Had the week off for the Christmas Holiday and got the NV4500 swaperoo done! A NV4500 is far from a sports car transmission but compared to the SM465 it certainly is! Plus OVERDRIVE is such a beautiful thing! It is amazing how just a transmission alone can change the personality of a vehicle.
The dirty end of the SM465/NP241 before teardown
At this point, I had some major work ahead of me to rework for floor for the new shifter location, which is 6” further back on the NV4500
465 vs. NV4500 comparo. They are right on the money in length. The drive shafts were a direct fit as well as the trans cross member. I was even able to reuse the trans mount.
New Centerforce clutch installed
AA Bell housing installed
Getting ready to go to town! Aligned the trans jack at 20 degrees to match the angle of the engine for quicker poke'n action
Reused the original 465 32-spline NP241 transfercase after my buddy and I took it apart too see how things looked in there.
The really nice thing about a 241 tcase is even a little wirey guy and pick them up to stab by hand. Can’t say that for the 205 in the K10
Then spent half day reworking the trans tunnel. Sorting through these details is where the big time gets burnt up.
Hacked up this trans tunnel to build the new one. Originally I had hoped to just swap on an automatic trans tunnel then cut in a new hole for the NV4500 shifter like I did on the K10. Ah, nope! The floor on ‘85ish and later trucks do not bolt off and they are shaped different than the old removeable tunnels too.
Almost final dealeo
No NV4500 swap is complete until you dump in $72 worth of super juice
Before tear down. SM465 transmission
After with the NV4500! Used the leftover 205 boot and bezel from the K10 when it got a NV4500 and twin stick 205.
It took all day yesterday to install the ACC carpet. Damn Burbs have a 1000 holes to cut through the carpet and jute. What a pita! Replaced the carpet from barn doors to firewall. I bet I went through 20 razer blades trimming this dang carpet! That jute is dense!
Same knob I used on the K10 a few years ago when it got a NV4500. For some reason, I knew it was a good idea to buy two knobs at that time!
I put about 30 miles on it tonight and have to run some errands in Canon City tomorrow so that should be a good shake down run for it. So far so good….no leaks, vibrations, rattles, etc.
I'll say this, a NV4500 swap in a '85 or later square is one heck of a lot easier and cheaper than doing one in a 70's truck!
Now, it just needs more power! Might have to get busy and do something about that
