Pro stock A body 4spd ??

[wigsplitter74]

Well here's the story. My dad is a die hard Mopar guy, he's all about 4spds and big blocks and is just now doing his first small block LOL after 30+ years of Mopars. He has one of the few original Pro Stock A Body 18 spline HEMI transmissions. These have the synchros ground for slick shifting and all that fun. The question is, Can a "slick shift" trans be ran in a street/strip car?? How will it hold up to street use?? Old School Pops says he's gonna find out, I say let's research and possibly save some work and broken parts. We plan on clutching and shiftig on the street and taking advantage of the synchro mods at the track. Anyone done this before ?? And BTW I don't think he's putting it behind the small block he's doing now, I think it's going behind the 16 plug hemi he's doing and in his first car a 68 fastback. Any input is appreciated as always, thanks.

 

[waggin]

I hate to say it but he's gonna do what he's gonna do Lol my pop's is the same way Lol...we better watch it before we sent to our room LoL

 

[wigsplitter74]

I hate to say it but he's gonna do what he's gonna do Lol my pop's is the same way Lol...we better watch it before we sent to our room LoL

HAHA or in my case before I lose my room. I told him I'd save him the trouble and just stuff the HEMI and 4spd in my Duster:toothy7:The idea didn't go over so well and I got a punch in the arm, damn just tryin to help LOL. Yea, he can defanently be stubborn tho.

 

[waggin]

see what I mean Lol,gotta love em,just pick up some tools and start helpin!!!

 

[Outsider]

They made lots of Prostock Hemi 18 spline parts and they were sold through direct connection. I've got a couple of them. I have 'NOS '67 Superstock slickshift gearsets, I have NOS '68 Superstock gearsets, and I have a complete NOS Prostock 4-speed.
First off, there are no "synchro mods" for you to take advantage of. Because there are NO SYNCHROs. You cannot downshift a slickshift 4-speed. This will make street use nearly impossible and certainly miserable.
Secondly, you will DESTROY the gears. It will not hold up to street use at all. By nature these gears grind together, and they will not hold up to any shifting; eventually you will grind the points off the synchro teeth...this will happen much faster in slower speeds than in track use. At the track under full speed shifts they will float together much better than crunching around at lower speeds. That is why I shut the car off and shift into 2nd to drive around the track after a pass.
Thirdly, you cannot clutch and shift. They don't have synchronizers, so the speed gear will not recieve a blocking ring because there is none. The gear cones are unfinished, so you can't even put synchros in a slickshift gearset. Clutching will do no good, and probably more harm.
Yes I've fooled around with alot of them. There are ways to slickshift normal gears to use blocking rings for 1st and cut down blocking rings, allowing slickshifting into 2nd, 3rd and 4th.
Is your transmission aluminum?

 

[451Cuda]

I've run a slick shifted B body 4 speed in one of my cars. Like outsider said, you won't be able to downshift at all, and if you put alot of miles on it you'll have problems. If it's one of those deals where you drive to a cruise hangout and park most of the night, no problem.

I love 4 speeds and it was alot of fun, especially with a nice v-gate shifter, but it was also a huge pain to maintain and made me nervous whenever I drove it around.

 

[wigsplitter74]

Thanks for the information guys. His trans is iron I believe, I did not realize that there was not even a place for synchros in it, interesting. I remember a guy in our shop neigborhood that had a SB Duster that he ground like every other tooth off the synchros, used to hear him ram rod the thing on our proving grounds nearby late Friday and Saturday nights, just a memory I have from whwn I was little, thought I'd share it.

 

[PFogel]

I have used these transmissions in my M/P cars back in the day and they were great on the track. They work well under full power *****. They are nearly impossible to downshift! You have to come to a complete stop to get it into another gear. It only goes one way...UP through the gears. The Direct Connection parts had every other syncro tooth removed on the gears and sliders just as the pictures show on this post. They did not hold up well because every shift is violent and the slider tends to beat those little engagers to death...and when they were used up, you either had to weld them back up and dress them or all-out replace them! We went to the Moroso versions. They were far better because they had big rectangular engagers. I wore them but I never wore them out. My friend, Ronnie Sox, also went to the Moroso parts. Nowadays, the 18-spline 4-speeds are really expensive. The only ones ever made in the A-body configuration (the shortest and lightest) came in the '68 S/S Hemi Barracudas and Darts. Replacements were available from Direct Connection. Ronnie's had an aluminum main case and so did mine. I sold the last one of these I had quite a few years ago to "Bullet Bob" Reed. The Pro Stock Dusters and Demons from '70-'72 had A-body hemi 4-speeds with cases available in magnesiums. Ronnie's Duster had this and so did Landy, Billy Stepp, Ried Whisnant and other "connected" racers. These parts are still out there somewhere. Gotta be. They became fossils when the Doug Nash 5-speed came out. The Doug Nash became a fossil when the Lencos and Libertys came out. But if you are a "pedal car die hard" like me, that tranny you have would be great in a drag car! Have fun!
Pat

 

[mshred]

Thanks for the information guys. His trans is iron I believe, I did not realize that there was not even a place for synchros in it, interesting. I remember a guy in our shop neigborhood that had a SB Duster that he ground like every other tooth off the synchros, used to hear him ram rod the thing on our proving grounds nearby late Friday and Saturday nights, just a memory I have from whwn I was little, thought I'd share it.

hey man, what everyone here is saying about slick shifted four speeds makes sense, but there is a guy over on big block dart building a 68 pro street dart with a 4 speed and v gate shifter and he is having is tranny slick shifted either by liberty or brewers (cant remember which one- if you check out his resto thread on BBD it says there his name is 68prostreet)) and they told him they way they are doing it for him will be fine for street/strip...dont know what the difference is between a regular slick shift or theirs, so maybe its worth a call to find out? just a suggestion if your pops really wants to do it

 

[Outsider]

This is what PFogel is tlking about. I have those gears as well. Notice the hubs with no provision for keys and springs for synchros.

 

[Abodyman]

Is that a proshift mod, that you can get done by liberty transmissions? I've been looking into doing something like that on my TKO-600 for use on the track...... This is an interesting thread, thanks you guys for sharing your knowledge, I'm a 4/5spd guy threw and threw, it's nice to see some guys out there are still pure drivers.

 

[perfacar]

hi, the trans can be down shifted! all you have to do is double clutch and rev motor little to match the gear speeds. I learned how with a 1948 GMC truck, they had no syncros, they were straight cut gears. you hade to double clutch up and down to shift without grinding gears. I use a slick shifter trans in my duster, I can down shift on the move without grinding gears.
just takes practice and dexterity.

 

[Outsider]

Is that a proshift mod, that you can get done by liberty transmissions? I've been looking into doing something like that on my TKO-600 for use on the track...... This is an interesting thread, thanks you guys for sharing your knowledge, I'm a 4/5spd guy threw and threw, it's nice to see some guys out there are still pure drivers.

Yep, that is a Liberty gear. If you decide to go with the Proshift gears, I would suggest a 2nd transmission for the street. That is what I do.

 

[Abodyman]

Wow, thanks for the advice, I'm thinking I'll pass on that mod than, as I plan on driving my truck on the street and strip use. I guess I'll take my chances with the TKO syncros.

 

[Outsider]

Wow, thanks for the advice, I'm thinking I'll pass on that mod than, as I plan on driving my truck on the street and strip use. I guess I'll take my chances with the TKO syncros.

Any manual that sees any kind of strip use will have to be torn down on a regular basis, so synchro replacement will become routine. I keep an entire set of synchros as spares. Hubs, sliders, blocking rings, springs and all. They just slide on once the mainshaft is out, and it is a pretty simple fix. My guess is that you will be able to buy the parts over the counter, but you will still want to keep a lookout for an extra trans just in case....... My slickshift trannys are for special use only. Nostalgia racing, or shows. Right now I have to take the entire quarter off one side of the car, so I am doing a little reconfigure of the set up. No spool, full exhaust, new dash, console put back in, new paint, ect. I will most likely race with full synchos for awhile myself.

 

[Abodyman]

How do you feel about Cal-tracs on a manually shifted vehicle, I'm torn between getting them, and going to a 4 link, again this will be a dual purpose vehicle? Thanks for all of your insight and info, it's very hard to find die hard stick guys like myself. I totally appreciate all of your wisdom.

Jay