And so it begins,,,,,, 5-speed Duster swap!

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I'll know in the next 48 hours, and post here..
Sorry to report that I'm delayed in determining if the 4L60 will fit where a 200R4 had been in service for years.

I'm swapping my N/A 408 & 2004R into a '57 Dodge D100 swapped onto a shortened Dodge Dakota frame and stuffing a fresh blown 408 & 4L60E into my '68 Barracuda. I had to separate the transmission from the motor to drop it into the Dakota frame because of the Kevco truck oil pan I'm running.

I've attached 2 more pics to show the size differences are not too different. The black trans is the Extreme Automatics Stage 2 with a bolt on Reid Bell housing. The silver color transmission is from Performabuilt Stage 2 4L60E with a six-pinion, higher 1st gear set.

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yeah i would want a 6spd.. but damn

Even if you had to only cut 60% of that to get a TKX in, you're already doing all the hard work of cutting and welding so an extra 40% really isn't a big deal one you're already dug into the job.
 
Finally got a chance to work on the 5-speed swap this weekend. I was able too cut the bottom out of the original trans crossmember. The energy suspension T5 trans mount fit in perfectly. I bent a 3/8 piece of steal for the trans mount to sit on, and welded it to this crossmember. I am going to weld a piece of 3/8” steal to the back side of the original trans mount, to help the rigidity of the OE torsion bar crossmember. My machinist has a water jet, so I’m going to have him cut the 3/8” steal.

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My plan for the 46rh is to remove hump section of cross member and modify out of te car
 
I got the 3/8” steel plate cut, drilled, and welded to the trans crossmember and boxed in the front side of the crossmember. Should be plenty strong. I fitted it into the car. Seems to fit well. Time to take it back out and put some paint on it!

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I realized today that I forgot to make a hole for the speedometer cable. The Tremec speedo hole ended up right in the middle of the torsion bar crossmember. So I ended up grinding some paint off and cutting a hole. After another trial fit, it looks like it should work just fine. I plan on taking some rubber hose and putting it around the cable where it passes through the trans crossmember, so it won’t rub through. I also picked up some grade 8 bolts, for when the transmission goes in for the final time!

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I took a few minutes and fitted the shifter today. I’ll probably make a steal spacer and put between the shifter handle and the shifter, to space it towards the driver a little. I may even taper the spacer a little to lean the shifter towards the driver a little.

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Measuring bellhousing runout is much more complicated than I anticipated! But I think I’ve got it figured out. I made 4 marks around the opening of the bellhousing, I zeroed the dial indicator at the starting point, I stopped at all 4 spots, writing the gauge reading on the bellhousing, ending up with zero at the spot I started. The largest reading was directly across of the starting point, with only 3.5 thousands. If I’m doing it right, I should be well within Tremec specs.

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Measuring bellhousing runout is much more complicated than I anticipated! But I think I’ve got it figured out. I made 4 marks around the opening of the bellhousing, I zeroed the dial indicator at the starting point, I stopped at all 4 spots, writing the gauge reading on the bellhousing, ending up with zero at the spot I started. The largest reading was directly across of the starting point, with only 3.5 thousands. If I’m doing it right, I should be well within Tremec specs.

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I think that's acceptable.
 
I got the Tremec hopefully mounted in the Duster for the last time. This is the first time I’ve put in with the clutch assembly installed. It went smooth and seems to line up perfectly. All of the clutch linkage fit nice and seems to work smooth. I’m pretty impressed with the Lakewood bellhousing in the kit form. It pretty much comes with everything but the clutch arm. It’s got all new good quality bolts, 2 different clutch arm pivots, boot for the clutch arm and inspection cover!

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I know it’s cheating, but I decided to fill the trans before I bolted the shifter down. I went with a Steeda Tri-Ax. I heard they are one of the better shifters for these transmissions.

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I got the Tremec hopefully mounted in the Duster for the last time. This is the first time I’ve put in with the clutch assembly installed. It went smooth and seems to line up perfectly. All of the clutch linkage fit nice and seems to work smooth. I’m pretty impressed with the Lakewood bellhousing in the kit form. It pretty much comes with everything but the clutch arm. It’s got all new good quality bolts, 2 different clutch arm pivots, boot for the clutch arm and inspection cover!

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you got lucky with that bell i have one thats .056 out and they sent me a second thats .046 out
 
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