I've got another thread thats been going for about a year now, so i figured i'd start new topic for this specific question.

I'm working on a 440 4 speed swap into my 73 challenger using a lakewood scattershield.

I've got a mock up block and the transmission all bolted in so i could weld in the tunnel hump and the torque shaft frame bracket. After fiddeling around with many different options. This one is the only one that gets close to working.

I have 2 torque shafts, one of them i cut the bracket on the clutch adjuster side off, and moved it over a half inch (per the specs brewers gives on their websight)

So far i've just spot welded the frame bracket into place.

Anyway, does anyone have any pictures of their torque shaft? Maybee some pics with the facotory torque shaft set up, and hopefully someone with a scattershield.
I'l lie to know if this is going to work so i can pull the mock up out and finish welding the frame bracket in.

Any advice would be great as this is my first 4 speed swap.

Here's my set up so far.

I think you need to move the engine side of that arm forward so it is 90 degrees to the engine centerline Mopar made a screwin pivot ball that installed in that bellhousing bracket so it was straight across from the ball on the frame Don't you love reengineering things like this Welcome to the wonderful world of Mopar engeneering, make auotmatic muscle cars so a four speed won't fit without major alterations

B/E-body big blocks take a single screw-in stud on the engine side...

Toss the little bracket off the bellhousing and put the ball-pivot directly in the hole that makes the shaft most level. Looks like the lower hole.

Yeah, I don't know why the hell you have that little bracket in there 'cause its throwing things way off. Toss that in the trash and get the ball screwed into the bellhousing bracket like its supposed to be. And you're likely going to have to shorten that bellcrank tube.

Already had it screwed into the lower hole. The torque shaft is still tilted when put in that position (the other way), and the clutch adjuster plate on the torque shaft then hits the starter nose housing. I could cut it off and reweld it again EVEN FARTHER in, but then the actual clutch adjuster shaft would be at an overly severe angle, and since the shaft would now be tilted the other way, i don't think the regular clutch adjuster shafts would be long enough to reach the cluth pivot arm.

I could keep the bracket, and not use the notch in the frame frail for alignment. This would require moving the bracket towards the back of the car more, and cutting away some of the fender well in order to get a nut on the back of the ballstud. I feel like there's probably an easier solution that i'm missing.

If i moved the welded ball stud on the bracket a little futher back it would put the shaft in aligment, but would interfere with the mounting hole of the bracket.


Anybody else have experience with this? or at least some pictures of a factory big block setup? Hopefully with an 11" bellhousing.

A little off topic here but reading your other thread, I noticed you said you running a 23 spline and were planning on 500 to 550hp, you may want to rethink that and get yourself an 18 spline and have it slick shifted. That kind of power and the small trans don't mix we'll. Number one rule when building big power, build from the back forward.
Good luck on your build.

Have you got this fully mocked up ??? Block with correct mounts to the k-frame, trans installed and mounted to the crossmember?

Something just ain't right ... that ballstud should be in the bellhousing bracket and that shaft should be in pretty good alignment.

If I think of it tomorrow I'll snap a shot of my bellcrank with measurements 'cause I don't think you've modified yours enough.

Ok, here are some shots of my stuff. In this shot the ruler is inside the bellcrank tube and shows the length to be 8-1/4"

This shot shows where the arms are after moving. When looking inside the tube I noticed its bored for the plastic bearings so I'm not so sure the tube was shortened but I am sure the arm closest to the housing was moved.

This shot shows how the bellcrank fits to the housing. Notice 1) the ballstud is in the lower hole 2) the bracket on the housing is not square to the engine vertical centerline - maybe not easy to see but you can see how the bellcrank is not square to the bracket yet it is square to the engine vertical centerline.

Although I didn't put the rod in, this shot shows the alignment from the bellcrank arm directly to the clutch fork hole.

Ok, this is the last shot and shows the frame location of the pivot. This is a B-body but should be virtually identical on an e-body

I have a trans with the same bellhousing out of a 69RR. The ballstud is in the lower hole. The torque shaft was also cut and shortened.

Thanks for the pictures. Yes, the engine bloc is bolted to the engine mounts and the frame, the transmission is also full mounted with the crossmember.

Have you had your assembly in the car yet?
Mine would fit, but when the pedal was in the up position resting on the rubber pad the bent bracket on the torque shaft would be hitting the flange on the bellhousing. The only fix would be to move it over more (its already 1.25" from the end of the shaft) and then it would be at a pretty severe angle.

Again, have you had yours in the car to verify it all works?

Also are you sure your arm has been moved? Mine were originally 3/4" from the end, but they REALLY hit then. one of mine is still 3/4" from end, and the other is modified to be 1.25" from the end.


Did they make a longer pedal to torque shaft rod that would index the torque shaft more, keeping it away from the bellhousing flange?

Yes, mine has been in the car and it all worked and aligned fine. Yes, the arm closest to the bellhousing was moved. The arm the pedal rod attaches to was not moved.

This is from Brewers website.

Torque Shaft, fits big block 1966-70 B-body, small block 1970-74 E-body & 1971-74 B-body applications. Also works in 1970 & later B/E-body cars when using earlier 11" cast iron or Lakewood bellhousings. 9" tube lenght, lower offset adjuster arm welded 1 1/4" from end of tube, uses our AK449 adjusting rod kit. Reference OE part numbers 2534 538 and 2950 914

So comparing this to mine which is 8-1/4" long, it has been shortened 3/4" on the bellhousing end and the arm moved what looks to be about the same amount. What's interesting is that Brewers says this will work with the scattershield yet mine has clearly been modified in order to work.

If you're wondering why I'm not too sure about what was done, its because I did all this 39 years ago !!