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front bearing loose on A833 housing

mbolin05

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As I was disassembling my 833 today I noticed the front 307 bearing fits the case pretty loosely. I dont believe this is normal as it is going to "spin" in the bearing bore, and it will allow abnormal wear if I leave it as is. I dont have another case. I was thinking about boring it out and using a 308 bearing instead. My trans is a 23 spline input shaft. Other than boring out the case, would I have to change anything else, such as the front bearing retainer housing?
 

NoCar340

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It's hard to know how loose "pretty loosely" is, but one of the reasons the A833 went to the 308 bearing was so that the main drive pinion could be removed from the case without major disassembly. In other words, it's not supposed to be a press fit.

You can bore the case out to the larger bearing, but you'll also need to redrill the holes for the bearing retainer from the current 3.70" to the 308 bearing's 4.16" bolt pattern. If the car's a small block, you'll then have to change the bellhousing as there's no 4.16"-pattern bearing retainer in the needed 4.35" diameter. The only factory LA bellhousings for the 308 bearing are the A833OD units, which use the super-huge 5.125" bearing retainer (also a 4.16" bolt pattern). There are no real drawbacks to that arrangement, in fact we did exactly that when swapping my friend's Charger to a 4-speed. You just need to get the right bell, pivot, and fork as they're all different than the E-body parts. Brewer's Performance can get you where you need to be if you choose that route. You could also use a Lakewood or QuickTime aftermarket bellhousing, which are 4.80" diameter bores and include an adapter ring for the smaller retainer. I haven't used the QuickTime but the Lakewood is a pain in the arse; I have one in my Valiant. The aftermarket parts absolutely require the concentricity to be checked and corrected.

Personally I'd just replace the case. It's probably a less-expensive option than the above. They're not terribly hard to find. I might even be able to scare up a spare if you need one.

Neither option is great if you're worried about numbers for show purposes. In the first case, you'd have the numbers case but the bell and fork will look blatantly wrong, particularly with an aftermarket bell. In the second instance, you obviously won't have the right numbers on the case.
 

Chryco Psycho

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Yes you would need the larger front brg retainer & you would have to drill & tap the holes for the bolts
 

mbolin05

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Its a big block car, and the trans was a small block trans, so I have to run the adapter ring already from brewers for the front bearing retainer to the bell. Its a frankencuda already, so mixing and matching numbers isn't a big deal on this car. I am running the 2892626 bell, its a 1969/70 big block bell.
 

NoCar340

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There's certainly no problem with running the adapter ring, but if I have the chance to easily, correctly eliminate an extra component, I usually will.

All other concerns aside, then, I still think it may be more cost-effective and expedient to simply find a different case. Of course, if you're a machinist that situation changes dramatically.
 

mbolin05

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Yes, I know a guy...everybody does, right? that can bore it out and redrill the holes no problem. For me, that might be the simplest solution. I would swap to the larger diameter bearing retainer like you mentioned, and eliminate the ring

Does anyone know the correct bore diameter of the front case or should it match the bore in the tail shaft?
 

NoCar340

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That looks OK to me.

With the snap ring in place and sitting against the case, does the bearing wobble at all? If so, take action. If not, don't worry about it. I just did nearly the same thing shown in your video with a known-good case and a brand-new Timken bearing, but the snap ring stopped it from falling through. Once the snap ring was up against the case, there was no side movement a'tall.
 

budascuda

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The same with mine, I think the slack is there to take the beating. Otherwise all the jolting would crack the cast or damage the bearing itself.
 

Chryco Psycho

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using the 308 brg it should slide in but be snug , not sure of the exact diameter though
 

mbolin05

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That looks OK to me.

With the snap ring in place and sitting against the case, does the bearing wobble at all? If so, take action. If not, don't worry about it. I just did nearly the same thing shown in your video with a known-good case and a brand-new Timken bearing, but the snap ring stopped it from falling through. Once the snap ring was up against the case, there was no side movement a'tall.
No, there isnt any movement once the snap ring is installed. I will probably use some green loctite bearing locker in it just in case.
 
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