questions on A518 OD

i heard that the A500 & A518 OD Transmissions can't take any abuse at all like shifting it manually ever now a then but not everytime of course all i was wanting to do with one is possibly put a A518 behind a good 318 4bbl with a 3.23 sure grip in my 81 1/2 ton stepside truck. also i was told that there is some kind of bearing that goes out alot in the OD section of the tranny what year trannys do i need to look for and which have the lockup and non lock up converters? any help thanks

I blew up an A500 behind a 4bbl 318 with 3.23 open gears in a 1980 truck. I don't trust them.

for the cost of the swap i would prefer runnin a gear vendors. just my opinion. i did alot of looking into that a518 swap.

steve

a 518 is basicly a 727 with a OD tailshaft. look at the rebuild kits/parts available, many will be for BOTH the 727 AND the 518. There are plenty of HD parts available.
From what I've read/been told the OD unit failures are a poor maintenance or misuse by owner issue. I'm building a 518 46RH (lock-up Tq) to go behind a 450 hp 440 and it will still be cheaper than a gear vendors, including the cost of the new bell housing.

More mis-information....

Just like everything else in life, you get out of it what you put into it. There is NOTHING wrong with the design of the A-500/A-518 transmissions except the owners who tow with them in OD and don't change the fluid/filter. Aside from a few failures that EVERY type of tranmission ever made suffers from, the 904/727 OD variant transmissions will live behind anything a normal 904/727 will live behind. Build the trans for what you are going to use it for and you will be just fine.

As far as the cost goes, buy a JY trans and build it yourself. Not that hard with a Service Manual and a few folks from this board helping with advice! That will bring the cost in MUCH less than a GV unit. The people who run a 500/518 in a muscle car will tell you what they think. Then make your decision....

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Build the trans for what you are going to use it for and you will be just fine.

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70 Coronet, Turbocharged 360/518 = 0-60 in "Dangit, I broke something"

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Sorry, I just couldn't help but see the possible irony of this situation.