US Car Tool A518 Cross member

[moparmat2000]

Matt - I've got 6000 miles on the modified torque shaft for the factory shifter, works slick as can be! Went with manual buttons on the console for the OD and lock-up and it gets more 'automatic' for me all the time. Mike D. from WA

Glad it worked well for you. I have not assembled my car with the prototype one, so that bodes well for my engineering.

 

[junkyardhero]

I asked

I asked PATC if I could buy the 46RH controller kit, and use it on a 42RH. They told me it woukd not work on a 42RH. I did not want to spend that kind of cash to find out it doesnt work.

thanks for the update. i guess the best (only) option is to control it via N02 solenoids like the setup @TrailBeast has done.

oh and you best believe that i'll be bending your ear on the shifter mods when it comes time for that...

 

[str12-340]

I think I'll stick with this controller:

 

[str12-340]

BY the way, I should point out that the REALLY HEAVY USCT crossmember is really needed when you go cutting on the crossmember support above the trans as is necessary in this build (A500). If you need details, ask me.

 

[volaredon]

I posted an awful lot on fitting this trans with a stock auto on the floor linkage, trans lines, trans cooler, cooler thermostat, kickdown linkage etc. I included what parts I used off junkyard donors, and decent pictures to follow when doing this swap. See my build thread "67/68/69 cuda dilemma" for all that information when installing a 42RH or 46RH. I chose a 42RH. The wiring and solenoid kit is available from PATC for the 46RH. They do not make one for a 42RH. I fabricated my own 1 off crossmember that's similar in design to the UScartool one.

I thought that solenoid kit from PATC was the same between A500 and A518? (42-44-46 RH)

 

[moparmat2000]

I thought that solenoid kit from PATC was the same between A500 and A518? (42-44-46 RH)

One would think so, however maybe because they built the kit for trucks with the A518, they dont have any experience with the smaller A500 and dont want to sell it and possibly end up with returns if it doesnt work. I'd be willing to give it a shot, or just mount 2 manual operated switches like Mike str12-340. And be done with it. Seems to be easy enough.

Single fused hot lead to center pin on the transmission plug. One wire to lock up solenoid pin, to switch, to ground, one wire to O/D solenoid pin, to switch, to ground. Turn them off for around town, turn them on above 55mph for freeway cruising. I really like the switches Mike picked. I wonder if they are back lit for night time driving. I'd probably mount them inside the ashtray in the console, so at car shows, you just slide the ashtray door shut and they are hidden.

 

[moparmat2000]

heres an overview of pix from my google archives on this trans install. No floorpan in the way so I reinforced the crossmember with 1/8" steel after trimming it. I also have pix of the 3/8 trans line, and kickdown cable setup, as well as how I modified the shifter rod for Mike and myself.

I'm no engineer, but I think flat strapping the crossmember the way I did, then building the trans mount to tie it all together, plus the floor pan welded to it all, it will be plenty strong. What's also nice is I left the outer bolt holes in the stock location, so if for some crazy reason I wanted to put a TF727 in there, an original A body crossmember will bolt in. I would just have to add a few holes in the OEM crossmember for the inner bolts.

The kickdown cable setup uses a combination of B350 ram van pieces, and a V8 dakota kickdown cable to get it to route correctly at the transmission and clear the rear trans cooler line. I used the kickdown cable attach bracket off a dakota throttle body, and cut it down and welded it to a piece of steel angle attached to the carb mounting bolts along with a throttle cable bracket. I'm not too thrilled about the throttle return spring setup I made, and may redo that differently. However in testing it moves smoothly without binding, and pulls the lever at the trans all in at WOT. An edelbrock bolt on cable attach lug for the carb is for a GM TH350 and clips nicely to the cable at the carb end

The shifter rod, I temp welded to a piece of steel angle, and welded an attach bracket for the shifter arm as a jig. Then cut the shifter rod apart, and re welded it with a bump out to clear the OD trans section. I welded it back together with the shifter arm bolted back in place. Works great in testing.

 

[moparmat2000]

Hope some of these pix help. The trans lines were from a 1999 B350 ram van. I cut them, and 37° flared them for AN-6 B nuts. Pix showing the braded steel flex lines I made from there to the Derale trans cooler thermostat are in the mockup pix in second group of photos. Your trans cooler will be stand alone with this trans unless you have a radiator made with 3/8 cooler fittings. All the brackets and such are all hand made one offs.

I hope this is a road map of sorts to help people with any of the road blocks they are having with this trans install. I can enlarge any of the individual pix and post them here if interested. Just ask.

 

[junkyardhero]

thanks for posting this up matt. very very helpful as i inch forward with my junk.

confirming my suspicions on how to use/wire up the OD & LU along with the TV cable & throttle bracket stuff is a tremendous help.

 

[moparmat2000]

thanks for posting this up matt. very very helpful as i inch forward with my junk.

confirming my suspicions on how to use/wire up the OD & LU along with the TV cable & throttle bracket stuff is a tremendous help.

I ran into a few issues routing the cable for the kickdown away from the rear cooler line. To this end, I picked a couple cable support brackets out of the boneyard and believe that the dakota cable works best with the B350 ram van cable bracket, kickdown lever and springs at the trans end

The dakota V8 cable works the best to route FWD of the crossmember. I can post individual pix of this stuff if you want to see more closeup detail on any of this. Mounting the throttle and kickdown to a bracket bolted on with the carb hold down bolts is honestly the best way to do this.

When I went down the road to installing this trans, I looked at what everybody was doing on this site, then I picked out all the ideas I felt worked the best from everybody in the collective, plus some of my own.

Thanks !!
Matt

 

[moparmat2000]

Just in case you wanted anymore closeup pix, here they are. Notice how the cable mounting bracket at the trans is tall routing the cable above the rear cooler line. I believe this is the ram van bracket.

When I get out in the shop today I will eyeball it and see if it has a part number stamped into it. If so I will take a better pic and post it. The trans cooler lines are 1999 B350 cut short that I eventually installed 37° flare AN-6 B nuts on them at the front.

Please visit my build thread 67/68/69 cuda dilemma. Theres lots of stuff done on there you can replicate for your build.

 

[moparmat2000]

I wonder if this could be made into a sticky like the one about the explorer 8.8 rear, or added to an A500 A518 sticky if there already is one ? Mods what say you?

 

[Jengel451]

For those that have done the 46RH swap. How much lower and back (I think) is the 46RH Mount than the 727. I'm going to build a crossmember for my C Body and would love to get that as a starting point as I start collecting some steel. (USCT does not make one nor are they interested in doing it)

 

[str12-340]

I hope that this helps - I put a 42 RH in my Dart and the trans fit in the stock location, front to back. The interference that I had to deal with was the removal of most of the crossmember hoop around the trans tunnel. It is why the USCT piece is so heavy - to restore the strength of the frame member that carries the torsion bars. Depending on the year of your C-body, it might be made like this from the factory - no hoop and a heavier removable piece that carries the torque of the torsion bars - I know that our 72 Town and Country race car is built like that. The result is that you have to back off the torsion bars to remove the trans - if you don't the torsion bars will bend the cross member down to the middle. This also means some really beefy metal for the piece that you fabricate.

The big deal with up and down positioning is the trans pan that is substantially lower that a stock 727 or even most deep 727 pans. I ended up with a hole punched in mpan and resolved the issue by getting an off road 4x4 pan shield for the trans - I am sure that they make ones for 46 RH. If you need the company send a pm and I'll dig it out for you.y 42RH

 

[Jengel451]

I don't have my trans here at the moment to look, but dang I didn't notice how far that pan drops down. and My car is lowered a bit, being that I live in the country in Montana the roads are absolute crap, I may have to rethink some things.

 

[moparmat2000]

He has a deep sump transmission pan, that's why it looks the way it does. The stock pan is less than half that deep.

 

[Jengel451]

He has a deep sump transmission pan, that's why it looks the way it does. The stock pan is less than half that deep.

whew lol

 

[moparmat2000]

The big thing when making that crossmember is driveline angle. Get yourself 2 spirit levels, and an angle finder. Since you will likely have to make the crossmember with the new transmission in place as a jig of sorts, you will need to do a few things.

Firstly the car needs to be dead level front to back. Figure out how high up in jacks you want/need it to be, then level it front to back using spirit levels "torpedo level" on each of the door sills. Remove the carpet sill plates and mount each level to the door sill itself. Now shim the jack stands with steel sheetmetal stock until both levels are level. Put the jack stands on the frame rails, not the suspension.

Secondly before removing the old transmission, remove the carburetor and put the angle finder right on the carb mating flange on the intake manifold and note the degrees of down angle of the drivetrain.

Thirdly, with the new transmission bolted up to the engine, you have to maintain the original down angle. Whatever angle that angle finder shows on that carb base on the intake manifold is what you should strive for when building your new mount.

You can build it where it let's the trans droop maybe 1° lower, because you can always add a shim or 2 under the rubber trans mount to bring it up a degree if you have to.

Stick a jackstand under your new transmission and shim it to get it to where the angle finder read before removal of your old transmission.

At this point build your new mount to fit the chassis, and transmission using the car and transmission as your jig.

Until you get the new mount built, do not remove the car from the jack stands or take the jack stand out from under the transmission. The car is leveled so the mount is built with the correct amount of down angle.

Now the fun begins. The 42RH and 46RH both use an A727 sliding yoke. Shorten the driveshaft accordingly.

Your stock flexplate should work just fine with the O/D trans torque converter.

If you use the 46RH which is better suited to a C body cruiser and is A727 based , PATC makes a shifter solenoid and wiring kit for this transmission making the O/D fully automatic.

I would recommend a mid 1970s Chevy pickup truck transmission mount. It fits the mopar trans with a little filing of the mount holes to oval them out.

A set of trans lines from a 1999 dodge B350 van are a direct bolt in. You will need to use a transmission cooler thermostat, and a standalone cooler. I used a cooler and thermostat made by Derale. You will need to plug the radiator cooler lines. The O/D transmission uses 3/8" lines. Your old one is 5/16" lines. This is why the stand alone thermostat, and cooler are needed.

You have 2 options on the kickdown cable. A lokar kickdown cable kit, or a homebrewed one using stock parts like I did. If you use stock parts, get a kickdown cable attach lug by Edelbrock for a chevy TH350 trans. It will allow you to connect the stock mopar kickdown cable up at the carburetor.

use your stock shifter lever off your old trans. It will fit the new one, and in the same spot. If using a column shift it shouldn't be too much of an issue hooking it up.

Hope this all helps.
Matt

 

[Jengel451]

The big thing when making that crossmember is driveline angle. Get yourself 2 spirit levels, and an angle finder. Since you will likely have to make the crossmember with the new transmission in place as a jig of sorts, you will need to do a few things.

Firstly the car needs to be dead level front to back. Figure out how high up in jacks you want/need it to be, then level it front to back using spirit levels "torpedo level" on each of the door sills. Remove the carpet sill plates and mount each level to the door sill itself. Now shim the jack stands with steel sheetmetal stock until both levels are level. Put the jack stands on the frame rails, not the suspension.

Secondly before removing the old transmission, remove the carburetor and put the angle finder right on the carb mating flange on the intake manifold and note the degrees of down angle of the drivetrain.

Thirdly, with the new transmission bolted up to the engine, you have to maintain the original down angle. Whatever angle that angle finder shows on that carb base on the intake manifold is what you should strive for when building your new mount.

You can build it where it let's the trans droop maybe 1° lower, because you can always add a shim or 2 under the rubber trans mount to bring it up a degree if you have to.

Stick a jackstand under your new transmission and shim it to get it to where the angle finder read before removal of your old transmission.

At this point build your new mount to fit the chassis, and transmission using the car and transmission as your jig.

I whish you told me that 2 years ago when I put an NV4500 in my 68 D100! I hacked my way through that one. Totally appreciate the info!!!

 

[moparmat2000]

I added more to that list I just wrote. Go back and check it out

 

[Jengel451]

I added more to that list I just wrote. Go back and check it out

Most everything you added I've accounted for. Chev isolator etc. I have an HGM controller for the shifting and lockup, pretty sweet unit, ain't cheap, but it does integrate with the Sniper system. the PATC I'm not a huge fan of, we put one on my Son's Ramcharger and it works, but in the mountains it's sort of buggy.

The car is a column shift big block car, so I cut off the bellhousing and put an ultrabell on it for the BB bolt pattern. Unfortunately the ultrabell doesn't have the shift linkage mount on it so I cut off the old one and had it welded onto the new bell.

The cooler lines, huge thanks for that as I was scratching my head on what I was going to to there, I really didn't want to bend up my own lines from scratch, I have OCD and I would've been pissed at myself the entire time.

 

[moparmat2000]

Look at my trans lines pix, and I will post a few more of the cooler and thermostat. I used AN-6 fittings, and 3/8 braded lines

 

[moparmat2000]

Cooler and thermostat

 

[moparmat2000]

Mockup of the 3/8" braded lines with Russell AN-6 fittings

 

[str12-340]

He has a deep sump transmission pan, that's why it looks the way it does. The stock pan is less than half that deep.

Sorry Matt, but that just ain't so. On my 42RH that is the stock pan and the specific one shown here is a stock Dorman replacement pan (with the plug relocated). Here's a shot of the stuff hanging out of the bottom of my trans with no pan.