I have been reading and doing a little research, and also "searched" the pirate4x4.com board.

I have a 1985 3/4 ton GMC Sierra Classic Longbed. I have a 700 R4 Automatic tranny in it right now with a NP 208. I want to swap this out and replace it with a 5spd manuel and a 205 or 203. I have a few questions. Were is the best place to find one of these trannies and what year?? Is there a way to make it a mechanical clutch intead of hydraulic? I want to get this swap going pretty soon and I need as much info as I can get. Who has done this swap? I have a done a 4spd swap before. How much diffrent is the 5 spd. Were is the best place to buy the bell houseing? I was hopeing I could put the pedal in use everyhting that is used for a mechanical 4 spd on the 5 spd but dont know how it would work out. All of your help is realy appreciated.

Thanks,
Lance

anyone?? I can get a new rebuilt tranny for $1450.00 out of Phoenix thats includeing the core charge. Is this a good deal??

anyone??

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I did my swap into a Toyota PU behind a 350. Assuming you have a 350, then any bellhousing (mechanical linkage) system that fits your engine will work if the NV-4500 you get is the GM version. You will probably still have to get the release bearing guide that AA sells that bolts directly to the front of the tranny. This is just a piece of steel to guide your release (throwout) bearing as your clutch is depressed. I bought my tranny at Precision Gear??? in Lumberton, MS. Wayne usually has a small ad in the classified sections of the off-road mags. AA can also sell you one. I searched transmission rebuild shops from Florida to Texas and got huge differences in prices. Finally for just a few dollars more than for a rebuilt, I got a new one. Whatever you do, do not buy directly from AA, their dealers are always cheaper.

Thanks. Is your Tranny mechanical?? So If I got a bell houseing, pedal, and the linkage from a 4spd manuel, will it work??

Like bigguy said for a few bucks more you could have got a new one. They go for like $2000 I get deals on them and $1500 is considered good. I am doing the swap in my Jeep. AA has the parts you need but are pricey. If you need any help on the technical side of the tranny I can get you info from the techs at NVG.

is your tranny going to be hydraulic or mechanical?? Thanks for the help

Mine will be hydro but I will ask my sources and see what they say.

Thanks Alot. I would like some info on what parts you used to do the Hydro. I just thought that it would be easier to do mechanical, but now that I think about it it might be easyier to do hydraulic. Mount your master cylinder on the firewall, attach pedal with custom mount of some sort, mount pedal, run hydro. lines, attach to slave cyclinder on side of tranny and finito? Is that what you ended up doing? How did yours come out?? Harder than you thought??

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Originally posted by FullWidth
Thanks Alot. I would like some info on what parts you used to do the Hydro. I just thought that it would be easier to do mechanical, but now that I think about it it might be easyier to do hydraulic. Mount your master cylinder on the firewall, attach pedal with custom mount of some sort, mount pedal, run hydro. lines, attach to slave cyclinder on side of tranny and finito? Is that what you ended up doing? How did yours come out?? Harder than you thought??

I only paid $900 for mine (92 Chevy 6.34:1 granny low) and $200 of that was to ship it. '92 or '93 Chevy is the best for wheeling (and the most sought-after, and therefore (usually) the most expensive) because of this lower 1st gear ratio.

I used a bellhousing from the same year to install it behind a Ramjet 350 in my '87 YJ. I used an external slave cylinder from a newer (98, I think) chevy truck and the innards (release fork, etc.) from a '92.

I got the tranny and BH from networked yards (i.e. you call a local yard, they don't have it, they do a parts search, it gets shipped to you etc..) I have since discovered Carparts.com and you might look into that as well.

Before going with the '98 slave, I tried to make a '92 slave work, but the line inlet from the master attaches via a roll pin fitting and I couldn't find anything anywhere that would mate to it. That's O.K. though, because the newer slaves are made of steel and much beefier than the plastic '92 model. It had metric fittings and I was able to adapt to a Goodridge stainless braided line that I got from AA. One thing you might wanna keep in mind is the bore ratio of your master to your slave. Ideally, they should be the same or the master should be slightly larger. The master cylinder in my YJ turned out to be slightly smaller than the stock Chevy slave and I get just barely enough throw outta the arm to fully disengage. It works, but not perfectly. I will be upgrading to a larger master cylinder soon.

Still and all, hydraulic is the only way to go. I don't even know if anyone ever made a NV4500 bellhousing that'd work with a manual linkage... But then, there's a lotta stuff I don't know... :flipoff2:

HTH,
Jake Harsha

I lucked out and can reuse all my old traany componants with some pricey adapters but you are on the right track.

I have the bellhousing/clutch/shift fork/pressure plate/scatter shield to do the 93-95 nv4500 swap WITH A MECHANICAL CLUTCH. It is best to use the 95 and up nv4500 because it shifts smoother. They made alot of improvements on the '95 and up nv4500s. I paid $1000 for my '95 nv4500 with all the mechanical components. I used the hydraulic set up and saved all the mechanical stuff. E mail me if interested.

Hey, dont to that to me man(chevylad), thought we had a deal.

National Drivetrain in Chicago will sell you a rebuilt (to your specifications) for around $1200. I'm sure shipping will add to it but I had them build me a 6.34:1 early chevy with a late Chevy case and the Dodge output shaft. They built it in 3 days and since I only live 45 minutes away I picked it up at their shop.

Jakesteramalamajama posted that he used a '98 chevy external slave. I thought the '96 and later came with the hydraulic throwout bearings. A buddy of mine went full GM bellhousing, master, slave, line ect from I think a '96. Just an FYI GM used 2 bolt patterns for the NV4500. I think it was '96 that they changed to the same pattern as the Dodge case.

I'm using an AA bellhousing that has the external arm. Mechanical linkage would be easy to adapt to it.

I'm also using the early 80's CJ7 slave from a GM 4 cylinder (13/16"). I've been using the stock master cylinder from a YJ (11/16") but I've always had problems with not enough travel on the slave. I've since found that Brembo makes a master cylinder that is the correct length, has the correct bolt pattern, and they have several different sizes to choose from. I'm still lookinf for a resevoir that will clear the hood but that should be doable.

I know it's money, but I seriously recommend dropping $10 for the Advance Adapters NV4500 book. It's VERY valuable for info, as far as what BHs work with what, clutch linkage etc.

Unfortunately, there are so many options and variations, it would take a LONG time to post all the info.

Like lt1yj said, there is more than one BH, and the clutch linkage changes on these too, so you really need to know what year 4500 you will have before you can make detailed plans.

Originally posted by lt1yj
Jakesteramalamajama posted that he used a '98 chevy external slave. I thought the '96 and later came with the hydraulic throwout bearings.

That's what the guy at the dealership parts counter told me it was. He might've had his head up his ass tho... We'd just spent a half-hour going through every Chevy external-slave application he could find on the shelves until we finally found one that would work. He said it was a '98 3/4-ton I think...

HTH,
Jake

I gotta ask! I have been swaying towards the 700r4 to replace the T5 some F%$#g moron(PO) put behind a 350 TBI in an 85 CJ7. It has a flimsy bracket and some form of external slave on the adapter bellhousing, and a plastic resevoir on the firewall. Would u go NV4500 instead?? What parts are needed. I called a local guy who has a NEW NV4500 and he says its a late model Chevy (he says internal slave cylinder), and it already has the Dodge 23 spline output in it for my t-case. I am wondering about the clutch, slave, and any other additional parts I need(price includes Chevy bellhousing, clutch, and slave cyl.). BTW, will my puny D44 front handle some not-so-smooth actions from my foot with this tranny???