66 4x4 my sons new project

[duallyjams]

The exhaust worked out great. I had the same problem with tires and balancing and vibrating, simply put it was the tires, we tried everything under the sun and the vibration was still there, gave in and bought a new set and poof vibration gone and a surprise I picked up 1mpg from the new tires.

[argonaut]

James I think you are right on about the tires. First I checked pressures and they were all low and all different. That seems to have helped some already.

New wheels and tires are on the to do list but not at the top, and I'll have to save up some cash first.
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[Woogeroo]

On the ground and rolling now?

Congrats.

-W

[argonaut]

Yup!
Too many days and nights consumed over the past year, by my addiction to rebuilding this old pickup; I've just been enjoying driving it around town for the past week.

Did order a few parts that should come in this week. A 0.75" diameter clutch masters cylinder to replace the 0.70" in there now. Though I like the pedal effort I have now, the travel at the slave cylinder is just barely enough to release the clutch and its adjusted a bit tight. The 15% extra travel should hopefully be just right.

Also ordered a set of Hella ECE 7" housings for H4 bulbs. My sealed beam headlights just aren't nearly bright enough especially now that they are further from the ground.

And I'm getting a kit to knock together a simple fan shroud. I'm hoping that will solve the temperature creep that I'm getting on hot SoCal days.

After that a little bed wood and its time to start saving for wheels and tires (~$2000 eek!)
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[Woogeroo]

Congrats on getting to enjoy it, they are a lot more fun when they move around.



-W

a thread to research for your headlights(good stuff) :

one more headlight relay thread

[argonaut]

Well its been a while since I posted up, but I felt it was time because I am a happy man today!

Last night I picked up what I thought were two 95 NV4500 transmissions for a good price. At first I was a little hesitant because I discovered that the bellhousing pattern did not match my old one like I thought it did, and plus I really didn't want to move up to the 5.61:1 low gear. I already sacrificed once when I went from 7.05:1 on the SM420 to 6.55:1 with the SM465.



But this afternoon I pulled them down from the bronco (feeling mighty strong!) and pulled the top covers and adapters. I discovered that the one in better condition is actually a 93-94 model with the 6.34:1 low gear! Woohoo!
Now I sure am glad that I decided to bring them home!

The good 94:


The grungy 95 for parts:


I also discovered that the difference between the gearing in the 93-94 versus the 95+ actually gives the 93-94 a 0.727:1 5th gear while the 95+ has a 0.75:1. All the literature online says that all years have 0.73:1 5th gear but i checked it 5 times with the same results.

All the gears in the target trans look good, save for the reverse gear which has just a slight flaw in the front edge of the teeth. I can't see what could have caused that other than maybe a misaligned shift fork. It looks usable, or I could steal one from the parts trans. It is also hard to really tell how the face of the sychros look until I pull everything apart. I was bummed to see that the output splines on the main shaft were half worn, but I figured that i can swap mainshafts with the other parts trans. But then I read some literature form advance adapters that says I'll be cutting that section off anyway to use their adapter for an NP205. So once again it seems that I got a sweet deal.



Hopefully when I get around to swapping this in I can squeeze 14mpg out of the 402 instead of the measly 10mpg its getting now.
The only drawback is that the NV4500 case is pretty wimpy compared to the SM465, no ribs or gussets or anything. I'm going to have to put a good skid plate under it.

[argonaut]

Here are some old pictures, that I stole from others, of my pickup at the Brother's show from a month and a half ago. I met Vectorit (Chris) there and I got to pack next to my favorite 68 suburban!





Chris' 'burb has been the inspiration for my truck for over a year. Its my favorite color and I love the classic 4x4 pickup look that it has. I'm going to shamelessly put black steelies on mine and paint it the same color scheme someday...Sorry Chris!

[argonaut]

Here's one of my faithful companion, Abby, or Abs. She's always eager to go for a (sometimes bumpy) ride!

[argonaut]

Oh also the truck drives nice and smooth now. Aside form the worn out bumpy tires.
I discovered that though I had tightened up the front U-bolts, I never actually torqued them. I didn't do it because I was swapping out shims to get my pinion angle and caster set. Turns out it helps to keep the front axle in place when you put 140ft-lbs on the u-bolts!

Its done great on some longer trips and some off road duty too!

[MTCK]

Very cool the truck looks great, Jason. Good find on the OD trannies.
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[vectorit]

Hey Jason, cool score on the transmissions!
I had to right click on those photo's of my burb, since I didn't have them and they are both good shots! Thanks for the compliments.

[duallyjams]

Originally Posted by argonaut

Here are some old pictures, that I stole from others, of my pickup at the Brother's show from a month and a half ago. I met Vectorit (Chris) there and I got to pack next to my favorite 68 suburban!





Chris' 'burb has been the inspiration for my truck for over a year. Its my favorite color and I love the classic 4x4 pickup look that it has. I'm going to shamelessly put black steelies on mine and paint it the same color scheme someday...Sorry Chris!

I would too, that burb is sweet, just keep the grill, it makes your truck.

[argonaut]

Thanks, James. The 62 grill is my favorite; its not going anywhere!
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[argonaut]

In the works: round pattern np205 with 32 spline, short, female input shaft. Because I studied the Advance Adapters unit for an nv4500 to figure 8 np205 and didn't really like the design.
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[RANDY COX]

Jason glad to see your rig is on the road now. I know you've put a lot of work into that truck...Looks great man..

[argonaut]

Early GM NV4500 + Late GM NP205 with 32 spline short input





The stock GM NV4500 4x4 tail adapter is going to need some serious surgery on the right side of the flange and right rib, where the NP204 rear output shift rod extends out. I'm not thrilled about that so I'll either fabricate a steel brace that ties into the bolts above and below the notch and also ties back to the transmission end bolts. Hopefully this brace can also have the standoff I need for the shifter. Kind of a two-in-one solution.

I'm also considering finding a shorter stock dodge cast iron tail housing and getting an aluminum spacer/adapter that clocks the GM NP205 correctly. Though I haven't fully thought this option through yet.

I still need to spend a few $$ on this next month:

[hopped up]

it didnt occur to me at tbe brothers show that this was your truck.i love your truck! i kept checking it iut throughout the day. pretty sure we spoke too
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[argonaut]

Hey, thanks hopped up! That's very flattering! Hopefully we did speak; I talked to so many people its hard to remember who is who. Did you bring your truck to that show as well?

[duallyjams]

Change the short input to a long input then you can make your own clocking ring. Are you going to convert the 205 to a twin stick ? as you will have to make a shifter and linkage for this combo.

['63GENIII]

No grass growing under your feet Jason. Man you've always got something cool going on with that truck. You're really gonna like that 4500. I like the long input idea.
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[argonaut]

The reason I don't want to go with the clocking ring and and the long input is that I don't want the powertrain to get any longer.

Stock sm465 to np205 adapter is 6-7/8" long. Stock gm nv4500 4x4 tailhousing is 8-1/8" long. So I'm already growing 1-1/4" as it is. Adding the ring would put another 1-1/2 to 2" onto that. With a long bed I wouldn't sweat it. But with a short wheelbase and a lift I'm already using nearly all possible angular travel on the rear driveshaft at full droop. If I lengthen the drivetrain I'll have to go to a new driveshaft with a double cardan joint and also reweld the rear spring pads.

Now I could use the dodge nv4500 cast steel tail housing adapter which is much shorter than the gm version. I would have to ditch the output shaft damper on the nv4500 in favor of a low profile collar. Then I could add a custom made spacer and clocking ring that would net 8-1/8" long and still use the short 32 spline input. This would prevent me from having to severely notch the aluminum gm tailhousing. Plus I could actually clock the transfer case to sit flat, giving me insane ground clearance!

Decisions, decisions.
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[argonaut]

While a twin stick seems pretty cool, I'm not sure why I'd really ever need it...

[hopped up]

Originally Posted by argonaut

Hey, thanks hopped up! That's very flattering! Hopefully we did speak; I talked to so many people its hard to remember who is who. Did you bring your truck to that show as well?

yeah o met up with the group in corona. in my primer white 64 . i talked to soo many people i cant rememebr all the names and faces either . lol
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[argonaut]

Figured out the notch that I need for the tailhousing adapter. Simple. Should be pretty easy, so long as my machine shop has a 1-3/8" ball end mill.

[duallyjams]

Have you settle on a plan yet.I was on pirate last night reading some threads where they used the dodge cast tail shaft for the gm nv4500 np205 combo.