3 speed to 5 Speed

[flatbedchev]

I am finally gonna dig in on my truck and the first thing I want to do is make it highway friendly. It has the original 3 speed, 3 in the tree trany in it and I'd like to replace it with a 5 speed. I remember reading that you can use a 5 speed from an Astro van or S 10 to back a V8. Does anyone know which ones will work and which ones won't? I think the input shaft on the 4 cyl and 6 cyl trannys are different
any ideas?
Oh and my 350 is pretty much stock, so ther should be no worries of it breaking anything loose in the 5 speed. I've also heard they can't hold up to a lot of HP

[67ChevyRedneck]

Like you said, they don't hold up to a lot of power. I think your best bet would be to find one out of an 80's or early 90's camaro that had a 305. That way you get one that was already mated to a V-8. That's about the extent of my knowledge

[chevybill]

You are talking about a nv3500 tranny. They are found in the 90's half ton truck and 4.3 v6 trucks. I have a 92 with this tranny and I have one for my 1970 project truck. It is bolted to a 350 right now using the 4.3 v 6 flywheel.
I have never had any trouble from the tranny in the 1992 chevy truck I purchased new.

[motocrosschump]

Are those Hydrolic (sp?) clutches?

[Old Yeller 1970]

The Camaro trany was a T-5 mated to a 305. They tore up in the 305 Camaros and definitely wouldn't last behind a 350.

The NV 3500 is a better choice. It will handle up to 285 ftlbs rear wheel tq, and will work fine with a 350 as long as you leave it stock.

The NV 3500 uses a hydraulic clutch.

[67ChevyRedneck]

My bad Thanks for the clarification Old Yeller.

I tried to find and NV4500 for months and couldn't find one, I ended up using a 700R4.

[Old Yeller 1970]

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

My bad Thanks for the clarification Old Yeller.

Don't wory about it. This stuff is easy to get confused. There is a T-5 out there that would probably withstand the torque of a 350 but it's the Furd Mustang World Class T-5. And as far as I know there's no way to adapt it to a Chevy engine.

[flatbedchev]

Thanks , If i wanted to swap it out for a muncie 4 speed, what would be a good donor car? Did the 70's Camaro's come with these?

[chevybill]

If you want to use a mustang tranny I think it is possible. If you will go and search corvettefourm and corvetteactioncenter, some of those guys have put this tranny into corvettes. It is somewhat involved, but can be done.
I think that someone like advance adaptors or another company makes conversion pieces.

[Old Yeller 1970]

Originally Posted by flatbedchev

Thanks , If i wanted to swap it out for a muncie 4 speed, what would be a good donor car? Did the 70's Camaro's come with these?

IIRC, late 60's early 70's GM cars (Camaros, Firbirds, Chevelles, Corvets etc) came with Muncie M21 and M22 4 speeds. I think the M22 was the Rock Crusher and cabable of 450+ftlbs torque. The M21 would probably be fine in a stock 350. However, neither of these meet your street friendly requirement because neither has OD since they are both close ratio 4-speeds. Further, you'll probably have a tough time finding one in a junk car. A performance engine or transmission shop would be your best guide to locating one.

I think you should consider the NV3500 if you want a truck type 5 speed.

There is also an early 80's Chevy 1/2 ton 4 speed with OD that should be a fairly easy swap into a 67-72 truck. I don't remember the model number but some other guys on the board are familiar with it.