Jump to content
HybridZ

A833 OD and bellhousing info


Guest John Adkins

Recommended Posts

Guest John Adkins

I've got some more info about the A833 OD trans. While it is 95% backwards compatible with the non-OD A833 the one place that it's different is front bearing retainer. The OD front bearing retainer is larger than the previous bearing retainers (5.xx", can't recall the exact number). This means that the OD trans uses a different bellhousing than other A833s. So if you get an OD A833, try to get the bellhousing with it if possible.

However, by swapping the bearing retainer the next smaller size (4.80") You can use the non-OD bellhousing with the 4.80" pilot hole. This bearing retainer is available new from Mopar Performance for about $75.

 

I got a good deal on a '71 bellhousing ($30) a couple of months ago but I didn't know about the difference in bearing retainers at the time, and the bellhousing had the smallest of the three bearing reatainer hole sizes available. So to make my older bellhousing work with my OD trans, I took it to a local machine shop and had the bearing retainer hole in the bellhousing opened up to the next largest size (4.80") and the OD bearing retainer outside diameter turned down to 4.80". I took this approach because enlarging the bellhousing bearing retainer hole to the overdrive retainer size (5.xx ") would have wiped out the holes for the clutch fork pivot. This machine work cost me $65, which is still cheaper than buying a new bearing retainer!

 

[ October 16, 2001: Message edited by: John Adkins ]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Anonymous

Are you still Planning on the 318? I'm still in the body part but should be done in the not to distant future. keep us posted on shifter placement and crossmember. Are you going for hydraulic throw out or something else? good luck

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest John Adkins

I'm still using a 318.... I'm in the process of cleaning it up, putting in new gaskets, etc. Might put bearings and rings in too.

 

For the clutch I went to the junkyard and got an almost new 3/4" master and slave cylinder from a Mazda pickup for $15. There happens to be two bolt bosses on the side of the bellhousing that are perfect for mounting a simple flat plate to mount the slave cylinder on ... I thought about the using the hydraulic throwout bearing but it would cost more than my transmission....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Anonymous

hey sweet man, you'll have to keep us all updated on how it fits. i was planning on runnin a 833 until i can buy the very nice but prohibitively expensive keisler five speed setup.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Anonymous

just a few more Questions for you John. Are you planning on taking the gears out of a non OD trans and swapping them and taking it to the strip or is this car going to be a daily driver. I'm glad to hear you are being inventive about the clutch situation cause hydraulic throwouts are kinda pricy. PAW wants like 290 for the bearing and master cylinder I believe and I was only planning on paying 200 for a really nice trans. have you figured out where the shifter will come up through. I was thinking it would be somewhere around where a t-10 would be but was not sure. Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest John Adkins

I'm really not wanting to build an all out drag car; I definitely wanted the overdrive to keep the revs down on the freeway. The A833 OD has gear ratios very similar to the GM 700R4 automatic, and guys seem with those trans seem to do okay on the occasional drag strip runs like I want to do....

 

I haven't worked out the details on the shifter placement yet. That's one of the things that I was going to work out once the engine and trans are installed in the car. It won't be difficult to modify the steel Hurst mounting bracket for the shifter to position it correctly. Another thing I thinking might be useful in this swap is the

Hurst shift handle that came stock in some console equipped 4 speed mopars. These had a funky offset handle to position it so the handle is centered over the trans rather than offset to the left.

 

For my Z I wanted a car I could drive anywhere and have the performance & handling equal to a stock Viper but for a lot less money , and I think a V8 Z is just the ticket icon_smile.gif

 

[ October 20, 2001: Message edited by: John Adkins ]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Anonymous

to help shifter placement out a little I'm pretty sure they made the tailshaft with at least three positions for the shifter. I just saw one on ebay that had the shifter right next to the case. I've also seen them slmost at the end of the tailshaft. I'm pretty sure I've seen some that had the mounting spot near the crossmember bracket. If worse came to worse you could always weld on the flange that the shifter bolts to. You would have to shorten the shifter linkages which are no problem to do. I'll have to measure the linkages I have to see how far back the shifter will be on mine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Anonymous

heh heh LOL, i tought about the six pack but am going to do an fuel injected setup, but i have to agree totally on the road runner horns. that would be too cool. i might just have to do that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Anonymous

I picked up two 833 od for the price of one today and you were right about the retainer size so you saved me about 30 dollars or so. Hopefully I can find a 5 1/4 bellhousing. One of my trannys is cast iron the other is aluminum. I guess I will end up selling the cast iron one since it's at least twice the weight of aluminum. As far as I can tell this tranny and bellhousing will only be about 1 inch longer than the four speed that came out so shifter placement should be cake. I also got the hurst shifter with it but it's not the offset one you spoke of do you think it's possible to bend it and still have it shift smooth. Flipping the 3-od is a piece of cake later

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...