1964 powerwagon engine and transmisson swap

[Troy]

Kind of have a cross between a 1939 diaomond T pickup body, sittin on what I'm told is a 1964 dodge powerwagon frame, the front axle is moved forward about 2 feet and coil overed. This thing has turned out to be a mean lookin four-wheel drive rat-rod. It never really does anything on the trail, just street driving, four wheel drive is basically only used for snow. Currently it has a 318 with a four speed, and a divorced 205 transfer case. Here is my problem, I have a freshly rebuilt 440 and torqueflight 727 sittin in the shop. I would like to put the 440 in, but not necessarily the 727. The main reason is cause I want to put either a 5 speed overdrive manual, or an overdrive auto trans in it to help balance out the 4.11 gears. I just don't know what kind of transmission would fit the 440. Any help would be great. Thanks a lot.
Also, I have one tire that toes in, and I am unfamiliar with the closed knuckle front end. Any information on how to adjust toe in/out on this system would be very useful too.
Thanks again,
Troy

[Hobcobble]

If your frame is a '64, the bell housing will be attached to a
cross member with two rubber block insulators in between
them. If you're not using an original big block manual tranny
bell housing [used up until '68], the bell housing cross member
will be in the way of whatever other tranny/bell housing you
tru to use. In order to install an automatic tranny, you'll need
to cut the bell housing cross member out and install a proper
cross member that the tail shaft will attach to. Spanners will
then have to be put in place to bridge the stubs where the
bell housing cross member once was. I did this when I swapped
a Slant 6 with a three speed manual [A745] tranny for an A318
Poly/727. Cutting that bell housing cross member is the way it
was originally done on the assembly line when a truck was ordered
with an automatic tranny.
John

[Troy]

Thanks a lot for the information, any idea of what the big block tranny was called for those years? Also, are they fairly easy to come by? Right now I'm just trying to weigh all my options.
Thanks Again.

[Hobcobble]

Thanks a lot for the information, any idea of what the big block tranny was called for those years? Also, are they fairly easy to come by? Right now I'm just trying to weigh all my options.
Thanks Again.

The correct cast iron big block manual tranny bell housing is a tough
item to come by. They go for pretty good money when found, as does
the correct flywheel. If your 440 is externally balanced, that would
have to be addressed through counter-balancing the flywheel. If you
choose to go with an automatic, you'll have to use one with the short
tail shaft, even when using the divorced t-case.
John

[Troy]

Wow, thanks again for all the info, this is really helping a lot. I'm usually just workin with GM stuff, and with that pretty much everything interchanges. This is my first dodge project and I know that dodge is nothing like GM when it comes to interchanging parts. I don't know for sure if the 440 is internal or external, or if the tranny has a short tail shaft. My uncle rebuilt it and passed away before putting it to use. My cousin just told me that I could have it, because he isn't going to use it. I do know that it was out of a dodge pickup, but i don't know the year or model. Do you know if there are any newer over drive trannys that would bolt up to the 440, like a 5 speed manual or 4 speed auto? The cross member braces aren't really a concern about mounting up, cause I can build new cross members and additional brackets.
Troy.

[712edf]

Troy,
The 440 (or any big block) was never offered with an OD auto. Since big blocks use a different bellhousing than small blocks/sixes/ or diesels, what you have to do is get a find an OD transmission from a small block (or maybe diesel, not sure as guts may differ) and disassemble both it & your big-block 727, then put the innards from the OD tranny into your big-block case. Since you need a short tailshaft transmission this further complicates things. I am not sure what lenghts the OD transmissions came in. It gets tedious trying to mount a big-block Mopar engine to any auto other than the 3-speed 727, due to the bell issue.

Bucky

[Hobcobble]

Wow, thanks again for all the info, this is really helping a lot. I'm usually just workin with GM stuff, and with that pretty much everything interchanges. This is my first dodge project and I know that dodge is nothing like GM when it comes to interchanging parts. I don't know for sure if the 440 is internal or external, or if the tranny has a short tail shaft. My uncle rebuilt it and passed away before putting it to use. My cousin just told me that I could have it, because he isn't going to use it. I do know that it was out of a dodge pickup, but i don't know the year or model. Do you know if there are any newer over drive trannys that would bolt up to the 440, like a 5 speed manual or 4 speed auto? The cross member braces aren't really a concern about mounting up, cause I can build new cross members and additional brackets.
Troy.

My condolences on your Uncle. The tranny in my 1st pic is a long tail shaft
small block 727. Here's a pic of an externally balanced '76 440 that I'm
converting into a steel crank internally balanced [.030 over] engine. You
can see the balancer on the crank [which will no longer be needed]. The
tranny sitting next to the 440 is a long tail shaft big block 440. You also
have to match the torque converter to the appication depending on the
method of balancing.... be it internal or external.

The '68 and earlier hydualic clutch trannys [A745, NP420, NP435] have
a 10 spline input shaft. In order to get an OD manual tranny into your
truck, you'll have to make sure the input shaft is correct and you'll have
to check around to find the appropriate clutch disc, pressure plate and
throw out bearing. All the flywheel and clutch components changed in
'69 when the mechanical clutch was introduced. Make sure of what you
are working with [or buying].
John

[Troy]

Bucky, thanks for the info on the auto trans.
John, no one seems to know the year of the 440 and trans. I am going to try to get out to his place some time this week to get the casting numbers off of it in order to try to cross reference the year. Is there a quick way to tell the year. Basically the only thing I know about the 440 and trans, is that the 440 was just rebuilt and hasn't even been started yet, and that they both came out of a truck. Model and year are unknown.
Thanks again for your input.
Troy

[Hobcobble]

Bucky, thanks for the info on the auto trans.
John, no one seems to know the year of the 440 and trans. I am going to try to get out to his place some time this week to get the casting numbers off of it in order to try to cross reference the year. Is there a quick way to tell the year. Basically the only thing I know about the 440 and trans, is that the 440 was just rebuilt and hasn't even been started yet, and that they both came out of a truck. Model and year are unknown.
Thanks again for your input.
Troy

There will be a date code on the engine block to the right of
the distributor. Look at www.440source.com too..... it might be a help.
John