Automatic OK?

I found a 1971 Dodge Demon 340 for sale for $4500. The only problem is it has a 727 automatic transmission. I want a car like this mostly for racing (even though it will be my street car also). Is it worth it to get an automatic or would I be better off just looking for a manual? I'm pretty new to cars in general so I dont know too much.

Also, on the subject of me being new to all this, the owner says it has a "727 automatic with a fully manual reverse valve body". this may be a dumb question, but what is a fully manual reverse valve body?
Thanks, korupt3d.

Couldn't tell you much about your manual reverse valve body, but from what I have seen the best bet with an old muscle car is going to be go with a chevy. Old ford parts are usually more expensive and dodge is really the same way. Chevys always had that same small block and you can get literally 1000's of parts for it. If this is going to be your street driven car and you don't know that much about them I would recomend the chevy honestly.

I found a 1971 Dodge Demon 340 for sale for $4500. The only problem is it has a 727 automatic transmission. I want a car like this mostly for racing (even though it will be my street car also). Is it worth it to get an automatic or would I be better off just looking for a manual? I'm pretty new to cars in general so I dont know too much.

Also, on the subject of me being new to all this, the owner says it has a "727 automatic with a fully manual reverse valve body". this may be a dumb question, but what is a fully manual reverse valve body?
Thanks, korupt3d.

Could I find a chevy this cheap? The price is one of the main things bringing me in. That and the 340 engine.

manual is the way to go

Their is nothing wrong with an automatic transmission, especially when its on a powerful car.
If you like the car, and its in decent shape, go for it.

This isn't really on topic, but how hard is it to change a car from automatic to manual?

your need-
shifter cables
manual transmission
clutch
possibly a flywheel
brake/clutch pedal
fluid lines
fluid container
shifting assembly (1,2,3,4,5 R-example)

edit- master/slave cylinder

some manuals won't mount up the same (or at all) in the same car with a auto.

you can be fast in a auto.

Alright thank you everyone. I will sleep on it and probably go check it out (and maybe try to test drive it?) tomorrow. One more question before I go. Here is the link: http://www.racingjunk.com/exec/ca/view/431654/340-DEMON---CHEAP.html

Do YOU think it's worth it?

The demon will cost you to build up. but it's a cool car that no one has, if you want it, get it. My 71 Camaro has an auto tranny and it hauls plenty of ass. Plus, a well built auto tranny behind a stong motor feels way better on hard shifts.

move to non-specific?

Alright thank you everyone. I will sleep on it and probably go check it out (and maybe try to test drive it?) tomorrow. One more question before I go. Here is the link: http://www.racingjunk.com/exec/ca/view/431654/340-DEMON---CHEAP.html

Do YOU think it's worth it?

Don't know if its worth it to you, only you can really answer that. It looks nice enough, but my original opinion stands that if I were to buy an old car it would be a chevy because they are a dime a dozen for the small block 350s and they are pretty bad ass. I don't know much about demons though so if you get it maybe you can educate me a little.

The demon will cost you to build up. but it's a cool car that no one has, if you want it, get it. My 71 Camaro has an auto tranny and it hauls plenty of ass. Plus, a well built auto tranny behind a stong motor feels way better on hard shifts.

Alright thanks. How much did you get your camaro for? I love camaros but they seem to be a little high in price for me (my buying budget is very low, pretty much just started driving). I don't want it to cost a fortune to build up either, but just a little steep isnt too bad.

Mine is a 1971 SS matching numbers car. It had a blow through turbo installed on it already and ran me 6,000 in "fair" condition.

The thing is, you may get your car for only 4,500...but dodge specific parts will run you almost twice the amount chevy parts will. But I still love demons. One of the few mopars i'd get.

I'd buy that car sooo fucking quick. God damn.

Reverse valve body: It's hard to explain without showing you. Basically 3-2-1 shift is 1-2-3 shift, it's just backwards of how you would normally shift. That help at all?

Also, manual valve body means that it won't shift out of a gear into a higher gear untill you actually move the shifter into the higher gear (very important on a high performance auto)

You're better off with an auto in those older cars because let's just say that syncros weren't that great back then. Anyhow, the 727 is a VERY stong tranny and the 340 is a very stout small block. If the body is straight and rust free that is a damn good deal.

Yeah, 727's are worth big bucks!

727 torqueflite bitchesssssss! BUY that car. Put some matching rims on it. Paint it. Fix all the small quirks I'm sure it has..and you got yourself a nice fucking car. :thumbsup:

How is your financial situation? Mopar's cost BIG bucks to build and parts are hard to come by. If you ave the money to do it, go for it because it would be a cool,uncommon car, and it would only go up in value. If your main priority is going fast in a cheaper old car, you might want to stick to chevy.

As far as racing, what kind of racing do you want to do? Drag bracket racing? Street racing? For bracket drag racing, auto tranny is the way to go becuase the times are more consistent.

On the street I personally prefer auto's from a dig, because even though everyone likes to think they drive a manual like an expert, most don't and mess their launch up pretty badly. From a roll on the street, a manual generally tends to do better fr obvious reasons.

You just need to decide what you want to do with the car.

Rob

you should also post this question in the dodge section of the muscle car section of AF, we've got two mopars at home, one's a 4 spd. man, and the other's got a 727 Trans. both have their advantages, but who cares what other people tell ya, do what you think is rite

Well, I am supposed to get my dad's 2000 buick lesabre :(. It's a nice car but not the type i want (obviously not gunna race it lol). Anyways, I wanted him to sell it and get me the demon, then he would still have money left, but it doesnt look like that is going to happen. AND.. i cant even sell the car, its still his, i just get to drive it. O well, i guess i got plenty of time to get a car of my own. but I still want to learn more, so i have another question.... Will an automatic car shift when it hits its peak for torque, or will it jus do what is easiest on the engine/gas mileage?

hahahaha "meep meep bitches!" thats funny, sorry. anyways, id get the thing. the 727s nearly indestructible, its probly wuts in rocker's charger behind a big block. also, if u got the money, bolt in a 360 crate engine thats almost 400 hp for like $3500. i think its worth it. the auto's also more consistent in a drag race if ur gonna run in a class with a dial in time. 4 speeds r just more fun to play in. a stock muscle car is almost always quicker with a manual too. if u build it right, power to weight would be pretty killer in that car.

I'm not sure about the streetability of that car. It has E.T tires, aren't those drag radials? Those are a no-no for everyday driving.

I always have to laugh when people say autos suck, or they're slow. Granted, it's fun rowing the gears, until you miss a shift and get waxed LOL Go to the track and check out what all the big boys are running, almost all of them are gonna be automatics. Go for it, put a nice stall in there and have a blast :iceslolan

I'm running a built auto, 2800 stall at the moment, going up to at least a 3600, prolly 4000 tho :biggrin:

How does a stall thingy work? From my understanding, doesn't it just rev until the motor reaches the RPM of the convertor? Like, my car idles just over 1k, lets say 1.5 for arguments sake. If I put in a 3k stall, does that mean that unless I give it enough gas to rev 3k, it wont go, or does it simply raise my idle to 3k?

With a higher stall you do need to give it more gas to get moving, but the vehicle will move without having to reach full stall rpm, I don't even notice my 2800 stall around town. But when you floor it, it will "flash" up to the stall speed (this will vary depending on the amount of torque you're making, my 2800 flashes at around 3000 when I floor it, but it's kind of like revving it up and dumping the clutch in a manual). Or you can brake stall it, but usually you can't brake stall it as high as it would flash, I can only brake stall up to around 2200 before the tires will break loose. So I usually bring it up to about 1000, then floor it (I idle at around 700rpm), that has netted me 1.76 60's on my DR's, same as I used to cut on my old ET Streets, haven't run the new Hoosiers yet, but I expect them to do a lil better than that. Should have solid 1.6's with the Hoosiers and a higher stall :iceslolan

That is a pretty damn fast truck. It reminds me of when my friends cobra got wasted by this S10 Blazer. It had a camed up 350 and slicks. I would hardly call that even a race. I will try to get the video of that I know its around somewhere.

Thanks, it's fun catching people off guard, they just think it's another loud truck :smokin:

My cuz had a Demon w/ a 340 and a 727tf tranny. That thing was bomb proof. Had 181,000 on it and still ran like a champ when he hit a tree doing 70.Sold the engine and tranny to a guy w/ a dodge pickup and it still goes. SELL BODYPARTS TO OBTAIN MOPAR.

Looking at the specs of the car, that sucker will definitely haul ass, those 4.30 gears will limit your top speed with the engine wound out but it will get there really quick.

Josh is right about the gear pattern, it will be P-R-N-1-2-3 instead of P-R-N-D-2-1, and Bulldog's post is dead on, you WILL have to shift the gears manually, the Valve Body that was put in the tranny will not shift for you, if your at a light in 3rd gear you will leave in 3rd gear and it will NOT kick down a gear or 2 when the pedal is floored.

If I had 4500 to buy it I would, those are a fun old car to tool around in and there are not many of them left. Yeah parts are not too cheap but it already sounds like the majority of the parts already in it are new in the suspension and driveline.

wow instring responces to this post :P dude that is a drag car, it porbley will suck driving around town in it, it probley puts out more then 400 hp but i would buy it in a sec :P, i didnt see the add for it cause it was canceled but if you can still get it, do it, but like i said wont be good around town, i would guess it has a solid rear axle and someone mentioned it had 4.30 gearing, defintly a strip car, and for that the auto is great cause you can get constant times ect..

wow instring responces to this post :P dude that is a drag car, it porbley will suck driving around town in it, it probley puts out more then 400 hp but i would buy it in a sec :P, i didnt see the add for it cause it was canceled but if you can still get it, do it, but like i said wont be good around town, i would guess it has a solid rear axle and someone mentioned it had 4.30 gearing, defintly a strip car, and for that the auto is great cause you can get constant times ect..

Hey nothing wrong with a solid axel. :lol: But the 4.30 gears will be a little much for driving around town, none the less though this is a bad ass sounding car.

Hmmm, I've got a solid axle, auto, 3.92 gears, 450rwhp and it was my daily driver for two and a half years :cool:

Oh, and 4.30 gears aren't that bad, if they're too much for you tho, you can always run a lil taller tire to compensate. I know a lot of guys that run 4.56's in their daily driver R/T's.

hahahaha "meep meep bitches!" thats funny, sorry. anyways, id get the thing. the 727s nearly indestructible, its probly wuts in rocker's charger behind a big block. also, if u got the money, bolt in a 360 crate engine thats almost 400 hp for like $3500. i think its worth it. the auto's also more consistent in a drag race if ur gonna run in a class with a dial in time. 4 speeds r just more fun to play in. a stock muscle car is almost always quicker with a manual too. if u build it right, power to weight would be pretty killer in that car.

Bah, the 360 is just a bored out 340. For $3,500 is would spend the money on working up that 340. That's just me though.

Bah, the 360 is just a bored out 340. For $3,500 is would spend the money on working up that 340. That's just me though.

Actually the 360 has a .040" smaller bore than the 340 does and a .270" longer stroke, also the bearing journals are larger so the cranks will not interchange. The 340 is actually a bored out 318 but in doing so Chrysler specifically designed this engine as a performance engine for the A Bodied cars to compete with the larger cars with Big Block engines in them and were quite sucessfull in doing so. The only reason the 360 was built to replace the 340 was for emissions reasons.

The bore and stroke dimensions for the Small Block "LA" engines are as follows.

273 CID = 3.63 X 3.31
318 CID = 3.91 X 3.31
340 CID = 4.04 X 3.31
360 CID = 4.00 X 3.58

I do agree though, I would rather build up a 340 than a 360 anyday. Just like if I were going to build a Chevy engine, it would be a 327 and not a 350.

Actually the 360 has a .040" smaller bore than the 340 does and a .270" longer stroke, also the bearing journals are larger so the cranks will not interchange. The 340 is actually a bored out 318 but in doing so Chrysler specifically designed this engine as a performance engine for the A Bodied cars to compete with the larger cars with Big Block engines in them and were quite sucessfull in doing so. The only reason the 360 was built to replace the 340 was for emissions reasons.

The bore and stroke dimensions for the Small Block "LA" engines are as follows.

273 CID = 3.63 X 3.31
318 CID = 3.91 X 3.31
340 CID = 4.04 X 3.31
360 CID = 4.00 X 3.58

I do agree though, I would rather build up a 340 than a 360 anyday. Just like if I were going to build a Chevy engine, it would be a 327 and not a 350.
:iagree:

Ah, well, thank you for the information! :smile:

buy that car. the 340 is a great engine, better than the 360 if you ask me. mopars arent THAT expensive to build, either, once you are embedded in the mopar community. if you have questions, just go to www.moparstyle.com. they know a lot over there. for 4500, i say DEFINITELY buy it, unless its rusty. i would, however, recommend getting a normal auto or a stick, shifting an auto manually all the time sounds like a bad idea for street driving