Update November, 2000
I am down to the transmission rebuild now.
I ordered the Mopar Performance trans kit but was sadly disappointed. There was no rear band in the box, no bushings and only the very late model lip seals for the high clutch drum. I had to spend another 150 to get what I needed to complete the overhaul.
The kickdown band supplied was of very suspicius design and quality . It
looked like it was not up to the job so I bought an good quality one as
well. We added one extra clutch disc and steel to both clutches.
We don't use the heavy Hemi drums, we modify the originals instead to take the extra clutch.
The plate in the outer end of the clutch drum is machined so the plate
sit further out of the drum. The plates are plenty strong enough as we have been
doing this in the race cars for years. This gives enough room for an extra plate
and steel. In the high clutch drum a small amount need to be machined from the
piston as well but no more than absolutely necessary as the tabs must remain
strong enough to keep the piston from spinnig in the drum. Those who can do this
will know immediately upon seeing it what to do. It actually only takes a few
minutes:
Also, a while back there was a discussion about rear pump trannys and the
extended pickups. I modified the MP supplied deep pickup that came with
my deep trans pan by drilling it and making a brass spacer for the rear
pump hole. I will use plumber's solder to finalize it, but I have some
pics of the assembly. I also made a new
govenor weight for the govenor as MP no longer produces them . This
allows higher shift (I hope) by increasing spring tension on the govenor
weight. I made several weights as I had no idea what was needed. The
shiny one is mine beside the stock weight.
Update, December 10, 2000
The current MP pinion snubbers do not properly fit our '62 to '65 Mopars, as the bracket allows the snubber to miss the floorpan.
Using the "Gas Axe" (torch), we removed the critical part from the MP snubber and welded it to the oricinal snubber after removing the stock rubber from the original '63 snubber. It now fits perfect and contacts the floor as it should.
If this is not done the snubber will serve no purpose and may even cause some trouble.
426 marine wedges are good blocks. I just finished my max wedge using one of them. They have a little bit of extra bracing on the block , For an exact copy we added the bore valve notches which was a fairly easy job. (We also do this on 440s.)
A set of max wedge heads and intake are all you need.
The 426 was a very popular marine engine and there are many around now that replacement pistons are not readily available, or so most machine shops think!
This photo shows the 426 with the valve notches to the bore added.
Go Back to Don's 1963 Dodge Restoration Page
Refresher Overview: 1963 Dodge 440; 426 Max Wedge track engine (original NASCAR single
four 426 1963 intake); JE pistons; 426 marine block with 1963 max wedge heads, stock valve sizes; Racer Brown Cam (300 deg adv at 520" lift) hyd. headers; reworked Holley 750 (3310); 1964 PB transmission uses a mild kit with one added clutch to both clutch packs. Dynamic converter 3800 stall 9 inch; 391 gears; 29 inch tall tires. The combo is designed primarily for street cleaning!
November, 2000; December 10, 2000; January 13, 2001; May 21, 2001
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