Road Runner Nest

Hey guys

I thought I would ask all you manual 4-speed guys if the Mopar 833 was worse than the Ford and Chevy 4-speed boxes in the 60/70'ies? The reason why I'm asking is that when I watch videos on the tube, it seems that all the Mopar cars are whining louder than the engine + the shifts are rather long throw. When I watch a Shelby GT 350 fx, it seems much faster shifts and less whining - you actually hear the nice engine sound!

I have never driven a manual Muscle car, thats why I'm asking. I'm curious!

Capsule

I waited awhile before replying, I was hoping some who 's owned or driven gm or ford would chime in.
I drove an E body with the 23 spline 4 speed about 190,00 miles (so far) It was my daily driver from 1977-1990.
The only time it was noisy, was shortly after I bought it. The car showed 58,000 miles at that time.
The problem was a pitted main(output)shaft bearing. The trans. worked perfectly, just noisy. A mechanic took
a ride with me, and pointed it out right away! Even then, the noise would go away, in 4th gear.
The shifter can rattle a little at times, but far less than a Viper!
As far as long throws, well I think all the nest cars should have come with the two position shift levers.
Installing them in the closer hole will reduce the throw length.
Now you bench seat guys do have a lonnnnng shift lever, so the only fix there is a shorter stick, as long as you
can still reach it. I drag raced my car 20+ times a year for about 5 years, and the only problems I had were
frequent clutch replacement(about twice a year)The bearings we put in in the late '70s are still in there!
If you study the early days of pro-stock drag racing, you'll find that almost all the cars regardless of make ran a Chrysler 4-speed, and a Dana60 rear, till the Lenco was made legal.,
The A833 isn't as quiet as a newer 6 speed, but if it's really noisy, you've got another problem.
gm even used the A833 O.D. in some of their mid '80s trucks and blazers.
Hopefully someone with experience with the 18-spline box will chime in.
And I hope you get to drive an A833 car soon!

Thanx for the info!

Yes I will definitely have to try a 4-speed for myself. I have driven many manual trans cars but never a real muscle car.

Capsule

My 440+6 car has the 18 spline 4spd and a bench seat interior. Other than a noisy throw out bearing, it's not especially loud. You definitely don't hear it over the engine. With the bench and long handle shifter, it does have a fairly long throw. The shifter can be a bit notchy...but the car is 40+ years old with 80K miles and as far as I know the shifter/trans has never been worked on.

Had two 4spd cars, 72 challenger 340 and the runner. Both were 23 spline units. Neither made any noise other than than the 1st gear whine, which I grew to love. Both were set to the short throw and worked great. Never missed a shift. Now I kinda wish I had the 4 spd back in the runner. I swapped out for a tremec tko 500 and have had major issues and way to much down time.

I have a 71 Nova so I've researched Chevy trannies a bit....From what I've heard the saginaws are junk. The Muncies came in 3 different models the strongest of which (M22) is really loud due to the way the gears are cut (I believe it's less helical to reduce side load on the case). I've rode in a couple Mopars with 833s and I've never heard any unusual tranny noise.