One piece SM465 stick, clutch selection

[zac]

SM465/NP205 rebuild was supposed to be done by now for my ‘70 K10 burb, but ended up getting axles redone/upgraded first. Old school axle guy had some interesting insights for my trans and case rebuild.

I definitely want to go with the one piece stick, wanted to know if anybody here had any comments. I want to bend it back like stock, I’ve heard the length is different. Is there only one place that makes them? I’ve heard that welding that bottom piece is asking for trouble. Any comments?

Also, pushing 60, my right knee is iffy, left one still ok. But I want to have the easiest clutch I can get that still does the job. I assume that means diaphragm. And I’ve done enough street rod stuff that I’m not above modifying the linkage a bit to increase the mechanical advantage. And hydraulic is an option. Stockiish truck with warmed up 406. Input?

[BASE]

I just went through my 465/205 about a week ago. I had also heard that welding that end in there can cause cracking. I tried cramming a couple o-rings into the grooves to tighten it up but that didn't seem like a very robust solution.

I tried rolling some 0.020" shim stock around the end piece, drilled it for clearance on the roll pin, and shoved it back in there. It worked a lot better than I thought it would. There is hardly any slop at all in the shifter now. It can move around a little in an in-out direction, but it doesn't have any radial play at all.

I was planning on buying the one piece stick as well but this seems work really well with the added benefit of not having to buy and bend up a new stick.

[57taskforce]

Can’t speak for the shifter but I’ve got a hydraulic diaphragm clutch in my 72 K20. I used an 80s square body hydraulic bell housing and slave, with a braided stainless jic hose and captain fab’s 68-72 clutch master cylinder kit. The pedal effort is very light compared to the original mechanical linkage setup.

[zac]

Thanks Tyler. I’ve looked thru some of those threads about the hydraulic clutch and I’m definitely considering it. Glad you guys posted so much info and so many pics.

BASE- curious what you found when you went thru your trans and case. The guy who did my axles was of the opinion that there’s usually very little that needs to be replaced. But tightening up the shifter is a must. Thanks

[BASE]

My biggest problem was rust. The rails were pretty much frozen and it took quite a bit of effort just to get it beat part way into reverse so the cover could be removed. My situation was not really just wear & tear.

As far as normal wear items:
-The low gear sleeve was trashed. The gear was really loose on the shaft. Not sure if that is normal wear, or if someone ran it low on lube. The other sleeves were all nice and tight. I guess that one probably spins pretty fast when you are cruising in high gear.
-The shift forks had lost their plastic coating on the ends that ride in the sliders. I'm not really sure how important that is but they were pretty cheap to replace since I was in there anyway. I've read differing opinions on the importance of that coating.

The syncros all looked like new.

Other than that it was really bad pitting on 2nd and 3rd gear of the main shaft and 3rd and 4th gear on the countershaft. I bead blasted all of them but those all had 2-3 teeth that were really bad so I found a couple used and ended up buying a couple of new ones. I went ahead and installed the 3rd gear "upgrade" that is a new 3rd gear and slider that are supposed to be less prone to popping out of gear. That's a problem I've read a lot about but honestly never experienced. I needed to replace that gear anyway. Oh the bearings were pitted up too, of course.

If I had one that had not been neglected, I'd probably just pop the cover and take a look. Maybe replace the seal in the input snout thing and the adapter and call it good.

[57taskforce]

I rebuilt the 465 and 205 in my truck. On the 465 I did the gear bushings, synchros, bearings, seals, shift forks, and all new lock rings. As mentioned above the coating was worn off of my shift forks and the gear bushings were all worn as well.

The 205 got bearings and seals and that’s it. I vatted all the individual parts and cases in a caustic bath and blasted and painted all the cases, covers, etc. I could have likely reused all of the bearings with no issues at all, but since I was that far in I elected to replace everything. Both were still quite stout even after being almost 50 years and hundreds of thousands of miles old when I rebuilt everything.

[zac]

Good info, thanks. I have seen that thing about third gear popping out as well but have never had an issue. I have a ‘72 205 that was hard to shift, but the one in the truck now works perfectly. I may just seal, paint and reuse it as is. But it’s hard for me to believe a transmission 50+ years old won’t need to be closely inspected, which puts you into the “well since I’m in here” scenario you mentioned. Still wondering about the one piece stick. Bending it seems like one of those things that should be easy but turns into a ****show.

[mongocanfly]

I just looked thru 72cs20 on his 66k20 build, I think he used the shifter your asking about

[zac]

That’s it, thanks. Compared to what he did, my situation is a lot simpler. That’s quite a build

[Zoomad75]

I can’t speak to the shifter but I can about the clutch. Go with a centerforce. Worth the money for sure. Will work with mechanical linkage or hydraulic.

I’ve run parts store stuff in the past. Last one in my ‘75 was a Luk from Napa. It wasn’t bad. But I’ve been running a centerforce in my ‘91 K5 for a year now and absolutely love it. All the clamping power with light pedal input. Mine is hydraulic too but most of the feel is the trick pressure plate. The weights on the pressure plate fingers really help the faster it’s spinning. Short of the McLeod 3 finger race clutch we put in our Malibu I haven’t had a better feeling clutch in anything.

It’s held up to my abuse off road and wheeling in Moab and that’s with me getting used to going off road with a stick since I had 5 years with an automatic. Like I said, it’s worth it.
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