4x4 Suburban questions
 

Hello folks. I bought a 1961 suburban 4x4. It has a SM420 and a divorced T221. I am curious if it's possible to put a married transmission/transfer case (SM465/NP205 combo in particular) in without any major modifications? My main concern is if it will clear the floorboard. I don't want to do a transfer case drop or body lift to make it fit. I was wondering this because on squarebody trucks, the floors on 4wd cabs differ from floors in 2wd cabs (including 2wd 4 speed trucks) in that there is an additional hump to clear the transfer case.

I am not opposed to keeping a divorced trans/t-case setup either. I am just interested in putting in a SM465 and NP205 since parts are getting hard to come by for the SM420 and T221. That leads me to my next question: has anybody installed a divorced NP205 in one of these and what did it require other than drive shafts and shift linkages?

Re: 4x4 Suburban questions
 

I have not done the exact swap that you are proposing.
But I have swapped a SBC 350 with a 350 short shaft auto trans mated to a NP205 into a c30 long bed panel back in the 1980s, yup it’s been a while and still own this truck.
That being said and going on fuzzy memory, I did have to modify most all the brackets- trans crossmember to fit the frame, holes in the trans tunnel for the fwd shifter and remake the drive shafts, shimming leaf spring perches to get proper pinion angles
Front/rear axel assembly was swapped from a mid 1970s 3/4 k20.
Welding and metal fab was a given in my case and I would assume you would need some fab work also, likely your crossmember and driveshafts and other unforeseen issues.
Think I did have to do some hammer work to the trans tunnel for transfer case clearance but not that much.
Hope this helps

Re: 4x4 Suburban questions
 

This may be what you need.

Re: 4x4 Suburban questions
 

Another pic