The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Chevy A833 on a Task Force 235?

I've been searching and reading for a few days now and can't really find anything definitive other than people saying it's an option (but the posts I've found describing their experience are from the 1960's truck crowd). For reference I'm working with a 59 fleetside longbed currently with a 235 and SM420.

My SM420 either needs to be replaced or rebuilt, and either option is not cheap. On the other hand I just scored an early 80's chevy A833 in good working condition (minus one broken linkage) for a very good price. Unfortunately the blast shield did not come with it.

My questions are as follows if anyone can clear up the doubt left by my searches:

1. Has anyone written up their specific experience adapting this transmission to a late 50's 235? I.e. a step by step walk-through of tasks?

2. is the blast shield (I use that term, some others might call it the bell-housing; I'm a novice so hopefully that gets the point across) required or will it mate up to the one from my sm420?

3. What modifications are needed to make this work? I'm assuming the following: driveshaft shortened, shifter handle modified or recreated to bend it forward under the bench seat, modification to the floorboard to put a new hole for the shifter. Anything on the engine side?

With regard to a clutch, again I'm a novice so please be gentle on me, do I buy one based on the new transmission or will the one that is on the 235 currently work fine? I'm under the impression that the clutch/flywheel should be engine specific vs trans specific, but I'm not positive.

Thanks much!
Alden

I'm no transmission pro, but i think some of them came with a chevy bolt pattern and some had a chrysler bolt pattern. Chevy had a factory bell housing that had both patterns( one for the engine side, one for the trans side). It wouldn't matter you couldn't use it on a 235, the block is different where the bellhousing mounts to the block. If your trans has the chevy bolt pattern it should bolt right up to your existing settup. However the splines on the clutch disk may be different, so will need to check on that. As far as the drive shaft you'll have to measure that, I would think you may need to get it shortened being you have a long bed truck.The floor and shifter you'll have to work on that as you get to it.

If you join at www.oldgmctrucks,com and do a search, you will find much good information. Both Oldcarkook and motionguru have done the 833 swap. motion has even installed his with a 3speed on the column shift using a hidden cable for reverse.

What are you calling expensive? I see sm 420's for sale on craigs list $50-$100.

If you got the A833 that has the typical gm bolt pattern, It will nearly bolt in. I say "nearly" because some machining will be necessary. The bearing retainer on the A833 is indexed at 5.125 inches. The sm420 is indexed at 4.686 inches. Most people cut down the bearing retainer on a lathe to the smaller 4.686 inches to match the bellhousing. It is possible to bore out the bellhousing to match the transmission.

Unfortunately around here I wasn't finding any sm420's for sale, and ebay was ranging from $250 - $1000 for ones with no confirmation of operation.

The advantage of the a833's overdrive is also a huge factor in wanting to go this route.

It's been confirmed that I snagged the right one, my current issue is finding a replacement linkage for the broken one. Does anyone know where I can buy a replacement linkage set for this thing? I see the Chrysler ones for sale all over but not a single GM specific one. Are they the same?

The GM shifter does show up ekbay, but not often. A good Chrysler shifter to look for is one out of a Van. The Van shifter is almost identical to the GM. That's what I used in my 63 C20.

Larry

Were the Van shifters made by Hurst as well or by another company?

The Van shifter is Hurst, but Hurst OEM shifters are not the same as their after-market shifters. I've found that most of the after market shifters use a 3/8 rod. The Hurst OEM shifter for Mopar uses 7/16 rod.

Larry

Sorry for the 20 questions on this but what year vans should I be looking for?

Does anyone sell replacement linkages new? On the Hurst website they only seem to sell a performance shift kit that has linkage for the full size dodges, but nothing for the vans or chevy trucks and the ones sold for the full size cars doesn't look the same as the one I've got.

No problem on the questions, the only bad one is the one you didn't ask. Glad to help.

I don't remember what year the one I have came out of. I don't know that the year matters. I saw the Van in a Pick n Pull, it had the right transmission and the shifter was mounted up close to the trans body. here's a pic;

https://picasaweb.google.com/L6Griffin/Transmission

What you found on the Hurst Web site is pretty much what I ran into. I've had some luck finding the MY6 transmission on car-parts.com, put in a year from 1982-86, Chev, 1/2 ton, and you want a side shifter.

Hope that helps,
Larry

I'm finding side cover and top shifter as the common results on car-part. Am I correct in thinking the side cover is the same as the side shifter?

Thanks again for all your help!

Correct!

General info:
http://www.chuckthetruck.com/page12.html

Nice job.

I used the cross member out of a 71 C20 in my 63.

Larry

I just stumbled on this web page, if your looking for an A833 for your Chev, this page while tell you what Chev they where in.

http://www.drivetrain.com/parts_cat..._kits/a833_new_process_overhaul_kit.html

If your looking for a shifter for your A833 this page will also tell you what Dodge Truck and Vans they were used in.

I have not done business with drivetrain.com and I'm not recommending them, but I may in the future.

Larry

does anyone have the a833 on their stovebolt and could tell me the measurement of the longest linkage of the three. I've found a place that sells them for the various mopar setups and I think if I get them the length they can pick out whichever one matches.

I'm going to assume that your asking for the length of 1st, 2nd, shift rod. Which is 12.5 inches.

Larry

ok thanks! Just to be sure, that's the one that connects farthest forward on the transmission right?

That's the one closest to the flywheel ("farthest forward"), and the lever is pointing down, and in neutral. The shift rods are from an MY6. The shifter body 11830242D spaced 2 inches from the Dodge Van shifter mount bracket. The 2 inch spacer puts the shifter in almost the exact place the MY6(NP440) shifter is. This combo puts the shifter just inside where hump rises on 63 C20. If you want it closer to the center of the hump use the Van shift rods with no spacer. I have the MY6 shifter mount bracket now, so the wood spacer will be in the next Barbecue fire. 8) The two shift brackets mention put the top bolt on the shifter body 6.5 inches above the top bolt on the tail shaft where it mounts. The bolt is also 4.5 inches from where the tail shaft mounts to the trans body. None of this includes any bends in the shift rods.

Larry

by any chance do you think either of these will work for pulling the linkage or swapping the shifter altogether?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Dodg...arts_Accessories&hash=item2562d08ed1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370501090724

Both of those shifters look like they would work, and look like what I've been using. The shifter will come up thru the hump about 2" from the left side. It should be far enough in front the seat that shifting into 2nd and OD won't be a problem unless you have the seat all the up to the dash.

Larry

ok, so they won't come up in the same place as the gm shifter on the my6 trans, but will instead be a bit more forward?

From what I understand the chevy trans had a different reverse gear compared to the chrysler, does that affect the shifter's function if I go with a chrysler model?

The shifter won't be any further forward. It will be closer to the center of the hump.

The reverse gear is in the same place on both transmissions. I had no problem with reverse when I used the Van shifter.

Larry

gotcha, thanks again for all the advice and sorry for the 500 questions on this same topic

Glad to help, sorry didn't have more photos available. You'll do just fine. Let's us know how things turn out.

Larry

will do. I ordered one of them today, may not get a chance to get it on in the immediate future but when I do I'll put up a good breakdown for anyone with my level of understanding (in other words: lack of) to follow if they want to do the same swap.