1966 chevy c10

[joe1966]

I have a 1966 chevy truck c10 2wd with a sm420 4 speed. i was looking to make it 4wd. I was going to either use another 70's or 80's chevy 4wd truck. like maybe just using the other trucks tranny and transfercase and the front end and rear end. or just using the whole chassis instead of swapping stuff. Let me know wich would be easier. both are hard but wich is easier. thanks anything helps.

[62-One-Ton]

Im doing a body swap on to a newer chassis and running gear. But then again I never had an original frame or drivetrain to start with.
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[joe1966]

Allright thanks man. if i dont make it 4wd it will be just a daily driver or hot rod. I had another question to. I was thinking about putting a muncie or m 21 or m 22 4 speed in it. it has the sm420 in it now. would you just have to take this one out and put the muncie in or would u have to buy an adapter and stuff or? please let me know thanks, joe

[62-One-Ton]

That Im not sure about. If you make it 4x4 and you plan on actually using it as a 4x4 just stick with an auto. A th350 or th400 would work better in these old trucks. The shift pattern is too big on anything but a NV series trans.
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[joe1966]

Yea i like auto but i loooveeee manual. for some reason. i think i just like to be different haha. but manual is my thing. im not looking to make it a huge rockcrawler. i just want a stock 4x4 truck. i just want it to have like 31 inch mud tires with pretty good clearence nothing huge. Probably a 2 inch lift or body lift. you dont see these trucks 4x4 so thats what i want. thanks, joe

[62-One-Ton]

Nice. Ill be using my truck for snow runs so 40"-42" tires are in order and an auto for smooth shifting on the slippery stuff.
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[joe1966]

yea that is gonna be sweet. do you know by chance what good gear ratio it would be to run in my truck? it has a 4 speed and it has the granny gear. very slow on the freeway. its like 3000 or 3300 rpms and i have flowmasters so its loud. i wanna be able to cruise through all my gears. any ideas? i think i have 4.11s, maybe 3.73s or 3.08s thanks, joe. btw its a 12 bolt

[62-One-Ton]

Thats kind of a broad question but just based on axle ratios if it has 4.11 in it I would say going to a 3.73 isn't going to be a huge difference. And a 3.08 may be to tall.
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[Captainfab]

You do not want to use a M21 or M22 in a 4x4. They are close ratio car transmissions. They can work in a 2wd truck, but not good in a 4wd. You would have to run a divorced transfer case anyway. Stick with the SM420. If you feel you need an overdrive, then go with a NV4500.

What size tires are on your truck now. That plays a part in your cruise RPM's. If you are converting to a 4wd, then the axles you use will likely have a more appropriate gear ratio for a 4x4. Plus you said you wanted to run 31" tires. That will drop your cruise RPM's a little more.

As for the frame swap, or keeping the original frame. I always encourage keeping the original frame, for various reasons. Putting a '60-'66 body on a '70-'s or 80's 4x4 frame in more than a bolt together conversion. You will need to have decent fabrication skills to build the new body mounts. This has been covered many times on this forum. A simple search should bring up several threads.

[62-One-Ton]

I totally agree that doing a cab swap to a newer frame is more then a bolt together deal. Ive done some pretty extensive research on whats involved. And Im not using a stock bed either so that only leaves 6 body mounts to be built. I feel my fab skills are up to par with what Im building. I will however need to buy a nice 220v welder. But the main reason for doing a frame swap is that I feel the 60-66 frames with out major modification are not up to the task that I am demanding of it. I will even be boxing the k30 frame in areas I feel are needing. The other thing Im going to attempt to do is build a 1" or 2" body lift into the new body mounts. Long body bolts a sketchey to me lol.
Anyways over explination over.
I feel like gears to tire size is a matter of the terrian that you mainly drive in and how fast or how much mpg you want to get. For me my 03 2500 with stock 3.55 gears wasnt low enough for my terrain and load requirements. So I swapped to 4.10 and gained driveability and actually gained about 3-4 mpg. So higher ratios dont all ways equate to better mpg and driveability.
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[A.T. RockDriller]

What the Cap'n is sayin' is that the taller tires inherant to most wheelers will give you an over-all combined taller gear.
My thirty sixes along with the 4:11's probably gives me a combined ratio of somthin' in the area of 3:50's....

My little K1000 series frame is tougher'n nails...an' pretty light, too.
My dry curb weight....including all the crap I seem to have to carry.....is right at 7K lbs..
And I'm sure not too easy on her....either.
I can only imagine that K-thirty frame of yers sure should be pure cryptonite when you get done fixen it.
Send pictures.

[62-One-Ton]

I will do. My last truck 93 toyota single cab. With the same axles under it as the 62 Im building came in at 5900 trail ready. And that was on 38.5's with a 4 banger thin sheet metal and alot of metal added to it. I bent the frame on that truck about 2.5" and that is fully boxed from front to rear with quite a few crossmembers. So I think with a 350 and all this old iron on it I need the strongest frame I can get lol. So I think for me a newer k30 frame is the best option.
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[joe1966]

I am running 31 inch all terrains on the truck now. I have the sm420 in the truck now and i wanted to either change it out and actually be able to take off in 1st gear not having it so low geared as it is now. how hard would it be to put a m21 or m22 or muncie in the truck. is there alot of mods to make if i just unbolt this tranny and put the new muncie in? and i seen hurst makes a shifter for the muncie that is made for trucks. i all ready have that i just picked it up and i need to go on the search for a muncie now :/. very spendy but worth it. i want the wide ratio and not the close ratio. I am debating on changing out the 31's for something smaller and more streetwise. like BFG radials or something. thanks, joe

[62-One-Ton]

Going to a smaller tire will worsen your highway rpms. Id still say look for an NV4500 and leave the rest alone. The 5 speed will help out with just about everything your looking for.
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[joe1966]

Will the nv4500 fit onto the 350 small block 4 bolt main? Thanks joe
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[A.T. RockDriller]

Originally Posted by joe1966

Will the nv4500 fit onto the 350 small block 4 bolt main? Thanks joe
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Joe,

There should be no problems.
Depending on your doner and which bell housing yer using, the only possible hang-ups would be clutch linkage and driveline length. There are adapter plates out there if you have a non-GM bell housing.....but it should be a snap if you're going all GM.
Good luck & happy shiftin'......You won't be breaking that one.

[Captainfab]

The NV4500 will work without too much trouble. I have not done the swap, but I do know it isn't just a simple boltup. But it isn't anything too difficult either. You can use one from a GM or from a Dodge. A simple search should tell you what you need to know.

[joe1966]

Thanks everybody! I will be looking for for an nv4500 around my town. and thanks alot this is my favorite forum, everybody on here are such great people i will be driving my truck soon but the wheeler cylinder went out. im only 15 and i got the truck about 3 years ago from my g pa. and i have been making it better ever since thanks ya'll