skimask wrote:
I agree completely. A "stock" 518 isn't going to last behind any big block for long, in any reasonable vehicle. But, I've got a 'hidden secret' in a life-long classmate/friend that rebuilds trannys for a living. I don't quite understand the ins-and-outs of it all completely, I'm more of a TH350/TH400 type of guy, but it's something about the low/reverse servo, the intermediate strut, and increasing the number of clutch packs, along with other things. He says he buys kits/parts from PATC, does the work, drag races a few of them, and rebuilds them for farmers trucks out here.
From what he and some of the Mopar hot-rodders around here say, the trick is to set it up so the converter stays locked up in 3rd/4th (keeps down the heat in the fluid) and be extra aware of the engine load so as to not lug the engine in 4th gear on hills. Since I'll be practically the only one ever driving, no problem...until it breaks![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/smile.gif "smile")
Heck, then I'll still have all of the original parts to go back to.
But I'm only going to go thru with this idea if I can find an A518/46RH cheap enough, along with all of the adapter parts to make it fit.
JDG
Leeann wrote:
skimask, I wouldn't bother putting an A518 behind a 440...you'll break it in no time. The OD can only be used not towing not hauling - putting an RV body on the van constitutes hauling.
skimask, I wouldn't bother putting an A518 behind a 440...you'll break it in no time. The OD can only be used not towing not hauling - putting an RV body on the van constitutes hauling.
I agree completely. A "stock" 518 isn't going to last behind any big block for long, in any reasonable vehicle. But, I've got a 'hidden secret' in a life-long classmate/friend that rebuilds trannys for a living. I don't quite understand the ins-and-outs of it all completely, I'm more of a TH350/TH400 type of guy, but it's something about the low/reverse servo, the intermediate strut, and increasing the number of clutch packs, along with other things. He says he buys kits/parts from PATC, does the work, drag races a few of them, and rebuilds them for farmers trucks out here.
From what he and some of the Mopar hot-rodders around here say, the trick is to set it up so the converter stays locked up in 3rd/4th (keeps down the heat in the fluid) and be extra aware of the engine load so as to not lug the engine in 4th gear on hills. Since I'll be practically the only one ever driving, no problem...until it breaks
Heck, then I'll still have all of the original parts to go back to.But I'm only going to go thru with this idea if I can find an A518/46RH cheap enough, along with all of the adapter parts to make it fit.
JDG
The A518 is basically an A727 with an overdrive stuck on the back end. As I understand it, the internals for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and reverse are the same for both the A727 and A518. (At least, the aftermarket parts book shows the same part numbers for most of the internals ... the difference between the two appears to be mostly in the case, valve body, and tailcone section.)
When they engineered the overdrive add-on, they didn't maintain the same level of quality, in design or materials, that went into the original A727. (Remember, they put the A727 behind 'elephant' Hemi's without any problems, even under moderately hard usage.)
If you want to get close to the functionality of an A518, add a Gear Vendors Over/Under-Drive unit onto an A727. (This is what I plan to do to my motorhome.) Gear Vendors make regular units and units with the driveline brake. (In the latter, the brake unit is better than the original OEM driveline brake.)
The only thing missing to make it a better-than-A518 tranny is the lock-up torque converter.
You could, of course, hunt down a lock-up A727, which I've considered. However, I'd throw away the stock torque converter and replace it with a good quality aftermarket unit ... one made for truck applications.
The lock-up clutch in stock torque converters is notorious for disintegrating under mild ordinary use. The pieces then tend to collect in the tranny cooler, plugging it up and causing the tranny to burn up. (This happened to my daughter's B1500 van, as well as to others I know.)
This is a fairly expensive proposition, although probably not as expensive as a short-lived, out-of-its-league A518.
I assume you're looking for better gas mileage ... if so, there are a number of options that are less expensive than swapping transmissions. Carburetor, intake manifold, exhaust manifolds (such as Thorley Tri-Y headers), timing, and camshaft would all be things I would consider (and have considered) before swapping transmissions.
1970 Explorer Class A on a 1969 Dodge M300 chassis with 318 cu. in. (split year)
1972 Executive Class A on a Dodge M375 chassis with 413 cu. in.
1973 Explorer Class A on a Dodge RM350 (R4) chassis with 318 engine & tranny from 1970 Explorer Class A
B-Rad79 wrote:
Hi all, Newbie here. Just came across this while searching for other 70's era Dodges. While my main unit is a 79 Jayco with a 360 I purchased in March, I just purchased another 79 Cruise Master with a 440, quite a bit of water damage to this one. I plan on parting out the newest purchase. I can't go wrong, picked it up for $800 and it had newer tires, (about 2500 miles) that I already changed out with the Jayco, a still in the package awning I am selling to a friend and a generator I hope to use for my barn. I figure with those items I already have over the purchase price. I plan on just getting rid of the engine and trans, hopefully I can get $500 to $800 out of those. The odometer says 30,000 miles.
Is the fridge working.???
Hi all, Newbie here. Just came across this while searching for other 70's era Dodges. While my main unit is a 79 Jayco with a 360 I purchased in March, I just purchased another 79 Cruise Master with a 440, quite a bit of water damage to this one. I plan on parting out the newest purchase. I can't go wrong, picked it up for $800 and it had newer tires, (about 2500 miles) that I already changed out with the Jayco, a still in the package awning I am selling to a friend and a generator I hope to use for my barn. I figure with those items I already have over the purchase price. I plan on just getting rid of the engine and trans, hopefully I can get $500 to $800 out of those. The odometer says 30,000 miles.
Without Trucks,....America Stop's
With my fridge... the electric is working better than LP... which is backwards any other fridge I've had. (And I like the LP to work well) anyone have any suggestions or tricks to try?
'73 Concord 20' Class A w/Dodge 440 - see profile for photo
Wife and child and I are gonna fix it up and start going...
I cant find any info at all tho on it.
Any thoughts
Thanx
D~
Griff in Fairbanks wrote:
The A518 is basically an A727 with an overdrive stuck on the back end........and so on.........
The A518 is basically an A727 with an overdrive stuck on the back end........and so on.........
And again, I can't disagree with anything you said.
(Seems to me that there's a whole lot more 'level headed' people here than in most other forums.)
727 vs A518 internals - Agreed there. That's what Cal said (friend in the tranny shop). Only major stumbling block is the bell-housing and torque converter bolt up, both of which require readily available adapter plates.
Quality in the overdrive add-on - Again, agreed there...in stock form. But I'll be upgrading the internals to stronger, beefier pieces/parts that seem to work for the racing crowd, including a replacement for the crappy stock lock-up torque converter.
Gear Vendors - not cheap!!! $4,000 for a base unit! I'm looking to find a tranny out of a junker pickup and rebuild it. The A518/46RH had a lockup T/C after '91, and no 'real' computer before '96. Kinda limits the available options, but they're out there somewhere...
Lock up A727? Which vehicles had those? Haven't researched that one yet for myself...
Not really looking for gas mileage. That idea is already pretty much out the window with the ol' 440. I guess I'm thinking more in terms of wear and tear running at those crazy high revs at normal highway speeds.
I'm not even looking to break 60mph. It's an RV...time to relax and enjoy the scenery, not speed from one campsite to another. I just want to hit 60mph at a decent rpm.
However, if I ever do have to pull the engine for major work, one of those stroker kits looks really inviting! Saw one that'll take the 440 up to something like a 572. Practically enough to smoke any tranny out there!
JDG
lokinightgod wrote:
Well I just got a 1978 Dodge Sportsman Motor Home for 800.00
Wife and child and I are gonna fix it up and start going...
I cant find any info at all tho on it.
Any thoughts
Thanx
D~
Well I just got a 1978 Dodge Sportsman Motor Home for 800.00
Wife and child and I are gonna fix it up and start going...
I cant find any info at all tho on it.
Any thoughts
Thanx
D~
This whole thread in particular has a lot of good info in it. I started reading it over two months ago and I'm not finished yet. And there's a lot of other "rebuilding Class C" threads here. Keep your eyes open and read them all. I think just about everything has been covered at one time or another.
And get yourself a Chilton's or Haynes manual for your chassis. The manual won't tell you anything about your water heater, fridge, or anything in the back, but it'll handle everything under the hood.
The stuff in the back is almost 'generic'. Any good basic RV book should handle cover it.
JDG
skimask wrote:
Seems to me that there's a whole lot more 'level headed' people here than in most other forums.
Seems to me that there's a whole lot more 'level headed' people here than in most other forums.
That's 'cause we keep 'em running instead of throwing them away ... and need to be level headed to keep 'em running without using up too much money.
skimask wrote:
Quality in the overdrive add-on - Again, agreed there...in stock form. But I'll be upgrading the internals to stronger, beefier pieces/parts that seem to work for the racing crowd, including a replacement for the crappy stock lock-up torque converter.
Quality in the overdrive add-on - Again, agreed there...in stock form. But I'll be upgrading the internals to stronger, beefier pieces/parts that seem to work for the racing crowd, including a replacement for the crappy stock lock-up torque converter.
With beefier, aftermarket internals in the overdrive unit, the A518 might just be a good set-up. I'd be interested in learning more, especially first hand experiences. (To add to my "knowledge base" at the least.)
My only real heartburn with the A518, if applied and used properly, is the "crappy" stock torque converter.
skimask wrote:
Gear Vendors - not cheap!!! $4,000 for a base unit! I'm looking to find a tranny out of a junker pickup and rebuild it. The A518/46RH had a lockup T/C after '91, and no 'real' computer before '96. Kinda limits the available options, but they're out there somewhere...
Lock up A727? Which vehicles had those? Haven't researched that one yet for myself...
Gear Vendors - not cheap!!! $4,000 for a base unit! I'm looking to find a tranny out of a junker pickup and rebuild it. The A518/46RH had a lockup T/C after '91, and no 'real' computer before '96. Kinda limits the available options, but they're out there somewhere...
Lock up A727? Which vehicles had those? Haven't researched that one yet for myself...
Yes, Gear Vendors units aren't cheap --but good, quality stuff rarely is. (Have you seen the price on Edelbrock's EFI intake system??)
'91 to '96 sounds about right, without researching the exact years. The lock-up A727s were less common and around the same period. (Probably better luck finding an appropriate A518 ... rarity of the lock-up A727 is why I pretty much ruled out that option on my project.)
BTW - I seem to recall seeing someone was offering a device that imitated the computer to allow using later model A518 in a non-computer vehicle ... can't recall where I saw it, probably Streetrodder or one of the custom truck magazines.
skimask wrote:
Not really looking for gas mileage. That idea is already pretty much out the window with the ol' 440. I guess I'm thinking more in terms of wear and tear running at those crazy high revs at normal highway speeds.
Not really looking for gas mileage. That idea is already pretty much out the window with the ol' 440. I guess I'm thinking more in terms of wear and tear running at those crazy high revs at normal highway speeds.
Pretty much my reasoning too ... although lower RPMs means better gas mileage.
The big blocks aren't necessarily gas hogs ... a moderately-worked big cube engine has to be better than an overvorked smaller engine. (Part of it is driving habits ... I average 10-20% better gas mileage than people I know who drive "more aggressively".)
Around 1974, I had a '66 Dodge Polara with a 383 that got over 30 miles per gallon, assuming I kept it under 60 MPH. Never have figure out why it got such good mileage ... best guess is it was simply a very well balanced engine.
skimask wrote:
This whole thread in particular has a lot of good info in it. I started reading it over two months ago and I'm not finished yet. And there's a lot of other "rebuilding Class C" threads here. Keep your eyes open and read them all. I think just about everything has been covered at one time or another.
And get yourself a Chilton's or Haynes manual for your chassis. The manual won't tell you anything about your water heater, fridge, or anything in the back, but it'll handle everything under the hood.
The stuff in the back is almost 'generic'. Any good basic RV book should handle cover it.
JDG
lokinightgod wrote:
Well I just got a 1978 Dodge Sportsman Motor Home for 800.00
Wife and child and I are gonna fix it up and start going...
I cant find any info at all tho on it.
Any thoughts
Thanx
D~
Well I just got a 1978 Dodge Sportsman Motor Home for 800.00
Wife and child and I are gonna fix it up and start going...
I cant find any info at all tho on it.
Any thoughts
Thanx
D~
This whole thread in particular has a lot of good info in it. I started reading it over two months ago and I'm not finished yet. And there's a lot of other "rebuilding Class C" threads here. Keep your eyes open and read them all. I think just about everything has been covered at one time or another.
And get yourself a Chilton's or Haynes manual for your chassis. The manual won't tell you anything about your water heater, fridge, or anything in the back, but it'll handle everything under the hood.
The stuff in the back is almost 'generic'. Any good basic RV book should handle cover it.
JDG
Leeann and I, as well as others, have a lot of the old manuals, both for the chassis and the appliances. (I have the Dodge OEM parts catalog and OEM maintenance manual for late '60s/early '70s motorhome chassis.)
If you can't find it already discussed somewhere in the prior 440 pages, just ask.
BTW - Sportsman was the Dodge name for the window vans. (Versus Tradesman for the panel vans.) The 'cut-away' chassis the coach manufacturer got from Dodge probably already had the Sportsman name plate on it. Somewhere there should be something that indicates what the coach manufacturer was.
* This post was edited 06/17/10 12:27am by Griff in Fairbanks *
oldtrucker63 wrote:
B-Rad79 wrote:
Hi all, Newbie here. Just came across this while searching for other 70's era Dodges. While my main unit is a 79 Jayco with a 360 I purchased in March, I just purchased another 79 Cruise Master with a 440, quite a bit of water damage to this one. I plan on parting out the newest purchase. I can't go wrong, picked it up for $800 and it had newer tires, (about 2500 miles) that I already changed out with the Jayco, a still in the package awning I am selling to a friend and a generator I hope to use for my barn. I figure with those items I already have over the purchase price. I plan on just getting rid of the engine and trans, hopefully I can get $500 to $800 out of those. The odometer says 30,000 miles.
Is the fridge working.???Hi all, Newbie here. Just came across this while searching for other 70's era Dodges. While my main unit is a 79 Jayco with a 360 I purchased in March, I just purchased another 79 Cruise Master with a 440, quite a bit of water damage to this one. I plan on parting out the newest purchase. I can't go wrong, picked it up for $800 and it had newer tires, (about 2500 miles) that I already changed out with the Jayco, a still in the package awning I am selling to a friend and a generator I hope to use for my barn. I figure with those items I already have over the purchase price. I plan on just getting rid of the engine and trans, hopefully I can get $500 to $800 out of those. The odometer says 30,000 miles.
I actually do not know. They took the gas/electic out and just replaced it with an electric.