B or E body 4 speed transmission into an A body??

Posted By: 340727dart

B or E body 4 speed transmission into an A body?? - 10/26/08 07:52 PM

For a winter project I'm pondering pulling the 727 tranny and swapping a four speed into my '73 Dart Sport.
We all know A-body 4 speeds are hard to find and pricey when you do find one.
So, I've been wondering about expanding my search parameters and looking for a B- or E-body 4 speed.
I know the A-body tailshaft is shorter. But, what about the transmission crossmember? Can I use my A-body crossmember and adapt it to fit a B- or E-body transmission?
Since I need to modify the current transmission tunnel anyway, making a four speed hump to fit the shifter location for a B- or E-body transmission is no big deal.

Posted By: Barnabas_Kriss

Re: B or E body 4 speed transmission into an A body?? - 10/26/08 08:53 PM

In my opinion it is not worth the hassle. The shifter would be in the wrong location for sure. Find an A-body 4-speed, around here they're not that hard to come by. Also F-bodies (Volare, Aspen) use the same 4-speed as an A-body (but many came with O/D)

Posted By: dgc333

Re: B or E body 4 speed transmission into an A body?? - 10/26/08 09:57 PM

Very easy swap. I have one in my 68 Barracuda. As long as the tranny is a B/E and not a early B the cross member and mount from your 727 will swap right over and you need to use the E-body shifter mount position.

You will need to make a mounting bracket that bolts to the rear E body mount and positions the shifter forward. BigBlockDart.com has a nice diagram for the adapter. Theirs is made using steel, I used 1/2" aluminum.

On my install one of the bosses on the front B body mount would touch the torsion bar cross member when the engine torqued in its mounts sending a vibration up through the body. If you have this issue either dent the cross member for clearance or do as I did and cut the boss off.

Not sure if the 727 and B/E are the same length so you may need to adjust the drive shaft length. I went from a 3spd manual to the long tail shaft 4spd so I had to shorten the drive shaft. The local drive line shop charged $75 to cut, balance and install new u-joints.

Posted By: Rhinodart

Re: B or E body 4 speed transmission into an A body?? - 10/27/08 12:05 AM

I had a B-Body Hemi 4-speed in my Duster in 1980. I had to relocate the mounting pad for the transmission mount approx. 3/4" further back. The shifter location had to change also, not an easy change no matter who you ask! I was a dumb you kid, and would not try it today with all I know. If I wanted to do it today, I would change the output shaft and tailhousing to an A-Body. I don't know why it is to hard for you to find an A-Body trans, I buy them all day long for $150-200?

You can always buy a rebuilt unit from Brewers or Passon...

Posted By: ScottSmith_Harms

Re: B or E body 4 speed transmission into an A body?? - 10/27/08 12:19 AM

This pic shows the difference between them

Attached picture 4774251-ABodyVSBBody4SpeedHemi.jpg

Posted By: HealthServices

Re: B or E body 4 speed transmission into an A body?? - 10/27/08 04:12 AM

fabing the shifter plate.

Posted By: dgc333

Re: B or E body 4 speed transmission into an A body?? - 10/27/08 12:42 PM

Quote:

This pic shows the difference between them

But a 70-up B/E body tail shaft has two mounting locations and the one at the rear is the one you use when installing the tranny in an A-body.

Posted By: dgc333

Re: B or E body 4 speed transmission into an A body?? - 10/27/08 12:53 PM

Quote:

I had a B-Body Hemi 4-speed in my Duster in 1980. I had to relocate the mounting pad for the transmission mount approx. 3/4" further back. The shifter location had to change also, not an easy change no matter who you ask! I was a dumb you kid, and would not try it today with all I know. If I wanted to do it today, I would change the output shaft and tailhousing to an A-Body. I don't know why it is to hard for you to find an A-Body trans, I buy them all day long for $150-200? You can always buy a rebuilt unit from Brewers or Passon...

A B/E body tranny makes this swap a snap. You use the mount at the rear of the tail shaft and locate the shifter forward to the stock location with an adapter plate.

When i was looking for a 4spd I couldn't find an A-body one for less than $400 and then would have had get a bellhousing, slip yoke and shifter. I wound up with the long tailshaft OD unit with the dual mounts from from an 81 pick-up. For $75 I got the tranny, bellhousing, flywheel, clutch, shifter (of course couldn't use the rods) and the slip yoke.

It really is hardly any more difficult to install than an A-body unit and if one comes along for a good price the mounting plate and drive shaft work should not scare you off.

Posted By: ScottSmith_Harms

Re: B or E body 4 speed transmission into an A body?? - 10/27/08 02:07 PM

Quote:

But a 70-up B/E body tail shaft has two mounting locations and the one at the rear is the one you use when installing the tranny in an A-body.

Yes I am aware of that, just showing how an A-body transmission looks side by side to a B-body unit, I don't have an E-body unit here right now or I would have included that one in the pic as well.

As far as the bracket on the B&E-body trans, good idea and I'm sure it would work fine. However, I don't like the idea of grinding on a nice factory part (the B-body mounting boss) and would't want to hammer on my floor hump or cross member for clearance either. My personal preferance would be to just get the right parts in the first place and convert a box like the one I posted the photi of above.

* Photoshopped a boss on in this pic so you can copare all 3

Attached picture 4775269-ABodyVSBBody4SpeedHemi.jpg

Posted By: JohnRR

Re: B or E body 4 speed transmission into an A body?? - 10/27/08 03:54 PM

Quote:

Quote:

But a 70-up B/E body tail shaft has two mounting locations and the one at the rear is the one you use when installing the tranny in an A-body.

Yes I am aware of that, just showing how an A-body transmission looks side by side to a B-body unit, I don't have an E-body unit here right now or I would have included that one in the pic as well.

As far as the bracket on the B&E-body trans, good idea and I'm sure it would work fine. However, I don't like the idea of grinding on a nice factory part (the B-body mounting boss) and would't want to hammer on my floor hump or cross member for clearance either. My personal preferance would be to just get the right parts in the first place and convert a box like the one I posted the photi of above.

* Photoshopped a boss on in this pic so you can copare all 3

One thing that was not mentioned , I think , is the B-E tail has the trans mount relocated so having to mickey mouse the mount for use with the 66-69 B body tail is not required .

Otherwise I agree , buying the right trans is too easy

...

Posted By: 340727dart

Re: B or E body 4 speed transmission into an A body?? - 10/27/08 04:10 PM

Quote:

Otherwise I agree , buying the right trans is too easy ...

Fortunately, I found an A-body four speed last night.

Posted By: dgc333

Re: B or E body 4 speed transmission into an A body?? - 10/27/08 06:08 PM

[quote
One thing that was not mentioned , I think , is the B-E tail has the trans mount relocated so having to mickey mouse the mount for use with the 66-69 B body tail is not required .

Yes the B/E body tranny has the mounting pad in the same postion in relation to the front mounting surface as the A-body tranny.

Posted By: old340dog

Re: B or E body 4 speed transmission into an A body?? - 10/28/08 12:06 AM

I got a price for a conversion swap from Brewers a while back. It was around $3,000. Included a rebuilt 833, bell housing, pedals, linkage, rods, hurst pistol grip shifter, 4 speed tunnel, carpet, z bar, pressure plate, clutch plate,throw out bearing, hardware and all nuts and bolts.Is that a little pricy or fair price?

Posted By: G-Money1320

Re: B or E body 4 speed transmission into an A body?? - 10/28/08 02:27 AM

I cant believe so many questions on how to use different trannies in A-bodies lately. I listed a whole A-body 4 speed setup in the trans section and get 2 replies-1 from a guy that saw the pics and realized it was too much of a swap to pursue and 1 from for the lack of a better word arrogant person who knew what I was offered then offered $100 less and told me if I sold it to him I would have been done with the deal-yea right I can sell it seperatly for the extra $100. Glad you found the correct trans as it will be less hassle for you now for the install.