jpg
 
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You may get to it before I do on my Barracuda, so when you get to the mock up point with the motor and transmission sitting where the will reside....check the top transmission to bellhousing bolt on the passenger side. Seems like I remember them being really close to the floor pan. Back in my late teens or early 20's, I bought a 65 Barracuda Commando 4 speed car. Someone had cut a hole in the floor pan above that bolt, with a hole saw, and had a round plastic plug in it. You could pop the plug and get a box end wrench on that bolt much easier than wrestling it from below. It may be something worth doing to prevent future cuss fits...lol. I'm sure gonna eyeball it on my Barracuda.
 
I'll look into that soon! The next time, maybe tomorrow, I'll cut most out of the hump and re-evaluate the cut, then bolt the bell housing onto the trans~ put the trans up and see how that looks, and post my findings;)
 
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Just a bunch of pictures, I see what you mean JD by the top left bolt on the transmission at the bell housing, hard to get to. Maybe a plug might be in order, just ran out of time to look at it. I'm strongly curious how the one linkage gets to the lower lever on the transmission? I still have some trimming to do, got a little narrow by the gas pedal, then clean up all the burring from cutting. everything is accessible, maybe just cleaning up the raw edge, priming it etc.

The bolt you're talking about.
the cutb.jpg


the cuta.jpg


The cut.jpg


the cuti.jpg


the cuth.jpg


I started to cut this piece out, but left it as doesn't seem to be in the way and maybe offers strength to the torsion bar thing
the cutg.jpg


Just a safety strap
the cutf.jpg


the cute.jpg


The hard to get to bolt
the cutd.jpg


Direction of the hard to get to bolt, perhaps when the transmission support is unbolted, then the transmission tail lowered may allow a really long extension to get to it?
the cutc.jpg
 
The measurement on this A904 represents the distance from the lip of the bell housing to the transmission mount bolts which is 22.75. It's the same distance from the lip on the manual bell housing to the transmission mount. I see no reason to connect the slant 6 engine to the manual trans setup in a mock up sense. Mine has the original slant six K member so all should be well. Looks different in the picture, but is 22.75, plus there is some slop in the transmission mount to move forward or backward a tad.

the cutj.jpg
 
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