budget 4 speed swap?

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gunship

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My 2nd gear is gone in my 904. As a teenager, I think having a manual would be awesome even if I do lose a little time at the track. What would be the cheapest way to swap in a 4 speed? donor vehicles and what parts from them? new drive shaft?
Its a 73 duster 318 magnum, 904 auto, 8 1/4 rear-end. My other option is to rebuild the 904 with a shift kit and higher stall. any tips on that would be awesome too! thanks!
 
you could rebuild the 904 and have a manual valve body installed and have the best of both worlds.
 
does anyone have info on the donor vehicles for the budget swap? i too have a 318 and wanted to swap my 727 trans for a 4 speed or 5 speed but dont have the cash to buy a new aftermarket unit. i heard mid 70s to early 80s truck or van for an 833OD 4 speed? but what about a decent 5 speed? my car has a bench seat im not sure if the original poster gunship's car is the same.

also i tried the link pntastar69 posted but it seemed to be a dead link?

i hope im not highjacking. just looking for tha same info
 
69-318 said:
does anyone have info on the donor vehicles for the budget swap? i too have a 318 and wanted to swap my 727 trans for a 4 speed or 5 speed but dont have the cash to buy a new aftermarket unit. i heard mid 70s to early 80s truck or van for an 833OD 4 speed? but what about a decent 5 speed? my car has a bench seat im not sure if the original poster gunship's car is the same.

also i tried the link pntastar69 posted but it seemed to be a dead link?

i hope im not highjacking. just looking for tha same info
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good luck with the budget deal, maybe you'll get lucky and find one on craigslist. other then that theres lots of modifications to be made to put a t-5 in and most truck 4 speed's has granny gears meaning it would be great if you needed to haul 100 bales of hay on a trailer but not so good in a car
 
IMHO the only way to do it on a budget is to get lucky and get a good deal. I scored a 4 speed od feather duster for 200 bucks, a very lucky and very cheap score! then about 50 for the flywheel, still needs to be resurfaced so thats maybe another 20 bucks there. then the clutch was maybe $130 then maybe another 40 for fluids. then I got a bellhousing for maybe 50 bucks. that's at least 440 bucks rite there. I would think AT LEAST $800 if you got a fair deal on everything. if you get lucky like i did it could be done cheap.

as for automatics being faster, that is not always the case. If you want manual drive manual. screw what anyone says.
 
ya i guess theres no way to do it on the cheap. i was just getting excited about a 4 speed in the dart. i found one for $600 its a pre over drive 833 with no bellhousing but i dont know the condition its in. thats what he paid and thats what he wants for it. and i found another one it is an over drive model out of a truck for the same price. this one supposedly worked fine and may even have pressure plate and clutch and has bellhousing and ya probably that damn granny gear. theres just not much of that stuff around out here
 
I might be wrong, but I think the only difference between the truck and car overdrives, was the gear ratio in 4th. Cars had a .76, trucks had a .71. I believe first was the same, I may be wrong though.
 
gilgalad1138 said:
I might be wrong, but I think the only difference between the truck and car overdrives, was the gear ratio in 4th. Cars had a .76, trucks had a .71. I believe first was the same, I may be wrong though.
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Truck trans has a different tailshaft than the A?F body trans he needs .

what is your budget ? It will be cheaper to rebuild the 904.
 
gilgalad1138 said:
I might be wrong, but I think the only difference between the truck and car overdrives, was the gear ratio in 4th. Cars had a .76, trucks had a .71. I believe first was the same, I may be wrong though.
Click to expand...

most trucks I have came across in the dodge lineup have the bow-low 4 speed
 
66plyValiant said:
most trucks I have came across in the dodge lineup have the bow-low 4 speed
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They used the 833od in trucks until 85 I think, and they used the np435 I believe it was, along side the 833 od. The 435 has a granny gear and no overdrive, the 833 had a normal first and an overdrive.
 
One more piece of info for those learning about 4 speeds. In looking at the truck models, the NP trans that has the granny first gear is a toploader type tranny, meaning the shifter sits closer to the center of the trans tunnel. The 833 4 speed has the shifter more on the side, like cars do....
 
well....you could buy my bell and put a T5 in it out of a GM? Seriously, you are not going to do this on a budget unless your budget is around $800. Flywheel and pressure plate, shifter and Z-bar, pedals...it all adds up. There was a complete setup for under 800 on here a few weeks ago. Thats the way to go, the ENTIRE changeover including the hump. a T5 has its own shifter on the end of the tailshaft so thats money ahead, they are also pretty inexpensive as they were tens of thousands installed in GM products as well as Ford but they have a different pattern. TRy and hit a pick-a-part on a holiday weekend and find a Dakota with a 5 speed. Grab the entire setup for 1/2 price. Full manual auto is still a 3 speed, with pretty wide gaps.
 
Manual valve bodies get old after awhile. In fact you already have one on your gear selector. Works just the same, with out the full time harsh shift. Your swap isn't gonna happen under $1000 all said and done, more like $1500. The need-a's will stack up quick. Just being realistic.

Rebuild the 904 add a TF-1 or 2, and have fun. Be careful adding stall, read up on what it actually means.
 
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