4 speed manual transmission swap

[DaveD]

Hello
Slant 6 mated to a 3 speed manual.

Question

Will an A833 4 speed trans fit to the 3 speed bellhousing or are the 3 speed trans unique in their bolt pattern? Any other issues?

Thanks in anticipation.
Dave

[Dave999]

I believe there were 3 speed bellhousings and 4 speed A833 bellhousings made for the slant 6

the 4 speed have one bolt hole obviously off set
the 3 speed has the bolt holes in a more square arrangement
how close they are between the two housings i don't know

i also think they made one with a trans to bellhousing mounting that although isn't drilled for both was designed to cover a period where you could get a slant with either manual trans

however they made at least 3 sizes of input bearing retainer on the 833 at least one of which was not used on the 3 speed

so whatever you get you may find you need to either bore the housing or swap bearing retainer (some swap some don't) or get a concentric centering ring thing made up

A833 is a big heavy box for a slant, although the aluminium cased ones were lighter

aussie BorgWarner 4 speed single rail might be a nicer addition

it won't line up bolt hole to bolt hole either but its similar work to bolt together. It fits without hacking the cross member but you would need a hole in the tunnel top for the shifter and you'd need to import one.

whats yer aim?


if its better cruising and nice use of a slants torque a t5 might be the go.

plenty on slant6.org about t5 box behind a slant.

on the A833 front the feather duster overdrive box might be good that's a mid 70s aluminium cased A body a833

i had one off Dunc but sold it to Blue they don't command high prices as no good behind a v8. but its a cheap way into an aluminium cased a833 if you bush the case and build in a normal cluster etc

the other ally a833s made in the 60s were special race boxes and consequently suffer Mopar TAX


Turbo slant with a cosworth box behind it would be mighty nice thing


Apologies about being a bit vague i looked into a lot of this for my Hemi 6 a long time ago but settled on a standard aussie 4 speed to keep me going with a t5 waiting for surgery to get it to fit under the floor properly.


The other Option

5 speed W58 Box out of a Toyota supra or lotus excel
you might be able to use the AX box (dodge used an Aisin warner box like the Toyota in 90s trucks, it is universally hated by dodge truck enthusiasts) it had a 318 bellhousing that might help you but you would need to suffer the v8 specific lower starter motor mounting (read problems with exhaust header routing on a 6 cylinder)

you'd have to hack the floor as this box doesn't dip under the cross member like mopar specific boxes (your 3 speed my aussie 4 speed and the a833)


or buy a Toyota W50 box off me £50

nice light steel case box live happy behind a slant

you might not have to hack the floor you might not it has a lower profile than the W58 box previously mentioned

Toyota 9 inch clutch disk and a conversion joint on the prop

dellow convesrions in Oz will do a bellhousing for that and just about any other combo of local (to them ) Toyota or t5 or Chrysler box

you'd have to tell them you want either LHD or RHD. or use a hydraulic clutch

Toyota R154 too big and expensive
Toyota W57 and W59 are truck boxes with stupid ratios

rover LDV box too big
ford type 9 only good enough when stuffed with Quaifes finest ratios


Dave

Dave

[Blue]

I can't answer this for sure but the 4 speed is a good deal heftier than the 3 speed so unless the bell housing is drilled for 2 patterns I very much doubt they interchange. Having swapped out a 3 speed manual behind a slant in a D100 I used to own for a 904 auto, I can highly recommend that instead. Depending on what car we are taking about, it may also necessary to do some floor surgery to fit a 4 speed.

[DaveD]

Thanks to Dave and Blue for expertise, much appreciated.
Dave