[Zoomad75]

The NV4500 is probably the best way to go to have a more modern feel to the shifting experience. 465's shift like dump trucks and the lack of OD really takes away from the driving experience. Even more so if the customer wants to hit the highway regularly.

So given that option, how to do it? There are 3 options for the clutch side of things. The nv4500 was always used with a hydraulic clutch setup. The aftermarket option would be to use an Advanced Adapter bellhousing and their clutch fork and adapter parts to use the later Squarebody style Hydraulic clutch master cylinder and slave cylinder. It's already engineered, but not cheap and still requires you to find a later hydraulic clutch pedal assembly to make the change. Those are getting harder to find, which is driving the price up. I'm seeing them go for $300 or more around here in Colorado. (you'll need it for all three options though, so factor it in regardless.) The AA setup works but the clutch linkage from the slave to the fork is hokey.

Option 2 is using an early GMT400 truck bellhousing with the 4500. The target range is 1988-1995. That setup still uses a slave cylinder that can be adapted to the stock squarebody master. The main difference is the 400 truck slave is on the passenger side of the bellhousing. Basically it's the opposite of the squarebody setup. The issue is the passenger side slave with no lift on the squarebody puts it in the path of the front driveshaft. A 4" suspension lift or a short body lift would clear the slave to the driveshaft. That bellhousing is more cost effective.

Option 3 is what I used on mine. I'm using a factory GM bellhousing from a 1996-1999 GMT400 truck. The change here is when GM changed the design of the clutch hydraulic system to an integrated slave/throwout bearing. There is no external slave or linkage to fool with. The integrated slave/bearing requires no adjustment. The newer slave/release bearing can be adapted to the stock squarebody clutch master cylinder with two fittings from Earls and a 36" -6 braided steel brake line. Mine works like butter.

Transfer cases are not limited to the ones GM used with the driver side drop. GM changed the mounting flange on the t-cases to a standard SAE round pattern with six studs with the 208 transfer case. 205's eventually got the same treatment and the 241's used in 89-91 also share the SAE 6 bolt mounting pattern. Keep in mind only the '89 241's have a gear-driven speedometer. The 90-91's used a VSS sensor for the electric speedo clusters those two years had. Any one of them will bolt right into an earlier squarebody. Though I would get the correct transmission mount cross-member that came with a 208 or 241 if you were going to use one of them.

Given it has that standard mounting pattern also means an Atlas II transfer case could be used.