need an alternative to granny 4-spd with transfer case

[54chevytruck]

I have a 1954 chevy truck that has parts from many different vehicles in it. As far as i can tell, most of the drive line parts came out of a late 70s early 80s chevy truck(when i had to find a replacement for the brake master cylinder, a 79 chevy one was identical)

Currently it has a granny 4-spd with a transfer case married to the back. from my understanding of it, this transfer case was made to fit only a granny 4-spd.

I need something different. Either a different manual transmission or an automatic.

I just need some suggestions on something that works well that i can replace it with.

Will try to post pictures of it over the weekend

[54chevytruck]

The transmission was used and abused before i got the truck and doesnt shift well to save its life

[onebadbowtie]

allot of guys a swapping to the NV4500 due to having overdrive and granny low. these are in the newer chevy trucks like 88 and up. dirtylarry has lots of info on the swap in a thread in this section

[onebadbowtie]

here it is.... http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vboa...d.php?t=431033

[special-K]

You can find another 4spd for cheap. You don't really need overdrive if you don't travel distances on the interstates and want to drive over 65 mph. The 4spds are hard to hurt,unlike the newer o/d transmissions,which are costly to acquire.

[54chevytruck]

right now, the setup i think i have(i need to look this weekend) is a Ranger overdrive bolted in front of the transmission with i think a SM465 and NP205(i looked at the pictures in the following links)


http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=502224
http://www.high-impact.net/transmiss...roverdrive.htm

The overdrive unit whines like it is low on fluid when it is completely full, it vibrates the secondary shifter more than i think it should, the transmission was hurt pretty bad by the previos owner(he had a winston cup racecar engine in the truck and he would go pretty hard on this truck) and i dont know what condition the transfer case is in.

I am thinking of either converting it to an automatic with an overdrive or a 5spd manual with or without the Ranger O/D that is currently in it

I plan on driving this truck on the highway as well as offroad

any suggestions are appreciated

[coops714x4]

here is my 2 cents. IF you are gonna scrap the SM465-NP205 setup, just make the decision which you would rather have, automatic or a manual, if you want a manual go with the chevy or dodge NV4500, If you want a automatic go with the 700R- NP208 combo, both are good choices and can be fairly easy to find, tho they can be a bit pricey, both are pretty straight forward swaps. there are modifications and some fab work either way. I personally prefer the NV4500, that's what I'm putting in my 71 K20. Coop

[odog]

Really look at the 205, they are VERY hard to hurt. They can be broken, but you have to almost try to do it. If you go with an auto, the 205's bolt up to about all of them with out much hassle.

[Mike C]

Your gear splitter and SM465 is way cooler than any of the other options out there IMO. Just rebuild it all. That is also cheapest solution too most likely.

[54chevytruck]

I was wring about the transfer case. i was looking at it today and it is an np208