Road Runner Nest

Hey guys,

When I bought my car I discovered it has a manual valve body in the 727. What do I have to do to change it back to regular auto shift? Can I purchase a replacement valve body (and where?), and is there anything else they would have done to the trans that I should know about?

Thx for any help.

Greg

I would think you might be able to go to the junkyard,but you have to know what years you can use. I remember modifying my valve body,theyare easy to remove.I installed a b+m shift improver kit on mine and you had to drill holes to reroute the fluid.Boy did it make a difference.

Thank you sir. Can the body be accessed just by pulling the pan?

You drop the pan,the valve body is bolted in place and you have to drop slightly and move it to the rear of the car because as I remember a rod comes out with it.Remember to lift the car off the ground as not to move.I forgot the name of the rod I will have to look it up.Here is a link that can help.If I had an automatic trans I would do it again in a heartbeat. Its called a parking rod.

http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/tech ... to_01.html

That rod is the park lever....you will have to shift thru the gears for it too
come out....

As far as valve bodies go...you need to know if you have a lock-up or
non lock-up transmission....non lock up,78 and back transmissions will
have splines that go all the way to the end of the smallest input shaft.

If you have the valve body out a trans guy can look at it and tell you.

It is best to stay within a similar year of your transmission date...Also
The valve bodies are the same in 727,904 and 70's AMC tranmission.
No Kidding. The year differences are(the best I can remember( 62-65,
66-68, 69-77, 78 and up)

A manuel valve body is a radical alteration...and are not usually cheap..
you may want to just drop the tranny and get another one....this sounds
like alot of trouble...but hey you have a manuel valve body tranny lying
around....great for trading...or for that race car you have always wanted.


good luck....scott

You might have to have the trans in a certain gear,I dont remember going thru the gears because I was under the car on my back.One thing also is never turn the valve body upside down when you get it out because ball bearings act like check valves to direct the fluid and they will fall out.you dont want to lose any.

Also,the full manual valve body does not use a pressure (kickdown) linkage from the carb to the tranny,so if you replace the valve body with a regular one you will have to add this linkage or your tranny will not shift right.

so what is wrong with shifting it yourself? i have had a manual valve body in mine for over twenty years its a lot of fun!

BRIAN

Without meaning to sound rude, I guess my reasoning is that if I wanted to drive a manual I would have put one in. I really just want the convenience of a easy cruise. I'm almost 40 and I think my racing days are about over.

You guys would love this town though...it's darn near impossible
to get pulled over. The cops are pretty fat and lazy, and like to stay in their cars. Even on the highway, speed traps are a novelty. I've seen maybe 5 or 6 since moving here in '02. Amazingly, they are so rare they actually contributed to a fatality last year. A woman speeding along went past an FHP speed trap, and was so startled that she jammed on her brakes and rolled her car, killing herself and the other occupants.

Thanks for the advice guys.

I know How you feel exactly,I am 47 and my knees hurt,my ankles hurt and I have a roadrunner 4spd,When I was young I had an automatic.I will never forget meeting an older gentleman at a gas station with a yellow 72 roadrunner back in 77 with a 440 4spd and he said I like your 71,would you like to swapp even up.His car was nice but I liked the fact that the side marker lights were even with the body on my car.But I said no thanks,I think the 72 would of been worth more now.

aerodynamic wrote:Without meaning to sound rude, I guess my reasoning is that if I wanted to drive a manual I would have put one in. I really just want the convenience of a easy cruise. I'm almost 40 and I think my racing days are about over.

FWIW, I agree with you. I've had two 71 runners with full manual valve body 727s. One had a B&M rachet shifter the other a slapstik. It's more of a pain, especially with the B&M to go back down through the gears at a stoplight. If I want to manually shift, I'll go drive my 4spd....

Eric, when I installed my shift improver kit back in the day,The car would chirp the tires everytime it shifted.And I had G60-14's in the rear,that was sooo cool.No manual shifting involved.