Hemi 4 Speed?

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ojh

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I picked up 2 4 speeds this weekend, both belonged to a guy that raced a hemicuda. One of them # C955564Z has a tailshaft # C99539SS, the speedo has a freeze plug and i'm told the sycronizers are cut for crash shifting. Is this an original hemicuda trans? The other trans has the same gear section but different tailsection. I am building an old school hotrod with an early hemi and need just one trans.
I feel that if i have a 'historically significant' transmission i should know about it so that i can get it into the hands of somebody that needs it, no i am not going to jack the price up-thats not my style. Thanks, oj
 
Sounds like a slick shift mod that requires everyother tooth to be cut off. I don't kow much about the mod itself, but I never heard of the syncro's being messed with.

As far as a "'historically significant" unit, as far as I can see, no except the date codse to the trans may be helpful for someone restoring a car.

Is/was this car a factory built HEMI car? If so, that trans will belong to that car itself.
 
Morning Rumblefish, i got these from my buddy Charlie (The Bounty Hunters, NSS) and he picked them up from a guy that ran a hemicuda back in the day.
 
even if its a hemi cuda trans the only value would be in the case and tailshaft unless you gut the internals and put all the stock stuff back in. the slick shift mod isn't really any good for street use and it won't last long on the strip either.
 
Look for the raised, machined ID pedastal on opposite side from the shift arms/levers. Get the numbers off that and it will give you an idea on what they came out of.

What tailshafts; dual/single mount pattern, short tail.

As far as significant, hard to say
 
How many splines does the input shaft have? The Hemi box has different # of splines on the input shaft.
 
hi, the hemi trans will have 18 spline input shaft, others have 23 splines. the hemi gear set is a coarser cut, versus others. the slick shifted trans lives quite well for racing. they can be driven on street, just have to learn how to double clutch when shifting up or down. as for life on the strip, mine has 2750 passes on it!!! with original pro rings. its in a 3400 # stocker.
 
They both have 18 splines. It is the tailshaft/mounting i am concerned about. I plan to use one of them, i am fabricating a hot rod and can make the trans mount to fit either transmission (the tailshafts are different). What i am afraid of is that i have an original transmission for a hemicuda and i'd rather get that one into the hands of somebody that needs it and make my trans mount for the other transmission. I don't know the numbers for the proper hemicuda tailshaft. I asked Bucky Hess about it and he recommended that i come here (he is an automatic guy).
Thanks, i appreciate all the help, oj
 
I have the slickshift 18-spline 4-speed parts from the Crazee 'cuda pro stocker...another Hemi 'cuda. I'm not sure they are particularly significant except to that car, and it had many transmissions.
HOWEVER, it sounds like you have a pair of slickshift 4-speeds. They will be miserable transmissions for ANY hotrod driven on the street. Slickshift transmissions cannot be down shifted there are no gear cones. I have to shut the car off to get it into a lower gear. If I were you I would sell the pair and get a synchronized 4-speed. Trust me, you will be much happier with the final result.
 
I would sell them and try to find a 23 sline unit. are they long or short tail shaft? Could have been used in any hemi-powered race car. We used to carry 2 spares with doug nash gears as was common practice before Linco's became popular. Some old school racer should want them.
 
hi, they can be shifted up or down by double clutching . which is, shifting to neutral clutch out, blip throttle, goes right into gear. this works fordown shifting. upshifting just pull into neutral, clutch out momentarly, clutch in then shift. A real stick shift guy knows howto do this!! I've drivin my slick shifted trans this way for bout 30 years. I learned how to shift non syncro trans back when there wasn't any!!!!
 
perfacar said:
hi, they can be shifted up or down by double clutching . which is, shifting to neutral clutch out, blip throttle, goes right into gear. this works fordown shifting. upshifting just pull into neutral, clutch out momentarly, clutch in then shift. A real stick shift guy knows howto do this!! I've drivin my slick shifted trans this way for bout 30 years. I learned how to shift non syncro trans back when there wasn't any!!!!
Click to expand...

hey i was just going by what i've been told on the slick shift stuff, i've never had one or driven one. i drive my pro-shifted tran.....i mean i did drive my proshifted trans on the street till it broke. i was able to downshift that even though everbody says it can't be done. wouldn't care to drive it in everyday traffic though. it'll go back in next spring after i have liberty's freshen up the pieces.
 
perfacar said:
hi, they can be shifted up or down by double clutching . which is, shifting to neutral clutch out, blip throttle, goes right into gear. this works fordown shifting. upshifting just pull into neutral, clutch out momentarly, clutch in then shift. A real stick shift guy knows howto do this!! I've drivin my slick shifted trans this way for bout 30 years. I learned how to shift non syncro trans back when there wasn't any!!!!
Click to expand...
Well there you go....a REAL stick shift guy. hahahaha.
 
ojh, if you intend to drive this hotrod on the street, do yourself a favor, sell the race transmissions, and get a fully synchro unit. Either that or identify the gearset...usually slick gearsets were red stripe or white stripe. White stripe gearsets have standard ratios. If it is a white stripe gearset, sell the slick gears and input shaft, and buy synchros, gears/input shaft, and put it in your case. Simple. You can pull gears nearly as fast, and you can drive safely.
 
I had an aluminum cased, 18 spline, A-body, 4 spd. from Herb McCandless that was slick-shifted. Although it was one bad-*** transmission, I heard the same thing the guys are saying here, that the trans would not be street friendly. If you want to drive the car on the street then find a good fully synchronized transmission and you`ll be much happier.
 
Why wimp out at somebody's suggestion it won't work, or that you can't do it, or that you won't like it. The 18 spline boxes were the strongest ones of all, and the "slick shifted" ones were the hot setup for up shifting from one gear to another (as in drag racing).

The syncros have been MIA in my Duster for well over 100000 miles. Pulling it into neutral and winging the throttle to downshift is SOP, and has been, for at least the last 10 years of using it to go back and forth to work. Of course, I learned to drive a stick in a "borrowed" stock non syncro 3 speed Model A 45 years ago, and drove "big" truck for well over a decade, mostly rowing a 13 speed Road Ranger, with and without the help of a clutch. I'd use a slick shifted HEMI 833 in a heartbeat.

Just remember, if it is indeed an E body transmission, you'll need to shorten the driveshaft and make a plate (no doubt covered here, check the archives) to mount the shifter in the stock A body location if that's what you're stuffing it in. Might as well spring for a REAL Super Shifter too (also covered here in a current on going thread) while you're at it.
 
Well this thread seems to have taken on a life of its' own. I have two transmissions, one is supposedly 'slick shifted', that one has the speedo deleted and the trans mount pad is very close to the shifter mount (just about under it). The other trans mounting pad is about 4" further back behind the shifter mounting pad and it is unmodified that i know of.
I guess the game plan would be to sell the slick shift and use the other. I am building an old school hot rod ('47 federal truck cab, chopped 8", channeled, quick-change rear etc setting on chrome moly tube chassis) with a '56 354 hemi and 6 1904 carburators. And no, it isn't a rat rod.
 
If you can post some photos, it would be easier to tell what body style (A, B, or E) they are from and then you you can post casting numbers on one of those forums to find out what they are worth. If they are true Hemi boxes out of an original Hemi car then you can buy two or three standard boxes for what one of the Hemi boxes are worth.
 
Don't know where you are, but, If you have an A body 18 spline trans, I'd be interested in it.

For what you are building, those 18 spline transmissions are total overkill.

I'd sell both and buy a 23 spline to work for you.
 
Slickshift=Chrysler parts. Pro-shift=Liberty gear parts. Previously Doug Nash and currently, Passon both utilize a version of the "Pro-shift" ring. Slickshift Chrysler parts have every other synchro tooth missing...not ground off, as well as every other recieving spline in the opposing slider missing. Liberty, Nash, and supposedly Passion Pro-rings have every other PAIR of splines machined out of the receiving sliders, and the Pro-ring "tooth" is a large lug that slides into this gaping hole.
Now perfacar has a "pro-shifted" transmission in his own words. Twofosho probably does as well. There is so much SLOP in these Pro-shifted 4-speeds that you can f*ck around and get the thing to downshift. How do I know? I have Liberty Pro-ring 4-speeds as well. It is a pain in the ***. Slickshift transmissions are much, much harder to get to downshift, and when you do.... it takes a good bite out of the points on the synchro teeth. This will quickly reduce your gears to scrap...that is how they were intended to shift. They were race parts and not meant to last.
Top is a Liberty gear.
Bottom is an NOS Chrysler slickshift gear.
Open your transmission up and see what you have. Since the speedo was deleted with a frost plug it sounds like Chrysler to me...hence Slickshift.

Liberty.jpg


slickshift.jpg
 
Hmm, i am really learning something here. I thought the guys just kinda whacked the teeth out themselves and were kinda crude, i see i am wrong about that. I have never been inside a 4 speed before, this sounds like a good oppertunity since i have another one to look at when i try to put it back together. That'll be fun.
I was asked for a pic, the modified trans is on the lower of the two. I haven't cleaned them, they are just as i picked them up from sitting under somebodies bench for decades.
I am going on vacation later this week and will return in october, that is when i'll dig into the transmission. If there is a book i should have and read let me know. Thanks, oj

Anthrax 001.jpg
 
It looks like one is an E-Body and one is a B-Body, the A-Body Tranny has the shifter mounting just behind the tranny mount. I would post casting numbers on the E-Body forums, someone over there will know exactly what car they are out of and whether or not they were factory Hemi tranny's or not.
 
Bottom trans has a 70+ B/E tailshaft on it.

Take a pic of the other side or look for the ID pad.
833-crossection.jpg


Get the info off that pad and post it up
 
The stampings are not clear, i cleaned with fine emory cloth, added some dykem and wiped it off to highlight the numbers. The stampings are uneven and look as if they were hand-stamped:

08185225
PP8882929 009

The second set of numbers are smaller than the upper set. In the upper set the first '8' might be a 'B'; any of the '8's' may well be a '3'; the final '5' in the upper set is a partial stamp and just the very top is stamped as if the stamp was cocked at an angle.

That was all that i could see, near the pad the numbers:
H3
C99129
are raised numbers cast into the case.
Thanks, oj
 
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