I put a 70 318, with a 71 a833 4 speed in my 36 Plymouth coupe. Took it out for it's shake down run, got some questions! 1) My mechanical oil pressure gauge is showing 70 - 80 lbs, the dipstick is showing no oil. I've got an aftermarket dipstick, and it may be too short ! Which then may have demanded I put in more oil, resulting in the high pressure. thoughts? 2) The a833 was to have come out of a barracuda, the rear axle is a ranger 8.8 410 posi. The gearing is so low that it's easier to start out in 2nd, and skip to 4th, and the engine is screaming in 4th, have I gotten a truck trans? A change in the axle ratio may be the simplest fix. thoughts? It's obvious this is my first mopar, maybe my last..... :-( That starter is going to take some getting used to.....
I don't think extra oil raises pressure. The trans can be weird 3rd is an overdrive on some and 4th is 3rd. Your shift levers on the trans should be 1 up and 1 down if that's the case. Sent from my LG-TP450 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
70/80 lbs. is right where a small block mopar belongs . Drain your oil measure 5 qts check your stick . I have 273 in my 65 dart has 75# drops to 40 at idle motor has about 80,000 mi
the lbs sounds familiar, do I have the wrong dipstick? Are the shift levers the only way to tell, are there id numbers on the case, or is the case universal regardless of application?
Your oil pan will determine how much oil you need. If you have a stock pan, and 5 qts of oil, then your dipstick is apparently not long enough. If you have an aftermarket deep pan, you may need to add more oil to get it yo the original fill level. 4.10s are a lot of gear, especially if you're running a tire in the 25"-26" range.
That is the kind of rear axle gear they used to use for drag racing. Today for most cars, it would be in the low 3s or high 2s. Trans has nothing to do with it. If you want a car that is peppy and fast away from stop lights but still capable of hiway travel try a 3.23:1 or thereabouts. Even that may seem low compared to a modern car, what kind of driver are you used to?
I would bet you probably have an overdrive 833,,,,,,1st gear is a 3.09 ratio,,,,,so,,,yeah 2nd would be easier to take off with . And the 3 and 4th arm is 180 degrees rotated from the 1 and 2nd arm . One is turned up,,,the other down . Oil pressure is about right,,,,,,who knows about the dip stick,,,,did you put 5 quarts in it ? Don’t be discouraged about working on a Mopar,,,,and yes,,,,,,the starters are not for everybody . Besides,,,,if that old Mopar is right,,,,it won’t turn over much and it will light . If it takes 5 or 6 seconds to start,,,,it needs a little more attention. But,,,,,that holds the same for them all,,,,,Ford and Chevys included . Tommy
ok... just ordered a truck dipstick, i'll drain the oil tomorrow, i'll change the rear gears to a higher ratio (junkyards are full of 'em). and give it another shot. I went to a truck pan to clear the front axle, and I ordered a truck dipstick at the time... so much for that
Depending on which truck pan you have, it could hold one or maybe even 2 extra quarts of oil. If you have the 7 qt pan and you only put 5 qts in, the oil level probably won't touch the dipstick. That gear reduction Mopar starter does have its own sound, one of the newer smaller high torque starters will have a sound more like your used to hearing. I'm sure that with 4:10 gears, the motor is screaming at highway speeds. Even an OD trans only drops the final drive ratio by .87. Gene
When you convert a car 318 to rear sump you need the oil pan, oil pick up tube, the dipstick & dipstick tube. The stick has to go all the way to the back. The Van tube & stick is really long.
the mopar sites that I've looked at trying to identify the trans say the overdrive trans has an aluminum case, mine is iron. Of course this doesn't mean that sometime in the past 50 year the gears in the trans were changed... the dipstick I just ordered is basically a cable, the one I ordered for a truck before is very short by comparison.. got my fingers crossed the mopar sites say the first gear for a short tail shaft, a body a833 is 2.66, for the overdrive version it's 3.09. when I compare this to t5 5.0 mustangs I've had the first gear ratio in a t5 is 2.95 with a 4.10 rear, (the same rear ratio in my '36) and the mustangs seemed to be fine with those ratios. Though the ratios are not identical they're pretty close. it's almost like driving a '60s f250 with a granny gear!
Your engine should not be 'screaming' with 4.10's...but you get to define the scream. It could be more fan noise than engine. Plenty of on-line calculators to determine where the gear ratios and rpm are at: Gear Calculator The OD trans can have an alum main case, or an alum tail, or both but it will not be all iron in oem form. As for the starter, some folks actually like the 'Highland Park Hummer'... If you continue to have ID issues then post some pics. .
All 833 have a 1 to 1 high gear except the 3+1 the wide rato was a 3.09 close ratio were 2.44 2.47 most being 2.66. Question are all the shift levers pointed up only the overdrive trans would have the front lever pointed down?
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