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4-speed conversion |
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Here's the bulletproof 18-spline "Hemi" A-833 4-speed. Pistolgrip is bolted to a Hurst Super Shifter. The red handle is the reverse lockout. I had to fabricate some bushings out of brass to mate the supershifter levers to the factory rods. The shift throws are short and precise. |
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Here's the "new" transmission hump I fabricated. Note the car's original "Tor-red" paint on floorpan. I fabricated the hump out of a sheet of steel, and welded it into place. Then I coated the seams with seam sealer and then coated everything with the puke colored Rustoleum primer. In converting the car over to a 4-speed, this was the only thing that I had to fabricate as far as the body of the car was concerned. The only other welding that was done was to install the z-bar bracket on top of the frame rail. Everything else was a bolt-in deal. This was more than just a weekend project, but wasn't too difficult. Collecting all of the parts needed was the most time-consuming part of the swap.
I am running a Centerforce Dual-friction 10.95" clutch/pressure plate. The pedal pressure is very light, and makes the car a joy to drive. The underdash structures on 'Cudas are identical between the auto and stick cars. The only things I needed were the brake and clutch pedal from a stick shift car, the longer bolt that the pedals pivot on, an additional bracket that bolts onto the existing frame and the firewall, the large "overcenter" spring and it's mounting pin (which fits between the new bracket and the existing frame). The firewall even had dimples to show where to drill the holes for the bracket. |
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Here's a pic of the under-dash area to better clarify what I was referring to. You can see the new bracket that needed installing (A), the overcenter spring (B), and the overcenter spring's pivot (C) which gets installed into slots that exist in the new bracket and the underdash pedal support bracket (D). The underdash pedal support bracket in the automatic-equipped car already had that slot, and the nut welded into place to accomodate bolting the new clutch pedal bracket into place (E). The firewall had dimples (F) to show where to drill for the two bolts that hold the bracket to the firewall. You can see the head of the longer pedal pivot bolt peeking out past the clutch pedal bracket. |
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Here's a shot of the clutch linkage. There's nothing like using all new pieces--it's like buying a new car. The only used pieces in the clutch system are the clutch pedal itself and the overcenter spring, the clutch/brake pedal pivot bolt, and the pedal to z-bar rod. Bellhousing is a Lakewood Scattershield. |
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I used to always complain about how low the headers hang down, and how they always hit everything. Guess what? Now the bellhousing will protect the headers from being scraped on speedbumps! |
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If you're contemplating doing one of these conversions to your car, here's a list of what you'll need:
Transmission with shifter/mounting plate/shift rods, etc. Bellhousing
Clutch/pressure plate/flywheel
Throw out bearing
pilot bearing (and a crank that will accept one!)
Clutch fork/fork pivot/fork to bellhousing boot
z-bar frame bracket (needs to be welded)
Transmission tunnel needs to be fabricated
z-bar, 2 ball studs/bushings/seals/snap ring
Fork rod assy.
pedal to z-bar pushrod
Fork return spring
firewall pushrod boot
3 plastic washers and 3 spring clips for pedal linkage
Clutch/Brake pedals
Pedal pivot bolt
Clutch pedal bracket
Overcenter spring and it's mounting pin
Carpet for 4-speed car
Shifter boot
A little bit of patience
Keep in mind that you'll also need all the bolts/screws/etc. to make it all complete, but all the other parts are listed above (unless I forgot something). The automatic transmission mount/crossmember will work without modification.
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