I hate the 3 speed crashbox behind the flathead in my 1948 B1C. So I bought a A833 on eBay and the adapter plate from George Asche. I dropped the old transmission from my truck and now I have questions for the more experienced mechanics on the forum. The transmission arrived, 23 spline input shaft, long tailpiece version with dual shifter mounts. Hurst shifter on the rear mounting location. The seller told me that the transmission had been rebuilt by Brewer Performance here in Ohio, so I took a trip to Laura, Ohio to visit Dan Brewer. He told me that the plates in the Hurst shifter mechanism were not correct for the forward location and rebuilt it while I waited. The Input Bearing Retainer was smaller than the hole in the AoK adapter plate, but Dan had the correct size (5.125") retainer, as well as a slip yoke I needed and all new bolts, clips, and shift linkage that fit the forward shift location. Dan gave me $250 for the bell housing/long shift linkage from the eBay auction and I walked away with the parts I needed for $12. Now that I had the slip yoke, I could turn the output shaft and count the revolutions on the input shaft. It looks like I have the close-ratio version of the A833 transmission. 2.47, 1.77, 1.34, 1.00 I'm happy with the non-overdrive version final ratio, since I have a 3.55 Jeep Cherokee rear axle. But is the first gear too high for my flathead? I read that the stock transmission had a 2.57 first gear. Is that correct? Next I measured the input shaft on the stock transmission. The splines extend to 5.5" from the transmission face and the shaft is 7.5" long. The splines on the input shaft of the A833 extend 6" from the transmission face and the shaft is about 8.25" long. The adapter plate is about .375" thick, so we can subtract that. Will the slightly longer splines and input shaft be an issue? Help me out here, guys. I'm having a hip replacement on November 12th, and I'd like to get this done. I'm off to Harbor Freight to buy a cheap transmission jack. That transmission weighs 125 lbs!
The 833 with two shifter mount locations was 1970 and up. The fron position was for B bodys, and the rear was for E bodys. Your first gear ratio shouldnt be an issue as its fairly close to the original. The 3.55 rear gear may be a problem depending what your original ratio was. trucks of that era comonly had 4+ gear ratios
If my math is correct, with the adapter plate in place, you have an extra .375" of length on the input shaft. It's been a while since I had an A-833 on hand, but you may need to trim the tip if the overall input shaft length is too long. What is currently in place on the Flatty's crank snout for a bearing/bushing? Same I.D. and O.D. as the A-833's input shaft tip specs? I can't think of a reason the 1/2" difference in spline length will be an issue. I would loosely "install" the trans with the adapter plate, sans pressure plate and clutch disc, and see how far in it goes. Maybe there's enough crank pilot hole depth to account for the 3/8" of extra length?
10-4 on the weight of the A833. Many years ago I had a 4 speed Road Runner that needed a clutch and I did the job at home on a gravel driveway. I was a scrawny runt in those days but I’d recently sold a Muncie 4 speed so I was using the weight of that as a comparison. I was laying on my back on a piece of cardboard when I pulled the tranny and what a surprise! It was solidly on my chest and I couldn’t breathe and there was no one around to help. I finally managed to wrestle it off me and out from under the car, and I got it back in later with a lot of grunting and groaning but, yeah, they built them heavy and strong. Good luck
Gear vendors shows that there are several ratio A833 boxes. https://www.gearvendors.com/hrdodge4sm.html It looks like they had a gear set for every occasion.
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