79 Burbn Project

[justaburbn]

Greeting all,

My boy and I are going to tackle this together, and so here we are because I don't believe any better place exists!

I just picked up this Frankenstein of a rig. The title says c10 sub2500 but it is 4x4. I have not verified everything yet. It is a manual transmission. Pretty sure it's an SM465.(made by Muncie in Saginaw Michigan) I believe np203? It does have locking hubs, front drive shaft and 3/4 ton axles. The previous owner and the vin code tell me 305. I never had a 305 but it looks like a 350 to me. It does have an edlebrock 4bl. It runs and drives OK, but the gearing is super low. My top speed without pushing or knowing rpm is about 45mph. Owner also says the axle gears are 5? something. The tranny rumbles while driving in gear and makes like crackling sound shifting in and out of gears. Clutch pedal and stick are also sloppy as all git out too. All that just to give you an idea where I'm at... kinda. Let's not talk about the inside yet. I'll save that for more fun later...

This is my question. Do I rebuild the SM465 or convert to something else? Like maybe an NV4500 just because of the 5th gear/overdrive.

Since it runs and drive OK, I think this is where I need to start.

Thanks a million,