A518 TRANNY SWAP

[caddman]

i have successfully swapped an A518 into my 73 charger.
only problem is my speedo cable no longer reaches my speedometer.
does anyone have a fix for this, maybe you know of another model with a longer cable.
any help is greatly appreciated.

caddman
caddmaster2003@hotmail.com

[BigBlackDodge]

I don't know about the cable but I'd interested in seeing pics and details of the swap? I thought about doing this in my '70 but opted just to have my current tranny rebuilt..............4 gear would be nice!!!!

How bad was it to do over all? Costs?

Thanks!

BBD

[deputycrawford]

I also would like to know how bad it is to swap. My 4.10 is buzzing my ears out. Will a built 518 handle 500 to 600 HP?

[golden73]

I am also interested in this.... lots of pics please! 

[caddman]

easy guys not all at once, just kidding. OK i like to talk about things like this but my only internet access is at work, so i will feed you a little bit at a time.
to start with i crabbed a tranny out of a 2wd Dakota in a junk yard for 300 bucks (full of fluid not water).
I'm running a bone stock 318 with a two barrel so as far as the power goes i can't say first hand, but i have read a lot on it and i believe that car craft or hot rod put one behind a 440 and it did all right (i wouldn't shift into OD at full throttle but thats just me).  i put mine together for the purpose of driving from Indiana to California, and then to be a daily driver from then on and i made the trip out in June and she is still in one piece knock on wood (by the way i am running 4:10's in my charger too.  I'll try to get you more later.  do any of you know if a dodge truck uses a longer speedo cable, maybe i could go that way.

[BigBlackDodge]

Here's my thread on the subject a few months ago.............it also has a link on the a-518 conversion.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,3353.0.html

Funny enough they never mention the speedo cable?


Ever find those pics RD?

BBD

[caddman]

yep, i read that to and let me tell you i realized real quick why they did the conversion on the older B body and not the newer one.  you can take everything you see in that article and flush it.  the 73 charger ha a total different tranny mount and it doesn't line up that easy.  they also don't mention the fact that they had to modify the tranny mount they stole off the camera (there is a company on the web that manufactures a mount now, just goggle A518 and you will find them).  did i mention i got 20 mpg highway.  i know you all asked for picks and if i every do have my car up in the air i will get you some, but it will be a while, not to mention that my welding is strong but it is not pretty(my welder backed out on the project so i had to do it my self). one major thing i ran into was that i had to slot the overall tranny mount to allow the speedometer cable to attach to the tranny (i think this is part of the reason it doesn't reach the gauge).
i had seen this swap done on a duster, a generation 2 B body, but never a gen. 3.  if anyone else has done this i would like to know how they handle the speedometer.

later guy

caddman

[John_Kunkel]

The problem with the speedo cable is the unique plastic connector at the speedo head. The '73 B body already has about the longest cable so finding a longer one is gonna be a problem.

If you live near a large city there might be a speedo service that can make one up to your specs, if not, Imperial Services can probably do the job. Also, U.S. Gear makes speedo cable extensions for use with there OD units.

http://www.usgear.com/drcomponent.htm

[RD]

Here's my thread on the subject a few months ago.............it also has a link on the a-518 conversion.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,3353.0.html

Funny enough they never mention the speedo cable?


Ever find those pics RD?

BBD

the pics were from a guy named Randy Reddig.  He just gave me pictures of how he modified the case and crossmember.  I emailed him and this is what he emailed me back:

The first thing I did was take a measurment of the distance from the center of the original trans. output shaft to the floor pan for referance later, then I bolted the trans to the engine & attemptted to raise it , I trimmed the interferance areas on the trans., then when the output shaft to floor pan measurment was correct, I fabricated a new mount out of cardboard, then used that as a template to make a steel one.

The 500 is basicaly a 904 with O/D & the 518 is a 727 with O/D. the 500 may live depending on horsepower & how it is treated.
The shifting can be handled many ways, most guys install two switches on the dash one to control O/D & the other for lockup, Kiesleris rumoured to be working on a control box. The way I handled it is, a vehicle speed sensor in a custom made speedo cable sends it's signal to two RPM switches one is set to allow convertor lockup at 43 mph the other to allow O/D at 52 mph these are hooked to bosch relays as the ground leg, a Hobbs switch (vacuum) is connected to apply power to both relays so if vacuum is below 2hg ( moderatly heavy throttle) it kicks out of O/D & lockup as far as bypassing the lockup just don,t apply power & it won't lock,
but it's good for a  450 rpm drop at 70 mph on the vehicle I preformed this swap to.

BTW the vehicle is a 70 challenger convertible 340 with edelbrock heads, etc., making 425 hp & running 4.30 gears that in O/D are like 2.94's the vehicle when finished left central california & drove to Austin Tx. no problems

[caddman]

the only place i needed to modify the case on my trans was the very rear mounting hole(unused) it landed on the second crossmember and would have hit, i took it off with an angle grinder.  the pics you have of the crossmember are useless to a 3rd generation charger, our crossmember is further to the rear of the car and the mount has to sit in front of the crossmember (a little hep from some 1/8th inch plate and 1/2 inch square tube fixed her right up).