Dodge LA / 5 speed transmission options

I have an extra AX15 with all the trimmings here if any one wants one. PM me here. Gene

 

I have to wonder why folks doing engine swaps...especially those building one of these late 40's/early 50's Mopars with tight engine bays....never look at Chrysler's forgotten engine... the 4.7 V8. It makes more power than a 318 (A LOT more if you hunt down an HO version) gets 30% better mileage, makes more torque, weighs a lot less (438 lb vs 580 lb) and has a smaller footprint. Overhead cams. Complete fuel injection systems can be found with these motors in junkyards across America. Find a wrecked a Jeep Grand Cherokee and get to work.

 

Mopar Tony - the gearbox will give you many good miles if it is in good condition. It isn't a drag machine gearbox but for what you describe it will be a good choice. Build it - enjoy it
Cheers Brett

 

The 844 with OD is the setup of choice, the Dakota route is the second option in my opinion. Either way it will be a good manual for road running. I am waiting till my 904 auto dies,"if it ever dies" to put some more gears, but honestly at 75 on the freeway, 2.90 gears I'm turning 2800 on my 318...

Rears I wouldn't mess with that ford stuff, get you a mopar 8.75 741 case or 742 case, out of a A body.. Plenty of ass to hold up to what you are putting through it.. But if you got exploder rears close then just do that. I have blown bearing caps out the back cover of a 8.8 and have never spent my money on another one of those rears.

 

Mopar Tony, I am not running one, but the old adage I've always tried to live by is
"Build it with a cheap fuse", meaning that if you build something more than proven, boring stock, make sure the weak link is something cheap (and hopefully easy) to replace.
4X4 guys will have bulletproof axles and (relatively) weak U-joints that can be replaced out in the hills.
They would rather not have to set up a ring and pinion while hanging on the side of a hill.
If you have a good engine/trans/shaft/axle, don't put the big sticky tires on it or you WILL find the weakest link. Tires are cheap and easy to swap in this example. If they break loose first, the other components won't have to handle all the strain. Almost a circuit breaker rather than a fuse. Let off and it resets. Traditional width tires will almost certainly give up before the transmission will.
Also, since you are building a 52 that should weigh around 3200-3400 pounds all in
https://www.automobile-catalog.com/make/plymouth/p-17-p-23/p-23-cranbrook-sedan/1952.html
or
http://www.classiccardatabase.com/specs.php?series=4950&year=1952&model=28218
this is lighter than anything that 360 or trans came in originally. Less weight means less strain.

 

I'm pretty sure you meant an 833 OD, not an 844 OD.
Around here you can get an 8.8 from an Exploder for about $150 and it will probably have 3:73 or 3:55 gears and a Limited slip (work great with an OD trans). You can't touch an 8 3/4 for less then $600-$800. Personally, I would stay away from the A body 8 3/4 because it has the smaller wheel bolt pattern that won't match the front wheels. The B body 8 3/4 would be my 1st choice, but you have to be able to find one you can afford these days.

4.7s do not have a good reputation for being a good, or a long lasting motor. Finding a good one in a local yard is really hard, and if you find one still living, it will be expensive, and will probably be without a guarantee. Given a choice between a 318 and a 4.7, I'd choose the 318 any day. The 5.2 (318) Magnum motors are good motors. But then, I have actually installed a lot of small block Mopars in the 30s - 50s Mopar bodies and they fit just fine. The early 90s 5.2 (318) Dakota has a throttle body EFI that works pretty well if you can still find one complete. The computer and efi wiring can be separated out of the under hood wiring pretty easily, or there are companies that offer wiring harnesses that are a plug and play (though not cheap) for adding fuel injection to these older cars. Gene

 

Two things against the NV 3500 the deep low gear and they are hard to work on with out special tools. I suggest you build a stand like this one https://video.search.yahoo.com/sear...=c4937a8b6c7237bf7a05921bf977b8a1&action=view

 

My only experience with the 4.7 is in the form of a 2000 Grand Cherokee and a 2002 Durango that we traded the Jeep for. Both were excellent hard running SUV; the Jeep was still relatively fresh at 35k but the Durango had 165k on the clock when we finally sold it and it still ran strong. YRMV
I would certainly consider using one in a 40s/50s swap.

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I had a1996 dodge ram 318 and a 2004 ram 4.7 Both trucks 5 speed and 4X4 the 318 was better on gas.

 

I've only experienced one 4.7L. A friend had one in a Dakota. Used it to tow a very light trailer with a golf kart to Vegas for a race (it was for the team to get around, we weren't racing it!). The guy said it was not keeping up with the Diesel towing the full enclosed trailer with two cars in it, and when driving around town (commuting, not towing) he had to really dip into it to keep up with traffic and it got poor MPG.
Again, this is in a 4200 pound truck, so a lighter car may be a workable solution, but it sure didn't impress as built.

 

I know 4 different people that had 4.7 motors in Dakotas and Durangos. All four had issues with their 4.7, two of them had junk 4.7s before 70K miles, both well maintained. The one that made it the farthest went to around 115K before the timing chains and lifters were spit out and bent the valves. You can't find a running 4.7 in a salvage yard around here. Gene

 

Cause it's the HAMB...?

Mercy.

 

Thank you everyone for you responses I appreciate all of your knowledge. I plan on going ahead and putting in the 360 magnum and the ax15. I have a 8 3/4 axle out of a 1967 Dodge Coronet that I plan on putting in it. Should go together pretty decently.