90's builds with A518 4spd auto

With the offering of the 4spd OD trans in the Ram trucks in the early 90's . . . how many cars got built utilizing the A518 transmission ?? . . . wasn't there a bellhousing conversion available ? Also an "adapter" instead of the bellhousing conversion ?? . . . does anyone still have a vehicle with this conversion ??

Just curious . . .

Thanks,

Mark

Cars built? As in factory? Zero. Why they didn't put it in the M body I dunno. Maybe they needed a redesigned floor pan to fit it and the writing was on the wall for the M body so it didn't happen. How many were built in someone's garage? Who knows, but the number is less than the total trucks factory equipped with it.

Bellhousing conversions, JW transmissons I believe, their website sux. https://racewithjw.com/product/ultra-bell-big-block-chrysler-to-tf727-or-a518/

Adapters http://jvxracing.com/Adapters.htm

I KNOW that no CARS were every factory built . . . I am talking about guys using the transmission in a build they did . . . .

I bought a 518 directly from mopar performance in 1994 and installed it in my Challenger. Made for a fun combo with a 340 that would rev to 6k but also cruise in OD and get decent gas mileage.

I used the Ultrabell to put a 518 behind the 540 Hemi in my 70 Cuda. Love it. Some amount of work and money, but worth it. Wished I had done it years earlier than I did.

Did you run a lockup converter? If so what company did you buy it from?

Why ask a question there is no answer too? Maybe you meant to ask who has done it?

"How many cars were built" surely refers to aftermarket swaps, seems to me.
My limited understanding of such a swap is that some floor surgery is required.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.

On my Challenger I had to make two small notches in the top of the torsion bar xmember and do some trimming on the case of the overdrive unit. I did not have to do anything to the floor pan other than make a couple dimples. I also cut the belly out of the factory xmember and welded in some heavy duty bar stock and fashioned a mount. Car was lowered 3 inches all around drove it that way for years after the install with no problems.

No lock-up converter because it limits the choices on converters. I wanted a very low stall converter. The engine makes plenty of torque down low and is mainly a street car with only the occasional trip to the track. Most converters feel too loose for my liking when driving around town. I just wanted a crisper feel, more like stock stuff was. The first converter was from PTC, who has been my go-to converter company for years. But the converter would flash over 4,500 and just wasn't as crisp as I like. So I pulled it and sent it back to PTC. Pulling the converter requires pulling the engine. No other way to get the tranny out.

PTC said they couldn't tighten it up much, if any. Today's cores just don't allow it. Got it back, put it in and had basically the same situation. Man, was I pissed. Didn't really know where to go from there, but made some calls. Talked to Lenny at UCC. He would only say that he could look at it and might be able to make some adjustments and make a few suggestions. So, out came the engine again.

Lenny was able make a few adjustments, recommended as big a cooler as I could get to keep the fluid as cool as I could, and recommended running the John Deere hi temp (thicker) hydraulic fluid. And charged less than $300. I did all that and the flash is now closer to 4,000 and the tranny feels much better around town. Not as tight as stock, but much better. Thank you, Lenny.

Sorry for the long story, but sometimes the details matter.

Just a heads up, but John Cope was advertising a special low stall non lockup converter for 727. It wasn't cheap at $1,000. The advertised unit was for towing engines to increase low rpm efficiency, but he could likely tailor it to your needs. I was looking at it before I found a lock up converter I am going to try out in my RV.

https://cobratransmission.com/a518-torque-converter-204071-1

I would have liked to have known of that possibility at the time. But I am not going to pull the engine again. At least not voluntarily.

Thanks for the head's up.