spend my money

[i82much]

I have a 1972 K10 longbed, 32 inch tires, 2” lift, mild 396 with a TH350. 32” tires and 3.73 gears. Let’s say I want to throw 5 grand or thereabouts out of the window. Do I:

(1) do a manual conversion to an SM465 with a gear vendors, or
(2) build a mild 496, flat tappet with factory oval ports.

One constraint is that I want to run exhaust manifolds and dual 2” exhaust, not looking for a hot rod. I have a functional heat riser valve and I like it! Also I plow my driveway with the truck, never plowed with a manual. I imagine the granny gear in the SM465 isn’t so bad but I’m not sure.

Spend away folks!

[jimijam00]

You've got mild engine and would replace it with another mild engine? And you want to stay with the super restrictive exhaust? Doesn't make sense to me, so that would truely be throwing money out the window after lighting it on fire.

I'd skip the gear vendors and take the cheaper route of swapping the rear gear out to 3.23/31/42. Then I'd spend the rest on suspension and a cb radio.

[davischevy]

Nothing wrong with running factory manifolds. A big block has plenty of torque for most daily tasks.

I like to shift so I am all about the SM 465 and GV overdrive.

My new GV was delivered Friday.

[i82much]

Originally Posted by davischevy

Nothing wrong with running factory manifolds. A big block has plenty of torque for most daily tasks.

I like to shift so I am all about the SM 465 and GV overdrive.

My new GV was delivered Friday.

do you have an sm465? i am really interested in how well the GV works with the wide gear spacing of the sm465. seems perfect, basically gives you a six speed with a granny gear too.

[i82much]

Originally Posted by jimijam00

You've got mild engine and would replace it with another mild engine? And you want to stay with the super restrictive exhaust? Doesn't make sense to me, so that would truely be throwing money out the window after lighting it on fire.

I'd skip the gear vendors and take the cheaper route of swapping the rear gear out to 3.23/31/42. Then I'd spend the rest on suspension and a cb radio.

i feel pretty confident that a 496 with, say, a 210@.050 cam would be noticeably stronger than my 396 ... and not sure i need a bigger exhaust or headers with 4500 rpm shift points. just want a truck with some more low end, not a hot rod.

[burnin oil]

Nothing wrong with a good pair of factory manifolds. That said and 5 bills to spend. Buy a good set of cast iron Sanderson headers and exhaust. Then buy a NV4500 and swap that in. Now save a few more dollars or forget the exhaust and regear. You now have granny gear and OD. Drop the rear down to 4.10 or 4.56 and the next time you get new tires switch to 33x12.5 or the metric equivalent. Don't forget the locker in the rear. With all this said I can tell you that alot of guys don't like plowing with a manual. That is a choice that you will have to make. As a hand shaker guy that doesn't plow I could personally do the manual and be happy. Now if ya keep it auto a roots blower would give alot of torque j/k

[davischevy]

I'm putting the GV behind a 350 turbo in a K20 with 4.10 gears.

I have an SM 465 in a K10 I'm restoring.

Since you are swapping from the automatic to a standard, the NV 4500 is probably a good choice.

[burnin oil]

For real fun you could mount a Clark or new process non OD 5 speed up and locate a 271 t case and install a quad 4x4 divorce kit for under $600. That should put you at under th 5k budget and give you way more gearing than you need. Think muncie 4 spd with a granny gear to boot. Now a newer t case will give approximately 2.7:1 reduction so gearing is covered. Remainder spent on a Ford axle with wrong side drop and should have bigger brakes.

[jocko]

You have plenty of power and the NP205 is about as good as it gets, I wouldn't touch any of that. TH350 is your weakest link.

If you aren't certain you want a manual trans: push the easy button and install a 4L80E - (well, it's not "that" easy.. will require some rewickerin to mate to the NP205 - but believe this has been done before - but hey, you've got $5K to blow)
If you are certain you want a manual trans and have the SM465 lying around: Go for it and add a GV O/U drive as you mentioned
If you are certain you want a manual trans and don't have the SM465 lying around: consider an NV4500, no GV O/U drive required (I'm with davischevy - good trans)

[Mike C]

I prefer the manual trans for any sort of “work”. The manual trans lowers rpm on highway about 5-8 % because of converter slippage compared to the auto. Go from 32” tire to 33” tire and you have effectively lowered your cruise RPM, then build that 496. I’d run a cam in the 218 deg at .050 range on a motor that big if not a little bigger.

I have a ‘71 GMC 1/2 ton factory 402 that I’m pretty sure the exhaust from the manifolds is 2 1/2”. Regardless of what is factory or not, I’d run dual 2 1/2” pipes and the Walker DynoMax 20” case turbo mufflers.

The Sanderson manifolds are nice but REALLY pricey.

[burnin oil]

Hey you said spend your cash and they are the best. LoL. I never built a 500ci motor but that seems like a really small cam. On a 350 it is borderline Rv. Personally I would go bigger with a good set of heads. Maybe even 230. Not like your truck is gonna miss a little torque. I remember my dad reringing a 350 in a 1 ton with 5.14 gears. He RV cammed the motor and it ran like a tractor. Pull a house off the foundation but struggled above 2500 RPM. This is a true build that exaggerates your thoughts but had 150 less cubic inches with deep gears. Honestly in comparison I think it would be similar to your setup accounting for the differences. Sometimes you give a little on the bottom foe a smoother running set up. After all this isn't an airplane toat that only goes 5 mph. You want a solid bottom end that will roll decent at 75mph. Heck dads truck was floored on the interstate and couldn't do any more. the motor was just reved out. It's bigger than you want but I run a 250+ degree cam in a 400sb with 4.10s and a manual.