Manual Swap?

[rusty_318]

Hello Everyone!
I new-ish to owning my M-Body 83 Plymouth Gran Fury and i was wondering if anyone has tried or did a manual transmission swap on one of these? I've owned my Plymouth for about 3 years and its been its own headache but i want to try swapping at least a 5 speed behind its 318. i know its gonna be a daunting task but ide just like some pointers or advice before i just start throwing money at it.
and im kinda wanting to to a Restomod (not exactly) kinda build for it. so what can I try to find to make it easier and what would i have to fabricate?
Appreciate the time

 

[rusty_318]

I know Im gonna have to do something with the interior either way. because my interior is half missing because this car sat in a field for 26 years and the shmuck i bought it off of tried his best restoring the floor pan which it holds, just is the farthest from pretty. and i was also wondering if anyone knows a good store/online shop i can go to to find most of the interior parts? atleast the rear interior door panels, the arm rests that came with them, door handles n what not. this car is a huge project and am i just wasting my time? or am i just not looking in the right areas?
keep in mind i want this to be a fun street/strip car. probably have it have around 350-400 hp (hopeful numbers).
And yeah! any ideas or suggestions are a huge help.

 

[AMC Diplomat]

I know Im gonna have to do something with the interior either way. because my interior is half missing because this car sat in a field for 26 years and the shmuck i bought it off of tried his best restoring the floor pan which it holds, just is the farthest from pretty. and i was also wondering if anyone knows a good store/online shop i can go to to find most of the interior parts? atleast the rear interior door panels, the arm rests that came with them, door handles n what not. this car is a huge project and am i just wasting my time? or am i just not looking in the right areas?
keep in mind i want this to be a fun street/strip car. probably have it have around 350-400 hp (hopeful numbers).
And yeah! any ideas or suggestions are a huge help.

Welcome to the forum!

Someone else here will know more about manual swaps. I do know that you'll need the A body manual tunnel hump: Four Speed Shifter Tunnel - 67-74 Dodge Plymouth A-Body
and you'll need the F body clutch pedals:

76 77 78 79 80 volare 4 Speed Pedals aspen roadrunner clutch pedal F Body | eBay

76-80 Mopar F Body 4 speed pedals. This pedals are getting Hard to find. Hard to find a complete 4 speed pedal on this conditions. Factory and original part so they will fit and look as they should, Do not buy made Taiwan is junk and when they rust or fall off.

www.ebay.com

There's more to it, but I haven't done it so I'm not an expert. You can probably find this stuff cheaper if you're not in a rush.

I do know interiors. Your only hope for interior parts is used. Maybe someone here on the forum can help you out if you're willing to do a road trip. Otherwise you'll have to cruise junkyards or check out junkyards online at car-part.com. Some junkyards will sell you a whole door with a panel attached pretty cheap.

All 4 door panels from 76 to 89 will work in any 4 door. How do I know? I have 78 panels in my 87. The armrests and door handles changed in 1980, but chrysler left all the old holes stamped in the doors. You'll have to massage the older rear panels to fit, but it's doable.

You can still order carpets new: Custom Automotive Carpet, Floor Mats, & More | Auto Custom Carpets

or one of their distributors is sometimes cheaper: Auto Carpet for Car, Truck, Van - Stock Interiors

The gold standard for me on any project car is to not disable the car to upgrade/replace something until all the parts are gathered. If it doesn't disable the car, who cares how long it takes, it can wait if the car still runs drives and stops. Ripping a car apart without the parts on hand and letting it sit for months is a great way to lose interest and kill the project, in my experience.

 

[AHBguru]

Fakebook marketplace is full of thousands of F/M/J "restomods", unfinished projects, and unhappy results.

The closer you can keep it to OEM, the better. Sorry, just the way it is. Chrysler barely supported these cars (and the R-bodies) while they were still in production. The aftermarket has always been aimed towards Ford and Chevy, with lesser support for A/B/E body cars. The boneyards no longer carry much in the way of an F/M/J, and the few that do aren't afraid to price their stuff accordingly.

If you're planning to spend a lot of money on one of these cars, and you're not going to get rid of it, then you can take your time, draw up a good plan of attack, find everything you need, and do the job right. Odds are good, however, that you're probably not going to find everything. Then you have to either heavily modify the plans, or abandon them - thus, the plethora of modded F/M/J cars on marketplace.

 

[AMC Diplomat]

Fakebook marketplace is full of thousands of F/M/J "restomods", unfinished projects, and unhappy results.

The closer you can keep it to OEM, the better. Sorry, just the way it is. Chrysler barely supported these cars (and the R-bodies) while they were still in production. The aftermarket has always been aimed towards Ford and Chevy, with lesser support for A/B/E body cars. The boneyards no longer carry much in the way of an F/M/J, and the few that do aren't afraid to price their stuff accordingly.

If you're planning to spend a lot of money on one of these cars, and you're not going to get rid of it, then you can take your time, draw up a good plan of attack, find everything you need, and do the job right. Odds are good, however, that you're probably not going to find everything. Then you have to either heavily modify the plans, or abandon them - thus, the plethora of modded F/M/J cars on marketplace.

I agree it's difficult to modify these cars because of the lack of an aftermarket, but it's definitely not impossible. It just takes more time and effort.

OP just has to put the time in and it'll happen. There are tons of mopar guys out there with part stashes they don't know what to do with.

Half the fun is traveling and meeting people from all over the country.

 

[IH8GMandFord]

I wonder if you could use a Dakota manual transmission so the hydraulic clutch would be more forgiving that an F body pedal/ linkage swap?

 

[Duke5A]

I agree it's difficult to modify these cars because of the lack of an aftermarket, but it's definitely not impossible. It just takes more time and effort.

OP just has to put the time in and it'll happen. There are tons of mopar guys out there with part stashes they don't know what to do with.

Half the fun is traveling and meeting people from all over the country.

Correct, it's not impossible, nor is it even hard. Mechanically these cars are no harder to mod than an A body with much of the aftermarket support for A/B/C/E cars working on F/J/M. Your only hang up is sheet metal availability and if that scares you then keeping it OEM isn't going to make it any easier.

 

[AMC Diplomat]

Correct, it's not impossible, nor is it even hard. Mechanically these cars are no harder to mod than an A body with much of the aftermarket support for A/B/C/E cars working on F/J/M. Your only hang up is sheet metal availability and if that scares you then keeping it OEM isn't going to make it any easier.

If the OP made friends with @XfbodyX and made a trip out of it, OP could probably get everything he ever needed and more

 

[XfbodyX]

Yep, ive parts and one dont need to be a friend to come get some. Unfortunately im just not set up to ship anything that dont fit in a small box and send postal. Even past that I find it very stressful watching the shipping companies make error after error and destroy good parts.

Here are a couple scans of the manual parts. The actual trans is easy, use a A,F or even E body trans. (B body is in the mix somewhere) but the E body shifter location puts the shifter in a "drivers" location vs the "boat rowing" location.

One of the most overlooked parts in the conversion I see is the frame mount for the Z bar that fits into the frame rail like in the illustration below (33). This was overlooked by the fool who claimed to have a one of one 4 speed super coupe and so the DA just welded a plate to the frame and bolted the stud/ball to it.

In the case of the op if ya gotta do it you might consider a whole complete v8 f parts car. There is one still I think in Montana and would be an ok buy vs the cost of this part and that part and it makes it so much easier to RnR parts from a complete setup that was functioning.

Even though so many parts will bolt and interchange there are so many small variances that can be that gremlin one can never find. So you might keep that in mind.

Good Luck.