Early A (65 Barracuda) with later 4 speed & bellhousing

[JDMopar]

Just checking to see if any of y'all had to beat a little clearance into the floor pan and also the lip of the floor/firewall seam for the bigger bellhousing? 273 with bigger bell from a later small block with 10.5 clutch. I did a test fit in my 65 Barracuda the other day and the bellhousing was too close for my liking. Especially the top passenger side trans to bell bolt area. I'm going from an automatic to a 4 speed if it matters, which it shouldn't. I have the floor hump to install but haven't gotten that far yet. Using a BFH to get the clearance Clarance doesn't bother me! Just wondering what others have done. Thanks.

 

[RustyRatRod]

On an early A, yes. You didn't specify.

 

[JDMopar]

Thanks Rob. Yep...I should have said 65 Barracuda, and my title was kinda like a Karmala whatshername word salad...lol. I edited it to say 65.

If I can bum you for one more thing, which starter did you say was good to use with the Dougs D450 headers? Wasn't it from a manual trans, 2005 - 5.7 Hemi Dodge pickup?

 

[RustyRatRod]

Thanks Rob. Yep...I should have said 65 Barracuda, and my title was kinda like a Karmala whatshername word salad...lol. I edited it to say 65.

If I can bum you for one more thing, which starter did you say was good to use with the Dougs D450 headers? Wasn't it from a manual trans, 2005 - 5.7 Hemi Dodge pickup?

Yes, I believe that's it on the starter.

I cannot speak 100% about the four speed, BUT I have personally tried to fit an A230 3 speed in my 64. It is essentially the same size and shape as an A833 and it will NOT fit without either one of two things. A 4 speed transmission tunnel, OR modifying the existing tunnel. It doesn't fit by a good margin, too so expect to modify a LOT. I would simply get the fiberglass 4 speed tunnel from Brewer's and be did wif all dat, yo.

 

[JDMopar]

Going by the "Even a blind hog can find a root every now and then" theory, I stumbled into a 65 4 speed hump, the 4 speed pedals and the chrome shift pattern plate a year or so ago on here......maybe 2 minutes after it was posted for sale. I think I'm gonna do a hydraulic throwout bearing instead of fighting linkage.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Going by the "Even a blind hog can find a root every now and then" theory, I stumbled into a 65 4 speed hump, the 4 speed pedals and the chrome shift pattern plate a year or so ago on here......maybe 2 minutes after it was posted for sale. I think I'm gonna do a hydraulic throwout bearing instead of fighting linkage.

That's the way! Although I cannot agree with the hydraulics, but have at it. Keep us posted how it turns out.

 

[Bogie]

On my 66 the factory later bellhousing didn’t need any clearance but when I went to the Lakewood it definitely did. I’m also going to end up with a hydro throw out as I’m gonna need the space for exhaust

 

[dogbreath]

64 barracuda 273 original 4-speed car , 340 swap many years ago , homemade bracket to relocate the z-bar ball mount from the 9.5" to the 10.5 has always worked good . For you hydraulic is probably the way to go as I had all my original linkage plus with the linkage exhaust can be a little tricky.

 

[Tbro]

Thanks for the information yall. I'm converting to 4spd as well.

 

[65 Cuda 340]

The trans tunnel in my factory 4-speed 65 Barracuda needed zero modifications to clear the 10.5 inch bellhousing I swapped in a few years after I switched to a 340. I did have to mod a stock 340 z-bar to fit. As I recall, I used the 273 fender bracket, and slotted a bolt hole on the bellhousing bracket so I could move it to a different angle. May have had to grind a bit on the end(s) of the Z bar, too. Brewer's now offers a Z bar kit to use in an early A with a 10.5 bellhousing, and I switched to that when I installed TTI headers. The old one worked fine for years, but the new one clears the headers better.

I also swapped a 4-speed into my old 65 slant six Valiant. Found an original early A 4-speed slant 6 bellhousing (9.5 inch) and used a 4-speed with the early (3.09 low gear) gearset. Since it was an original 3-on-the tree car, I had to cut the floor for the 4-speed, primarily to clear the shifter and linkage. Cut area was a large rectangle that was covered by the floor hump. I just cut a little at a time until it all cleared. Other than the cut, no floor massaging was necessary to clear the 4-speed trans.

 

[JDMopar]

Thanks for everyone’s comments so far. I’m not opposed to clutch linkage or afraid to fab it, but I just don’t see how there will be room for everything. I think there are 2 tubes of the Dougs D450 headers that come behind the torsion bar, plus I have to mount the proportioning valve for the disc brakes there somewhere. I haven’t had an early A since I was in my 20’s….and I’m 65 now. I think I forgot how tight the space is! LOL. I have a sawzall, an air chisel and a welder now that I didn’t have in my 20’s. It will not defeat me!