68 c 10 stepside Nv-4500 Swap - Build thread

[benw88]

Hi All,

I will update this thread as I complete this conversion. I also work full time and I am finishing my engineering degree so I might do the documentation in steps but we will see. I immigrated to the US from Germany in 07 so unfortunately, my spelling is not always adequate.

For the past few weeks, I have been researching and ordering parts for a NV-4500 swap. The transmission is going into my 1968 C10 stepside. I have always had a manual transmission in the truck because I love having to drive the truck and interact with it. The transmission that I am removing is a Muncie 4spd which I installed in high school.

The Parts______

First I researched to find out which transmission was the correct one to use since the NV-4500 was offered in both chevy and dodge pickups.

Since I have a rear wheel drive truck and had the desire to use my original speedometer I needed a Nv-4500 that came out of a 1994-1997 (need to double check the ending date) Dodge Ram 2500 360, 5.9L rear wheel drive (not 4x4). The specific transmission that came in the above-described truck uses a 10 spline input shaft which will work with a stock application C-10 clutch. I searched endlessly for a used transmission, looking on eBay and Craigslist as well as just about every wrecking yard between California and Texas but I was not able to find a trans that was a feasible option. I ended up having a transmission remanufactured by a vendor in Arizona. ($1250)

The reason I chose to use the Dodge model trans instead of the Chevy is because the input shaft on the dodge trans is too long which makes it perfect for an adapter plate. I purchased the adapter plate from advance adapters. The plate comes with the correct pilot bearing and hardware to bolt the plate to the bell-housing and the transmission to the plate.

http://www.advanceadapters.com/categ...-packages/216/


The correct bell-housing to use is the Orginal C10 bell-housing with the angled truck frame cross member mounts and the 5.125" index hole (GM-3925505). This would have come in trucks that were originally equipped with the 4spd granny transmission. Since I previously changed to the Muncie which requires the truck bell-housing that came paired with a 3spd trans (4.875" index hole) I had to purchase the correct bell-housing on eBay.

Using the original bell housing also allows me to use the original c10 clutch linkage. Advance Adapters Also sells the correct throw out bearing (not sure if that's how that's spelled ) unfortunately, this is a Ford part but no one needs to really know that LOL.

That's it for tonight. I have much more information and a stock pile of parts to write about but for now, it's off to bed dreaming about my C10.