new to a100s

[valiantboy]

honestly im not sure. mine is going to be a cruiser as well. ive been looking at 833's but final is still 1:1. i dont know of any overdrive trans for mopar except the 518. i dont even think a gear vendors unit would fit, giving the allowable space. everyone, it seems, likes to restore these vans so its almost like we are starting a new venture, wanting to hotrod a van. even the pro-street vans i have seen use the 3 speed autos.

[712edf]

Maybe someone could engineer a 2-speed rear end for these rascals. It's been done on medium & heavy duty trucks.

[valiantboy]

thats an idea... other than weighing 1/2 the weight of the van itself lol.. its a pretty damn good idea..

[dix]

the 318 with a factory a 100 /727 tranny the drive shaft is about 14 inches. this is a good time to get rid of the trunion joint

[440SCOUT]

Mine is a 90". It will eventually be a cross-country cruiser, so OD is important. What other options are there?

i swapped 2.71 gears in mine and drove from nevada all the way through nebraska up north through south dakota and back through montana and idaho and still got good mileage (18ish iirc) and was alot less work than trying to engineer a od in there.. and no i didnt loose a lot of power either the stock 318 was plenty torquey for those gears ...
just my
doug

[eralov]

for the record i drove my a100 p/u based lazy daze motorhome with a 83 360 and a stock 727 tranny with 3.91 gears from bremerton washington to santa rosa californina and back (apporx 750mi each way) this winter averaging 11 mpg on the trip. i was running lt235/75r15 studded snow tires and was not easy on the throttle, my engine runs hot (210-235), but i had no problems whatsoever, i passed a scale and had 2400lbs on the front axle and 4500lbs on the rear end which is a stock 8 3/4, braking stinks, i have 70's p/u 4x4 4" lift springs in the front and some homemade rear spring packs using junk from two 70's trucks and a 83 b350 van.
i would love an overdrive, but a well tuned engine will get only a small improvement in mileage based on the marginal o/d that is available, if you really want efficiency, swap a 4bt into it, other than that the /6 is your best option, with an electronic ignition and updated electronics

[EGroscup]

What three speed did those use? I am wondering how hard it would be to swap in a Warner three speed with overdrive. Had one stock in a 64 Chev pu with a 230 inline 6. Studebaker used them a lot also in cars and trucks. Erik