Straight swap..turbo 350 for turbo 350...not????

[CG]

Today we were supposed to do an engine/trans swap on my oldest sons 1972 burb, 350/350 combo. I purchased a 350/350 combo from a board member that was previously in a lwb pickup. Engine in very nice shape, trans recently rebuilt.

We moved all the air con stuff to the side, pulled off all the rest of the crap that would be in the way. Sawzall off the old exhaust (have all new to put in). Engine and trans come out with no problems. Cleaned and power washed all the dirt and grease off the burb, we even cleaned off the bird doo..(If you saw the post on that you know what Im talking about)

We start installing the new engine/trans and I noticed the tail shaft on the newer one is longer than the one we pulled out, by about 3inches. Aren't the lwb truck and burb the same wheelbase? Dont they both have the double drive shafts? What the heck am I supposed to do to make this fit? I really don't want to spend anymore money in this project. I was sure this was a straight swap.

Any help would be appreciated.


Mark

[57sailplane]

one must be a long tail shaft and the other a short. wether or not you can change the tailshafts i don't no. if it were me i would undo the yoke from the driveshaft stick the yoke in the tail shaft and pull out 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch then messure from u joint to u joint and have your local machine shop shorten the driveshaft. that is if u cant swap tail shaft.

[CG]

Originally Posted by 57sailplane

one must be a long tail shaft and the other a short. wether or not you can change the tailshafts i don't no. if it were me i would undo the yoke from the driveshaft mesure from u joint to u joint and have your local machine shop shorten the driveshaft. that is if u cant swap tail shaft.

Yes one is long and one is short...yes I can have the shaft redone (pain in the rear and extra money) I pulled the tail shaft off the old trans. Its not just a matter of swapping em from what I saw. I'm really confused why two lengths on the tranny tail shafts when the trucks are the same wheel base. Im going to PM the member I picked this up from and see if he still has the drive shafts.

[krue]

73 and up had a 9" tailshaft, 67-72 had 6" tailshafts. Easiest thing to do is shorten the driveshaft (swapping tailshafts won't work). Look on the bright side, the 350 w/9" tailshaft is the same length as a 700-R4.

[71Rat]

cars also got the 6 inch shaft. if you bring it to a local trans shop its actually easy to pull it out and swap tailshafts and housings. just a snap ring hold them in once you removed the pump,drums, and hubs and other goodies. the 6inch is actually a more desirable length but the 9 inch is 1/16 difference in length from a 700r4

hope that helps out.

[CG]

So if I end up having to take the drive shaft in do I tell em to whack off 3 inches since the tail shaft is 3 inches longer than the one that was in there....or is there more to it than that?

[CG]

Bumpity

[RicksTrucks]

Originally Posted by CG

So if I end up having to take the drive shaft in do I tell em to whack off 3 inches since the tail shaft is 3 inches longer than the one that was in there....or is there more to it than that?

I believe they were talking about two different solutions.
1. Get a shorter tail shaft
2. Shorten the drive shaft.

[CG]

Originally Posted by RicksTrucks

I believe they were talking about two different solutions.
1. Get a shorter tail shaft
2. Shorten the drive shaft.

Taking the tranny in and swapping tail shafts is not going to work for me. The drive shaft solution is the easiest and best one for me. Ill call Drive Shafts NW and see what I need to do. Thanks guys.