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4 speed conversion done

NJRR

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After almost 1 1/2 years of collecting parts, my 70 RR is now officially a 4 speed !!!!! You might know from my previous posts/updates that I decided to have Jamie Passon do the actually conversion and I am glad I did. I bought my rebuilt date correct A833 from him so I knew that if there were any issues with the trans, he would take care of them. I bought other parts from members here, some from the other forum, some from Craigslist and some from Classic Industries. I have to say that some of the Classic parts were sub-par and the clutch pedal rod angles were totally off (I will be contacting them) when compared to a stock pedal rod that I bought from Jamie.

The welding of the hump, ball stud frame bracket and buddy seat brackets were very neat and even. Jamie took it upon himself to get a rattle can of FC7 and sprayed all the welded in pieces. They look like they were factory. I never would have been able to do that nice of a job which was one of my biggest reservations. I know that if the ball stud bracket is not located properly and square that the torque rod would give you continuous problems. The clutch goes in nice and smooth, even pressure, no hangups or snags.

I put in a Mcleod diaphram clutch. Grabs really nice. Very different feel than the clutches on the euro and jap imports that I drive regularly. I guess it's just a matter of getting used to it. What I did notice was that the throttle lag that I used to have with the automatic totally disappeared. I thought it was a carb problem. I will pay attention to see if it returns at all.

The other two things that Jamie did besides the conversion was change my power steering box to a Steer and Gear firm box because both my upper and lower seals were leaking and it was loosy goosy. It's like night and day. Much more responsive and better road feel. I was going to put in a Firm Feel, but the wait time was 2 months. The other thing was he change my u-joints. Apparently, Jamie thought the rear u-joint was original and never changed because of a wire across the joint that originals had. There was a lot of play in both of them anyhow so needed to be changed out. I would not want to lose the driveshaft while burning through the gears.

I will be listing for sale some of the parts i removed in a separate post. I have my 727, the console (switched to buddy seat), the console shifter, the automatic carpet and a 513 bell (Jamie had a pristine one that I decided to use). Here's some pics of the new setup.

I'M A HAPPY FRIGGIN CAMPER !!!!!! :dancing_monkey:

IMG_1763.jpgIMG_1764.jpgIMG_1765.jpgIMG_1766.jpgIMG_1767.jpgIMG_1768.jpgIMG_1769.jpgIMG_1772.jpgIMG_1694.jpgIMG_1704.jpg
 
Just outta curiosity.... what did that conversion run ya? roughly...?
 
Looking forward to hear how this car runs for you now. :icon_thumright:
 
Parts were less than $4k. That's with a rebuilt date correct tranny. It took me over a year to find all the parts. That was half the fun !!!

Just outta curiosity.... what did that conversion run ya? roughly...?
 
Parts were less than $4k. That's with a rebuilt date correct tranny. It took me over a year to find all the parts. That was half the fun !!!

Thats not too bad... finding the parts, I think, is the true challenge.
 
Parts were less than $4k. That's with a rebuilt date correct tranny. It took me over a year to find all the parts. That was half the fun !!!

Very nice! Congrats, I bet you are enjoying this mod...well done install, if Jamie puts this much effort into a regular 4 speed conversion than his 5 speed must be near perfect. I have been following the A855 saga on moparts and Passon says he is using the 4 speed conversions to keep his 5 speed production funnel funded, this job is def a good advertisement. I think about the A833 swap all the time but I keep telling myself to wait for that A855 waiting list to shrink... may have to wait a decade or two!
 
I saw some of his finished 5 speeds. They were very very nice. Jamie is a meticulous craftsman and doesn't take short cuts. I'm sure his 5 speed reflects his work ethic and attention to detail. Now that my conversion is done it will be easy for me to swap into one of his 5 speeds when I have an extra $5k to burn !!!!!


Very nice! Congrats, I bet you are enjoying this mod...well done install, if Jamie puts this much effort into a regular 4 speed conversion than his 5 speed must be near perfect. I have been following the A855 saga on moparts and Passon says he is using the 4 speed conversions to keep his 5 speed production funnel funded, this job is def a good advertisement. I think about the A833 swap all the time but I keep telling myself to wait for that A855 waiting list to shrink... may have to wait a decade or two!
 
Thanks for posting those pics I'm going to be doing my conversion soon . If anyone is interested I bought a 100% compete kit from elite vintage auto out of n.j. for think $4100.00 and he got me every nut and bolt I needed and restored the org parts like the trans ,bell housing z bar,pedals. Ect. Great guy he even delivered the stuff to my house free of charge on one of his trips down to fl. He also does rears ,brakes and so on.
Anyways I'll be installing this kit soon and the pictures will be helpful.
 
Nice job, just welded in my z-bar frame bracket, I had no idea it needed one until after paint so I had to grind off a patch of nice paint ouch!!!! I am doing same with my 68 RR, Question, I am having a bear of a time with the power brake linkage hitting the pedal so the pedal is not returning all the way, it does not come back far enough to hit brake switch??? is there two different pedals? one for manual and power???? confused in northern NV. any one have that problem???
 
4 Speeds are so much fun to drive on the Street.... GOOD JOB ! and enjoy !

If the 4 speeds weren't so slow in the 1/4 mile, I would even consider switching back from the Auto/Convertor setup just for the fun factor.
 
Fun factor is the reason why I converted it. I never race the car. Brings a smile to my face shifting those gears !!!!


4 Speeds are so much fun to drive on the Street.... GOOD JOB ! and enjoy !

If the 4 speeds weren't so slow in the 1/4 mile, I would even consider switching back from the Auto/Convertor setup just for the fun factor.
 
I just got the new buddy seat cover from Summit. I'm hoping to re-cover and install it this week. Will post pics when I do.

lets see some shot of the shifter and that buddy seat! congrats!
 
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