B.B to 518 / S.B trans

[peterOZ]

What personal experience have you had when converting a 440 to adapt to a 518 or S. B t/f trans.
JW make the ultra bell, and I have seen other company's that have adaptor plates to make fit. Is 1 product better then the other?
I like the sound of adaptor plate as this doesn't limit me in fitting a 904 in future ( I am assuming adaptor allows this being S. B) Were the Ultrabell won't bolt up to the 904 pump.

If ultra bell is stronger and reliable it will be my choice.

I need the above for 2 applicatons I am working on. 440/ 800hp & 440/ 550 hp

 

[Darter6]

I did the JW bell putting a 518 in a 72 B body.That was before the adapter kits came out. Worked for us.The JW bell is heavy thick so a stock 12'' converter will not fit.We went with a 10''. Not sure if a 11'' may work.Something that we didn't do was bond the new bell to the case with something like JB Weld for looks and a bit more strength.Though not necessary.

 

[draginmopars]

JW bell cut the bell off on a lathe, for appearance

 

[dartgarth]

I used the SMR adapter. adapters
It works but next time I would go another way, either the JVX kit MENU  Home Catalog Contact Info or the ultrabell.

I chose to use the SMR for a few reasons. They are in Canada, as am I, It was thinner, 1/2 the thickness if I remember right and I bought a fully built A518 from a friend so I didn't want to tear it apart to mill off the bellhousing.

A few things... with the SMR the starter bolts in the SMALL BLOCK location and you need to cut one of the ears off the engine at the bottom so the starter will fit. They have this disclaimer which doesn't do the amputation justice... "*NOTE: simple engine block modification required to utilize stock starter". I also had to modify a couple of header tubes with my CPPA headers to fit the starter, not just dings, but cut, re route and weld....

So far everything works fine but as I say, if I did it again I would go a different way. Apparently the JVX adapter mounts the starter in the stock location and of course the Ultrabell should be the same.

My 2C.

Garth

 

[peterOZ]

I used the SMR adapter. adapters
It works but next time I would go another way, either the JVX kit MENU Home Catalog Contact Info or the ultrabell.

I chose to use the SMR for a few reasons. They are in Canada, as am I, It was thinner, 1/2 the thickness if I remember right and I bought a fully built A518 from a friend so I didn't want to tear it apart to mill off the bellhousing.

A few things... with the SMR the starter bolts in the SMALL BLOCK location and you need to cut one of the ears off the engine at the bottom so the starter will fit. They have this disclaimer which doesn't do the amputation justice... "*NOTE: simple engine block modification required to utilize stock starter". I also had to modify a couple of header tubes with my CPPA headers to fit the starter, not just dings, but cut, re route and weld....

So far everything works fine but as I say, if I did it again I would go a different way. Apparently the JVX adapter mounts the starter in the stock location and of course the Ultrabell should be the same.

My 2C.

Garth

Thank you that is valuable information.

 

[peterOZ]

I used the SMR adapter. adapters
It works but next time I would go another way, either the JVX kit MENU Home Catalog Contact Info or the ultrabell.

I chose to use the SMR for a few reasons. They are in Canada, as am I, It was thinner, 1/2 the thickness if I remember right and I bought a fully built A518 from a friend so I didn't want to tear it apart to mill off the bellhousing.

A few things... with the SMR the starter bolts in the SMALL BLOCK location and you need to cut one of the ears off the engine at the bottom so the starter will fit. They have this disclaimer which doesn't do the amputation justice... "*NOTE: simple engine block modification required to utilize stock starter". I also had to modify a couple of header tubes with my CPPA headers to fit the starter, not just dings, but cut, re route and weld....

So far everything works fine but as I say, if I did it again I would go a different way. Apparently the JVX adapter mounts the starter in the stock location and of course the Ultrabell should be the same.

My 2C.

Garth

What car eas it in ?
Whose headers are u using CPPA, i have not heatd of CPPA.

I just received an email from SMR after making an enquiry last week.
They responded that they do not recomend fitting the 518 in my 68 f/b as i need to mod floor , x member, and factory shifter will not work. They advise i use their shortie set up.
I have heard conversion being done before on a 68. Maybe they are just upselling the easier fitting option. In this case easier would mean much more $$$$ on shortie / gear vendour. Cant afford tge vendour i am afraid.

 

[dartgarth]

What car eas it in ?
Whose headers are u using CPPA, i have not heatd of CPPA.

I just received an email from SMR after making an enquiry last week.
They responded that they do not recomend fitting the 518 in my 68 f/b as i need to mod floor , x member, and factory shifter will not work. They advise i use their shortie set up.
I have heard conversion being done before on a 68. Maybe they are just upselling the easier fitting option. In this case easier would mean much more $$$$ on shortie / gear vendour. Cant afford tge vendour i am afraid.

Funny they advised me the same, but I had already explored the GV route and decided that I wanted an OD transmission 1970 Dart, you don't need mush floor mods per say, but you do need to remove the middle section of the crossmember, I used the US Cartool piece, which is a pretty sturdy unit, I also have frame connectors so I wasn't worried about removing the crossmember section. This is a touchy subject it seems.... ask me how I know...I'm not sure about the factory shifter, I don't see how a column shifter wouldn't work but the floor shifter bracket wouldn't bolt up to the transmission, I'm sure a crafty person could make it work.

If this car was a resto or a valuable numbers car or you already had an awesome 727 and converter combo, I would go a different route, my car was not an I was building from scratch so I did what I wanted.

All that being said, i'm super happy with the A518. I got a great converter from a local company, I use compushift mini to control the transmission ( I first used toggle switches ) the COMPUSHIFT Mini Converter Lock-Up Controller to suit Chrysler . I cruise the freeway at 120KPH at 2200 RPM ish with 3.91 gears and a 235/60/15 tire.

Oh CPPA are OLD headders, I had these in a car back in 1992/1993. Pretty sure they were bought out or morphed into TTI.

On a side note, I see you are in Sidney, most of my family lives around there and my brother lives in Canberra, so cool you are building a car down there. I also love the Australian Mopars.

I'm happy to answer any other questions or help you out any way I can.

Garth

 

[peterOZ]

Thanks Garth.
Another mention SMR did , that by going 518 excpect up to 65 hp loss. Compared to 727.
Did you notice any loss in power ?

 

[BigBlockMopar]

Interesting they put out that powerloss number.
I went from a 318/904 w/ 7-1/4" rear-end, to a 360/A518 w/8-3/4", and I haven't been able to get the mileage numbers I got with the lighter setup.

 

[dartgarth]

They did mention the power loss and tried to sell me a GV OD, which I did not want. This car has always run in this configuration so I really have no idea. From what I have read they chalk it up to getting the rotating mass of the OD unit up to speed. I didn't really find any other collaboration to their claim. My car is a street car with 3.91 gears, I drive it everywhere and can cruise at 60-65 MPH @ 2200 rpm... without the OD it would be 3400....