Need advice/info on slant 6 904 tranny line sizes and kickdown setup

[shadango]

Hi folks -- this is not Ebody related but definately Mopar related, hoping its ok.....part rant and part plead for the transmission experts here to chime in.   

I have been up to my ears in trying to get the Red Baron done.....my 17 year old son's first car, a 1980 Volare with a slant 6

Synopsis -- bought the car for him as a runner/driver in late May.  Sounded and ran great.  Unknown to us, a problem lurked beneath......oil pump siezed due to fragging cam bearings in late July.

Sooooooo.....took the engine out to rebuild it......THATS all done but we still haven't fired it up yet to break it in......You see, I could have just redone everything with the stock 1 bbl setup....but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....I had to go and let project creep set in...converting to  a "super six" 2 bbl setup.  I figured that since the super six setup came from the factory, it would be a no brainer to do it....right?   LOL

One remaining issue is kickdown linkage setup for the 904 in it. 

Bought a Bouchillon torqueflight kickdown setup because it was advertised as the be all and end all solution...pricey but hey if its fast and it works....right?

Ok, so I am now officially HATING the Bouchillon kit.  NOTHING BUT ISSUES so far.  Hoping they are all user error......but......

Problem is --- Bouchillon didnt apparently take into consideration the fact that slant 6 engines have their rear cooler lines running differently than a small block etc. and I am in a pickle trying to figure out the best way to rectify.......

First off, they do NOT have any supersix pics in their  instruction manual.  Plenty of 4bbl setups...but no carter BBD 2 bbl specific pics....

That leads to issue #2.....the picture I posted below is the only way the bracket they provide can seemingly go.....HOWEVER, its misalligned that way....



Now, moving to the underside ---    the bracket "C" the cable housing attaches to will not fit on our trans in the spot they say it should......the tranny line is most decidely in the very middle of the location the bracket needs to be, if installed per their directions....


Here is what ours looks like if done that way....the tranny fluid line goes exactly in the middle of the bolt hole and there is not enough give to tweak and bend the line to be as crazy wide of the bracket it would need to be.....the line goes through the middle of the bracket both side to side and up and down.

Thought we could tweak the trans line but no way.....and I am worried about ruining the line as it stands......that line is snaked around the trans and engine in a ridiculous manner.....we didnt install the intake/exhaust until the block and those lines were installed in the car.  Even with all that room the lines were terrible tricky to snake into place.



Installed the bracket from "under" the trans hole to illustrate...more along the lines it needs to point.....just UNDER the trans tab....



So then we thought maybe we could get away with installing the bracket sort of reversed.....the bracket just barely touches the trans line....which I can fix......



It lines up to where I think it would be close enough......BUT......the cable ends up being an inch to 1.5 inches too short because the bracket is reversed and the trans lever would be partially engaged at idle, with no adjustment possible....plus the black plastic housing end wont lock into the bracket because its reversed....



The only thing I can think of is to try and cut the trans line and install a hose to a fitting at the trans or unscrew the fitting at the trans and see if I can somehow graft another piece in there somehow?

AAAAARRRGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was thinking of trying to pull the brass fitting that the rear trsns line attaches to....and take it to a parts store and see if there is some sort of combination of fittings and hose I can use to reroute the hard line a bit......does nayone know off hand the sizes of that fitting??? It looks like this



Afraid to hack the trans line to cut it...dont want metal getting into the line....and the line is SO wrapped around the engine, it cannot be removed without pulling most of it all apart again.....

Here is where we stand right now....



And here is the stage where we installed the lines, with great difficulty I might add......



Yeah....LOTS of stuff has to come out.....the factory routing is this:



"Just bend and reroute the line" approach aint happening...the line is STRING and I am afraid that if I ruin it trying to tweak it so much I am really screwed.....floopan and other stuff going on under there also complicates this....

So......looking to draw on the immense knowledge base here......any advice or ideas would be appreciated!

Side note:  When I built my 72 Barracuda, it seemed like the car WANTED to get done....everything more or less fell together....but this car seems to be fighting us now.....LOL

Hell, I dont even know if the new rebuild will even RUN at this point.....it should but you know how things can go....and I need ot get this car done and driving before the snow flies. 

Thanks, folks, for whatever wisdom you can share.

[1 Wild R/T]

Weatherhead 49-4-4   

[shadango]

Weatherhead 49-4-4   

Yeah that would work IF I had the line out so I could cut it accordingly so I can redirect to that fitting......but no space to do that.

Also, I tried getting the brass fitting out of the trans....I was giving it some gusto with a box end and it was not budging.....if that SOB breaks, I am REALLY hosed then.....

I pulled the line off the trans, and got the bracket installed.....and tweaked the line some and got this close..........about an inch and a half.... I THINK there is still enough tweak room to get a more or less straight shot at it.....if I can find the right adaptors.  ANyone know for sure the size involved on this flare fitting? I think its a 1/4" flare ?

[turbostang7]

I think a #4 JIC hydraulic fitting is the same, but don't quote me on that...

[1 Wild R/T]

If you can't get that fitting out of the trans case your best option will be to cut the tranny line, a mini tubing cutter will do it easily.... I would cut it in two places, the first cut so I could save the tube nut, it's hard to source part.... Second in the most accessible area where the splice will be.... Then you can use a standard 5/16" steel fuel line from the auto parts store, cut one end off, slip off both of the common male inverted flare nuts, slip on the female inverted flare nut salvaged from the original line.... Bend the new line to fit.... And use a compression union to connect both lines...

[shadango]

If you can't get that fitting out of the trans case your best option will be to cut the tranny line, a mini tubing cutter will do it easily.... I would cut it in two places, the first cut so I could save the tube nut, it's hard to source part.... Second in the most accessible area where the splice will be.... Then you can use a standard 5/16" steel fuel line from the auto parts store, cut one end off, slip off both of the common male inverted flare nuts, slip on the female inverted flare nut salvaged from the original line.... Bend the new line to fit.... And use a compression union to connect both lines...

Thanks...this makes sense....but ....its a little nerve wracking cutting the tranny line.....screw  this up and I am in a whole other world of pain...LOL

The trans line for the slant six 904 is definately 5/16"?

[1 Wild R/T]

Yup/ 5/16... Flare is std SAE 45 degree not 37 so the fuel line works great.... You could buy a 3' line & bend the line up like your one pictures shows, put the splice up near the starter..  Or just do a short section & put the splice down near all the shift linkage were its already pretty crowded...

[Chryco Psycho]

Or do not cut the line with the line nut on the fitting but not tight  in the trans can you twist/ bend  the line more vertical out of the trans so it will rise above the bracket with no cutting

[shadango]

Or do not cut the line with the line nut on the fitting but not tight  in the trans can you twist/ bend  the line more vertical out of the trans so it will rise above the bracket with no cutting

I dont think so......the available room, the compound bends in the tube and my worry of breaking the line are all working against me....LOL

Randy from Bouchillon suggested not cutting the line at all....and using a 1/8" NPT brass nipple and  1/8" NPT brass union to the fitting on the trans.

Might work....

But I tried to get that loose and its stick tight.   I am afraid to crank too much on that brass fitting....it breaks and THEN what!??!

(As an aside, just saw that my pics are nto showing in Google Chrome.....anyone else have that issue? Can you see my pics?)

[Chryco Psycho]

don't remove the fitting into the trans , there are fittings that will connect to that , you may be able to flare to pipe to flare to inverted pipe & just join the two using an extension between    .
 A;so the steel lines will bend quite a bit without cracking .

[shadango]

don't remove the fitting into the trans , there are fittings that will connect to that , you may be able to flare to pipe to flare to inverted pipe & just join the two using an extension between    .
 A;so the steel lines will bend quite a bit without cracking .

Hey chryco....I thought the same thing...but can't find anything..   went to a fastenal store and he spent a half hour with me looking through catalogs.....he found nothing that would work.

Removing that fitting scares the be jeez us out of me but not sure there are many other good options......randy from bouchillon tells me that he does a lot of torque flights and has never broken that fitting, though he has removed some that others broke......doesnt make me feel much more confident...lol

[shadango]

Making progress....we hope....


Fitting one of two found and installed....one left in the whole damn area.....


Female to female swivel still needed, I found on on ebay today for 5 bucks.....hopefully we will be back on track once that arrives....

[shadango]

Well, got the fiting and after some cuss words and pulling on the stock line, got it together....

Car is running and driving.

But of course not without issues.

Main issue right now --- an oil leak at the back end of the engoine.....a drip every 3-5 seconds.....at first glance looks like it is squeezing out of the oil pan gasket but not sure that is possible.....took the inspection cover off and its inconclusive with the engine at rest....

Cant find any leaks from above.....oil residue on the inside top of the bellhousing, but no oil on the crank flange that I can see.....the bolts for the crank MAY have a light oil coating....but the crank flange itself looks dry  to me......

Could a pan gasket "squirt" and cause the oil to get flung by the convertor etc to the top of the bellhousing?

At wits end.....this car is busting my balls and I am feeling pretty beat at this point.