• Welcome to For Trucks Only !

    We are a community of American Brand Pickup Truck and SUV owners. Join now! Its Free!

Which trans would you go with?

V

volaredon

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2020
Messages
592
Reaction score
220
Location
Illinois
Ok... I have a 85 d150 with a /6 and a 727. 2wd long bed.

I have an A500 out of a 91 Dakota for which I would need one of the adapter plates they used in the 60s behind the/6 to put a 727 in, before they created a /6 specific 727 case in order to use the a500.
I just hit a gold mine I cannot pass on, the chance to buy everything needed for an A833od swap into my truck.
The 727 works fine, only problem being a leak that isn't the pan, that I need to crawl under and diagnose. Shifted fine the last time I drove it which was with the original/6 in front of the 727.
I have since built a fresh /6 with some upgrades including the swap to a super 6 setup.
I haven't driven it yet on the new engine is as I have yet to hook up the lokar kickdown setup I got for it since I couldn't find any original super 6 kickdown linkage anywhere.
Also I did put a fresh reman (stock hi stall lockup) converter into that 727 when I swapped engines because of the ring gear having a few bad teeth.
The lock up didn't work with the original engine and converter. Never did investigate as to why, it shifted so well otherwise besides that.
I was quite surprised (and happy!) when I bought the truck and looked under it seeing that 727 under there as I have had many of these trucks with v8s and 904s (which never seem to last worth a $#it especially in a truck. For me anyway.

This past summer I bought a 91, 318 Dakota as a parts truck for a few things I needed for my 96 (winter beater with a heater) I didn't send the carcass away without saving the a500 from it. That trans shifted alright, I drove it before I pulled the truck apart. I would definitely overhaul it if I were to use it "just because" it's out and I don't know the history on it, if it's ever been done over the years and those tranny's are easy (at least for me) to rebuild.
I figured it for a back burner swap if I could find me the parts to adapt it's V8 bellhousing to my /6 eventually.


Now the clincher. I just had an a833 OD fall in my lap for a too good to pass up deal. With the bellhousing, the pedals, the hump, everything I'd need to put that into this truck.

I plan on this as a 3 season daily driver once I get it all redone. This winter is bodywork time for this truck.
Im not building a race car, though I did some work inside that /6 while I had it opened up, will definitely be a more spirited driver no matter which trans I use vs the original engine.

Which one would you guys put in there? I've always preferred a stick, this is a swap I've done more than once in the past, though I am getting older and have had a couple of injuries over the years where I couldn't drive during rehab (right knee, ankle/ 18 years apart) until I was healed each time. Not the only stick vehicles Ive had over the years, but was not happy being grounded from driving just because my choice of vehicles each time I was " down", had 3 pedals. I'm past those injuries now, but do get some leg soreness now and then, probably as a result.and have other vehicles with auto tranny's in them around nowadays that aren't going anywhere anytime soon either.
I'm not looking to work this truck real hard when I'm done redoing it /but may pull my popup or my utility trailer with a garden tractor or 2 on it occasionally.
I never used to worry about mileage, but with gas at stupid levels it's definitely a consideration. If it was an end all be all consideration I would be driving a 4 cylinder econobox though and not trucks.
How much difference is there between them in how much power each trans will eat up just to run them among these 3 choices? I know the stick will be the least, but by how much? Half? Vs the 727? Where would the a500 fit in there, as far as power consumption?
I've done mild shift kits in most automatics I've been inside of over the years/does that reduce the power eaten up by the power train, vs a given trans that doesn't have a shift kit?
 
I was at the same place with my /6 and a833 OD. I went with a 440/727 but there are times I wish I would have stuck with the other. Make sure you have low gears with the OD. I think the last truck around 86ish, I had was a 3.55 or 3.73 but, I really don't remember.
 
I'm staying with the /6 or I wouldn't have spent the money or the time that I did on the overhaul. I have a couple of 318 magnums and 360 magnums as well as the 440 I could probably get from my son.
I have my reasons for that.
Largely because I've done that been there in replacing a /6 with a V8 in a truck before. So don't need to this time at least not for the "experience" in doing that.

I was happy to see that 727 in this truck as it came to me, and at present it's working fine.
but these other 2 transmissions found me since.i didn't go looking for them.
To me even if I had a /6 to small block trans adapter plate sitting here that a500 seems like a downgrade vs a 727 since the 500 is based on a 904, a transmission I haven't had very good luck with over the years, I've swapped over more than a few vehicles I've had from a 904 to 727s. I've had 500s and 518s over the years and have had more trouble with 500s just like I've had more trouble with 904s. If I chose that option I would be going through it and beefing it up as I did with the last a500 I had which was the stock trans in my last Dakota. But it's doable.
I have this /6 built up to have the power somewhere between what a stock 318 and what a stock 360 "of the day" these trucks were new, would have had. 1st time I've "built up" a /6 but not the 1stbtime I've been inside a /6. I've previously rebuilt 2 other /6s "as stock" over the years.
That's where the experimentation has happened on this build. To see just what I could do with one.
But since these other 2 transmissions have fallen into my lap, I definitely have to wonder how different this truck would be with the only difference in each case being choice of trans.
I haven't driven it much yet since I drug it home, but enough (before the engine rebuild) to know the 727 in it now is a good one. Or will be once I fix whatever is leaking on it (not the pan, or front or rear seals)
I did replace the converter on it with a fresh reman because of a few bad ring gear teeth while the engine was out. No road miles on it yet since the new converter just break in time on the new engine.
I've had /6s before with 904s and with 3 and 4 speed sticks, never one with an OD auto since they never built them that way back then
 
Last edited:
I've had several 70s and 80s dodge trucks over the years and to me they are better trucks than anything built since then. So I want to build this one to be the best it can be and just don't want to backtrack and change anything once I initially decide what I want in it and out of it. Color, engine and trans choice, rear gear, interior, everything. I want to build it ONCE and done. Without any "I wish I'd have done it this way or that way"once done with any given phase of the project. I have other things I can use these other transmissions on if not in this truck. If I don't use the 833od for the truck it'll go on the volare which I've wanted to convert to a stick from the get go. And my son has a potential landing spot for the a500 in his garage. So whatever doesn't go in my truck won't go to waste.
 
As much as I like driving a stick, I am getting a little more lazy the older I get so I wouldn't want one in my daily. The A500 would be a good choice with the /6, not enough power to tear it up, OD may give you some extra mileage.
 
Once I saw the extent of my parts haul yesterday I'm leaning hard towards the stick.
 
65 sporty said:
As much as I like driving a stick, I am getting a little more lazy the older I get so I wouldn't want one in my daily. The A500 would be a good choice with the /6, not enough power to tear it up, OD may give you some extra mileage.
Click to expand...
Yeah here lately I'm thinking along those lines too.
A trans swap isn't super high on the list, it's a "down the road" part of the project, at this point probably only sped up/ moved up the priority list if something happens to the 727 that's in it now.
So I have time to save money for a new clutch (if the one in the attic ends up being for something different than what I think it is) or seek out the adapter plate I'd need to put the a500 in.
But the way my shoulder has been treating me lately I'm sure banging my own gears won't help it either.
Truth be told us much rather have a truck with 3 pedals instead of only 2, there was a time when I've passed on some damn nice trucks only because they had automatic tranny's, and the side trip I had to make to the chiropractor today after work should help sway the decision but I'm stubborn like that. And with the "OD might help mileage" idea, I'm hoping so but with 3.21 gears I might find the truck "lugging" in OD.
I know my wrangler with a 4.0 inline and a 5 speed didn't like 5th because it only had 3.07s in it
And the same size tires as on this truck.
Not much difference between 3.07 and 3.21
 
I had that combination in the 82 before ditching the 225 w/o manual od. Was great when it worked which was less than 50% of the time. The decision to go with a 360 and 727 with the same 3.21 gears guaranteed a better average MPG than the 225 setup ever did. Going across north Texas facing a 45 mph head wind at 30 mph in 3rd gear at best was not only frustrating but time consuming. Ditching the 225 period was a no brainer.
 
I have had several 360s. Run good, dependable, but have yet to have one that isn't a gas sucking pig.

I also don't need 1/2" lift and 300 degree cams either at this point, that so many people think they need for their ride to be "cool". This truck was never meant to be a race truck.

I've done the /6 to v8 swaps. I figured this time it was time to see what I could actually do with the/6.
Which meant I didn't have to find a v8 radiator, V8 mounts, V8 trans, V8 pan, V8 exhaust, and all the other stuff needed to make the swap. That I don't have.and would have to buy.

Which meant I could put more into my experiment with this /6. I figure be should be somewhere between the power of a stock '85ish 318 and a stock '85-ish 360. Which really isn't saying much, all V8s of that era we're pretty dismal of the day....
But to work up a 6 to that level would be a noticeable improvement.
I just wanted to build something that wasn't from the cookie cutter mold. I wanted the /6 because of the "different" factor. In the back of my head I still have the idea of adding a homebrew turbo setup to it someday.
I've ported the head. Added o/s valves. Shaved the head. Had it flowed. Shaved the block. Sent the cam out for a regrind. Converted to super 6 including an nos carter bbd. Ported the manifolds especially the exhaust. And done all but the actual machine work myself.
I wasn't looking for, or expecting to find either the a500 nor the 833od package that wound up in my lap. If I were, I probably would still be digging and searching. But weirdly these parts all found me. For way too good of a price to say no to.
 
I work on much later model vehicles every day of my life. I'm a fleet mechanic for the miserable state that I live in. Tired of F150s. Tired of computers and sensors and cam phasers. I like the simplicity of a carbureted inline 6.
 
Ok it gets weirder.
There's a guy on CL who has the adapter plate I'd need to go with the a500.
The bad part is that it's sandwiched between another/6 and an early 60s 727. But is have to buy the whole motor and trans to get it.
The price he's wanting is about the same as what the last guy on the forums wanted for just the sb trans to /6 adapter plus shipping from CA to IL.
Problem being I don't know anyone who's want a '64 vintage 727, once I separate it all out, most who work with 727s want the 71 up version.
the /6 I think I can re-home albeit I would get about the same thing for that from the guy I have in mind, as I could by taking it over the scale.
I hate having to buy 10 times what I want to get one part of it.
I'm still leaning towards the manual, all I'm lacking is a new clutch to sandwich between the motor and trans. It came with a used set but I ain't doing all that and putting in a used clutch. And just because the Bell housing that came with the package happens to be an 86-87 one that's set up for the factory hydraulic master and slave, if I do go that route I will definitely be going hydro instead of mechanical.
I've been looking into McLeod, Tilton, Wildwood aftermarket hydraulic setups but can't find any info to tell me what size master to use with what size slave. What is like to get is the hydraulic throw out bearing setup in place of a slave cylinder.
 
I hope you're not planning on using the 80's production 9" clutch that is practically worthless. If you want to tubo it do it. But none of that extra machine work would have been required. The only problem with asking more out of the / is not making it a gas hog. The more output expected the more the input needs to be. Soon it's using more gas than a good old stock 60's 318 at the same power level.
 
And out of making a gas hog out of the/6, I hope not. There is a point of improving the power output of an engine and mileage actually improving. I've done that with a few engines over the years especially 318s. But a big point of building this is doing what I can with what I have.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top