3 speed to sm465???
 

The clutch is going out in my truck. It has a column shift 3 speed. Anyways, a buddy has a 465 trans in a 71 parts truck and he said I can have it for free. This might be a good swap for me as I pull a boat and travel trailer from time to time. What all is involved with this swap? Will I need a new drive shaft? The donor truck is a 3/4 ton leaf spring truck, mine is 1/2 ton coil spring rear if it matters. Thanks for any help.

Just pull the bell housing, driveshaft, transmission and floor hump from the donor truck. You're gonna need it all.

The clutch for the 4 speed should be a larger diameter and HD too I think.

better take the driveshaft too just in case

The driveshaft is going to be the biggest issue for you and you'll need the donor's driveshaft and carrier bearing. Here's why:

The 4 speed does not use a slip yolk as the 3 speed and auto's do, it uses a u-joint connection similar to the rear diff. The "slip" is in the driveshaft where the front and rear pieces join.

The 3/4 ton uses a different rear differential, therefore the length of the rear shaft won't be correct to meet up with the 1/2 ton rear diff, plus the u-joint size is different. The u-joint ssue can be resolved using "hybrid" u-joints available thru NAPA, etc.

So, you'll have to use the 3/4 ton's driveshaft and carrier bearing, hybrid u-joints at the rear diff, and either lengthen or shorten the rear part of the driveshaft (not sure which).

Another alternative is to find a driveshaft off a 4 speed 1/2 ton truck, but these are not easy to locate.