According to AA, the internal slave cylinders are very difficult to make work. The Chevy bellhousings with external release mechanisims had the throwout arm low on the passenger side, right where your front driveshaft can smack it, even with SOA. Furthermore, it is made from stamped junk, not nearly as sturdy as the older, cast steel pieces from the 70s and 80s, so it is to be avoided. The Chevys all have the 32 spline output as well as the dampener, Dodges have either 29 or 23 splines, depending on the motor it was mated to, and no dampener. The Dodges all used internal slaves. Chevy used external through 1995, then went internal. The input shafts on the Dodges vary as well and so do the front retainers requiring specific hardware or a change to a different retainer. The low-ratio Chevys were used up through 1994 inclusive. Chevys also had a shorter shifter throw than the Dodges, much better feel. Dodges later changed to a similar setup, I can't remeber what year that was. All NV4500s have the shift tower on the rear of the trans (Toyotas are on the front) making it ideal for a V8 conversion. Having a higher ratio unit, the 5.6:1 first gear, I can say that I am glad I did NOT get the lower ratio. As it is I hardly use first gear at all. What I ended up doing was using a '95 Chevy bellhousing from which I removed the original junky release hardware and welded the opening over with some plate aluminum. I cut a hole in the driver's side, made a steel plate to which I welded an old-school release arm pivot and securely bolted that to the bellhousing with recessed fasteners that would not interfere with the contact area between the trans and bellhousing. (this took patience and dremel time) Then I made a bracket that attaches to two of my bellhousing bolts to hold the slave cylinder. This has been working for two years now with no problems at all. It ranks high on the redneck scale, but I'm not rich enough to buy the AA bellhousing. My overall opinion of the NV4500 is that it is the best transmission I have ever had. It is super quiet, shifts very well and I love the ratios combined with my 350. It replaced an H55F which I also liked, but this is better.
