F body wagon 4 speed swap help

[Superslant]

I have a 78 aspen wagon that I'd like to swap a 360 and a 4 speed into. I've been trying to research everything but figured you guys could help with the parts I need to find. I apologize if this has already been discussed. I tried to search but didn't find exactly what I was looking for.

- F body pedal setup - this is pretty basic I think. Read somewhere to make sure that it has clutch pedal spring maybe?
- transmission - short shaft a body
- bellhousing - will any sb bellhousing work? 10.5" ?
- clutch fork and boot, clutch rod and boot, clutch adjuster kit, ball studs and maybe a ball stud bracket. Can i use an A body z bar?
Do I need to do anything to crankshaft? I know they had special crankshaft for manual trans on some engines.
What size flywheel? 10.5" 6 bolt?
- shifter with linkages.
- the floor hump I think I can probably just fab out of sheetmetal. I'm not really worried about a factory look.

Forgetting anything? Sorry about all the questions. I'd just rather be prepared and get it right the first time...



Thanks in advance.
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Here's a 4 speed I have but pretty sure it's for a b body.

 

[AJ/FormS]

That's a good list.
-The long tailshaft will work, but getting the shifter in on the factory mount may not work,. If you have buckets,that's not a bad thing, cuz relocating the pad rearward on a custom bracket is pretty cool. I put my shifter about 7 inches to the rear and jammed it up as high as it would go. The top pivot bolt is actually above the floor. Then a really short shifter makes bang-shifting a breeze. You will have to build your own shiftrods, but this is a good opportunity to upgrade those as well, to a larger pipe. I used some seamless tubing that happened to have the correct ID to tap for the OEM 3/8NF end pieces,including the adjusters.A ball shifter,on top,for multiple hand-holds,and you will have to search for the breaks in the blackies where the shift occurs.You will love the Viper-type shifter location. My shifterball falls to hand in 2/4 with my upper arm hanging a few degrees short of vertical .
-I've never done the A to F swap, so I can't say what fits. But you didn't state your useage, so I'll just add this; if it's a cruiser,don't be in a hurry to swap camshafts, the stocker is pretty torquey.
-The BB pilot bearing will solve your problem. Most guys saw off the tranny input shaft if their crank is not set up for a manual, and use the BB.
-A diaphragm clutch is real street-friendly,but be sure to get an organic disc for smooth engagement.
-Any 67/68up,non-273,SB bellhouse will work, or can be made to work; but getting one with the correct pilot hole for your front retainer, will save you some headaches.Be sure to correct the pilot hole for your crank-location, by dial-indicating and shifting the hole.
-The flywheel balance has to match your engine, so if she's a stock 360, you will need a stock 360 flywheel. Failing that, any neutral-balance flywheel can be rebalanced to your spec. If the 360 has other than stock reciprocating parts in it,and the TC was balanced for it, then you will have to match the flywheel to that TC.

 

[Superslant]

That sounds great. Thanks for all the awesome info. I do have a set of bucket seats out of a b body I plan to put in the car so that'll work good I think.
I do just have the stock crank in the motor. It actually came out of a motorhome. It was a rebuilt engine but had a hole in one piston and was disassembled when I got it. Not sure if they had the timing off or what but i had a new matching piston installed on the rod.
-The camper was a '75. The engine isn't completely assembled so I could get a flywheel and have the crank balanced to it if your thinking I should do that.
- I will check into the retainer hole and see where I'm at with the bellhousing I have. It's a little rough from sitting in uncles barn but should clean up. Some aluminum was flaking off of it. Should I put some sort of scatter shield in or is that only for high hp applications?
- so once I get engine assembled I should be able to put it on a cradle and mount everything up for fitment. At that point I can see how much of the input shaft has to come off. Also making sure it is centered in crankshaft (with a dial indicator) am i right? I'm just trying to process what your saying.

Thanks much for the help.

 

[Greg55_99]

Note: Truck 360 flywheels are LARGER than passenger car flywheels. The larger ones will NOT fit into the car bellhousing. Get a 360 flywheel for the passenger car (10.5" I think).

 

[Superslant]

Pics of bell I have. Hoping this will work. Going to try and figure out part #'s to see what it's from.

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3515734 looks like 72-73 a,b,e body small block 10.5"
That should work for me.
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Here is the link to website I used for bell id.
Casting Numbers: Mopar Transmission Bellhousing Casting Numbers 1960-1981

 

[AJ/FormS]

Looks like that bell fits the non-od trannys. While a scatter-shield is always a good idea; For a low-perf streeter, my opinion is; if you are not doing neutral drops at peak torque(who does that on the street?), it might be more than you need. I have been driving stick since 1970, and have always had the stock bells and flywheels. That makes 45 years. My flywheel has about 8 runs on it,with about 4 of them neutral drops.And over 100,000 miles. Am I lucky? IDK, blessed maybe. But I have never met a one-footed Mopar man, nor heard of one, so that's my useless 2cents.
If the block has never been line honed, there is a real good chance that the retainer hole will be really close. But it should still be checked, and relocated as may be necessary. If it is assembled out of spec.;tranny life may be shortened,gear-whine is very likely, but more importantly, the pilot bearing may have a very short life.
Check that crusty bell over very closely for cracks.
I know nothing about motorhome engines, so hopefully someone else will chime in. If the pistons are original spec, you should be fine with an original type 360LA pass-car flywheel,which are a breed of their own.While they will bolt on to any; non-273,6bolt,SBM crank; they are only correct on 360s with oem reciprocating parts. Any 318/340 steel-flywheel can be rebalanced for the 360.The Magnum 360s have their own balance factor as well, and I don't know any more than that about them.
Here's the thing; if you don't for sure know that the motor has oem balance parts in it, and you don't know if the flywheel you plan to run, is an oem balanced part,then you run the risk of having a vibratory engine. This is very painful to discover after every thing is assembled, and you are breaking in a new cam.You will be looking at about 2 or 3 days work, and a fresh gasket set.
My thinking is,that if you have the original TC off the motorhome engine, and it was smooth running, then the balance shop should be able to match most any pass-car LA-flywheel you find,to it. You should get this figured out before any engine assembly work.

 

[Superslant]

Sounds good. Now I just have to sell some stuff to get to the next step. Looking to buy all hardware etc.. from brewers performance. Read good things about them.

 

[AJ/FormS]

New parts will get pricey, all right. Have you given any thought to listing an add over in FABO?
The Fs and As are not that far apart, mechanically. I've always owned As and Fs, almost exclusively. I can't be the only one,eh?

 

[Superslant]

Right on. I'm on fabo also so I will do that when the time comes. Thanks for all the help.
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I found this website -

B/E body four-speed in an A-body

which I thought was cool. When I get the trans installed I should be able to put shifter right where I want it by making a bracket. Then make my own linkage to fit from there.

 

[AJ/FormS]

That's what I did, and I can't be happier with the new further back,and much higher, position. No more reaching forward to complete the 2-3 shift. No more skinned knuckles when I hit the dash, and no more missed shifts!Plus it looks pretty cool, having the shifter sorta between the buckets, waaay high, and the little short stick.
I bought this Mr.Gasket "Bang" shifter in about 1971 for my 1970 Swinger340. When I sold that car in 1975 I kept the shifter. It then went into a 69Cuda 340 in about 1980, and lived there for about 5 or more years. When I retired that car to raise a family, the shifter languished in the parts shed until 1998. It was then reconditioned and installed into my 68 S-clone, where it has been, ever since. So that tallys up to it being 44 years old, with about 25 years of service.
Useless info, I know, but I occasionally,like to reminisce.
Oh yeah, the best handle I have found, is a ball. You will never slip off it, twist your wrist,or crash your knuckles.You can shift it in multiple ways, and you can easily drill holes in it to mount switches.And,unlike T-handles; if the ball comes loose, you can still bang the next gear. "Other" handles may look cool, but Ima ball guy,forever.

 

[Superslant]

That's neat. It's good to reminisce. My first vehicle was a short box d150 with a slant and a 3 speed od. I burnt a lot of tires up with it. All one at a time.... ha. I've had a few more d150's since but am yet to have a 4 speed car. That functions anyways. I've finally come to the conclusion that I need to stick with something I can afford and isn't to much of a project. Had a 66 formula s, 70 coronet 440 and a 71 satellite but all have needed more than I could give at the time and I ended up passing them on. Now I have a couple clean cars and need to just focus on drive trains and stop picking up side projects....