Larry's 1978 K10

[Rot Box]

I knew I did not want to reuse the 10 spline 205 being they tend to be sloppy on the input.

27 spline isn't as great as 32 but better than 10 spline so that is the route we went along with an Advance Adapters 27-0031 kit.

The 465 and 205 have to be one of the strongest combo's ever put in a light duty truck, but what they were thinking when it came to the 10spline coupler is beyond me! lol :Wow1: 27 should be just fine especially where you got by with the 10 spline for so long. Speaking of not finding a 32, I'm thinking the 27's were pretty rare as well... Anyway just thinking out loud.

Should be awesome and well worth the upgrade in the long run. I like the hydro clutch--was it hard to convert? Some will disagree, but I think the hydraulic clutch is a little more user friendly :bike_rider:

 

[Larry]

Larry that is one amazing transmission/transfercase swap that you have done! I would really like to hear what your impression of the new set-up is after you tried it in the bush. Please post some pics of your old set-up, and give us some nice pics of the truck in the bush with the new transmission.:victory:

Thanks Chilliwak,

The first two pictures are of the old trans mounted in the truck. Interesting fact about this truck is it was originally a TH350 automatic with a full-time NP203 tcasae. Back in 1995 my buddy Bill (he is a lurker here but doesn't post) and I removed the 203 and bolted in a 205 behind the TH350 as well as bolted in the full-floating rear axle and changed the front D44 from 6 to 8 lugs. Then in 1998 Bill got a hold of a clean 1976 K10 with a SM465/NP205 and we swapped transmissions from truck to truck, which made for an easy swaperoo with having a complete donor truck to pirate parts from. After that, we sold the 1976 with my old TH350/205 bolted into it and made money on the project and basically got all of the SM465 parts for free. Fast forward 13 years and that SM465 was swapped for this NV4500. Who knows that will get bolted into it in the future.

We're headed to Canyonlands again this summer so more bush pictures will definitely be coming soon. Will have a new Phoenix camper on the back by then too!

Here are a few from Canyonlands “Dollhouse” area from last summer.

Hole in the Rock

Ekker Butte

Tuweep 2009

Chaffee County, CO

 

[Larry]

The 465 and 205 have to be one of the strongest combo's ever put in a light duty truck, but what they were thinking when it came to the 10spline coupler is beyond me! lol :Wow1: 27 should be just fine especially where you got by with the 10 spline for so long. Speaking of not finding a 32, I'm thinking the 27's were pretty rare as well... Anyway just thinking out loud.

Should be awesome and well worth the upgrade in the long run. I like the hydro clutch--was it hard to convert? Some will disagree, but I think the hydraulic clutch is a little more user friendly :bike_rider:

Rot Box,

I hear you on that coupler and unfortunately, the NV4500/27 spline 205 AA kit uses a coupler as well. Albeit a much beefier one with fine splines. You’re right 27 spline 205’s are pretty rare as well. 27 spline is a TH350/205 specific spline count and only used on 1969-1972 GM trucks then it became spotty usage from 1973 – 1980.

The hydraulic clutch was a pretty easy swap. Time consuming but not difficult.

Donor truck for the hydraulic pedals (1990 chassis cab). Also made a template from this trucks firewall to know where to make the hole for the clutch master cylinder in mine.

It was easier to drill the hole for the clutch m/c from the inside rather than the engine side of the firewall.

 

[saveitforsunrise]

if you dont mind me asking, how much did you snag the nv/205 combo for??? and are they hard to find? i just recently finished my 3500 swap into my 97 4 door tahoe, but id like to find a 4500 to throw up in there

 

[chilliwak]

Larry, I really like the pics you posted. That is what really gives a guy inspiration to go out and 4by4. Since your truck is around the same year as mine, I was wondering what transmission/& transfercase set-up you would reccomend for my truck. Right now I am running a chev350 with a turbo 350 auto. I want to keep running an auto trans, and I need to keep the costs down. Also, I am thinking about intstalling a big-block at some time so the conversion would have to handle the extra power. What would be the ballpark price for the trans/transfercase assembly and would I need new mounts and driveshafts? :costumed-smiley-007

 

[Larry]

Saveitforsunrise,

You could expect to pay $400 to $1500 for a NV4500 depending on where you get it and the condition. Mine was a trade deal so no money out of pocket except for the $25 tcase and cost of the AA kit.

Chilliwak,

If you don’t mind not having overdrive, your TH350 is a great trans and work well behind a big block. A TH400 better but a TH350 is sufficient. If you would like to step up to overdrive a 700R4 or a 4L80E would be the best swaps in automatics. There is some wiring required to retrofit both and a computer needed to run the 4L80E. If I had gone the automatic route I would have gone with the 4L80E. An Allison 1000 would be idea but that requires body modifications and a body lift to bolt one in an old GM truck. Neither of which I am a fan of. The best way to figure out what it would cost is to figure out which recipe you want to go with then start pricing the parts than double the parts costs you come up with as something always comes up during the project that blows your budget. These projects are never cheap. My project took 3 months and it still isn’t truly done while some gremlins are being worked out.

 

[bob91yj]

Sweet looking truck for sure!

 

[chilliwak]

Thanks for the advice Larry. The whole idea is to keep it as simple as possible. No wiring or electric solenoids. The truck needs to be able to function with a minimum of wiring and electrical stuff. The turbo 350 is bagged, so I was wondering what I can get in the way of a (hopefully complete) 454/turbo400/transfercase cheap from some Chevy around my same year so there is a minimum of linkage and other custom refit issues.:clapsmile

 

[lostfamilyof6]

Larry,

That is a nice, and I mean NICE truck. well done on the upgrades I think you will like them a lot. When the kids grow up and move out :Wow1not any time soon) I would like something as nice as this (currently because I do have kids I am not allowed anything nice :sombrero.

Seriously thanks for the pictures and really good information.

 

[Larry]

Nothing wrong with keeping things simple Chilliwak. Makes life much easier that when things go wrong way out in the boonies. I just couldn’t tolerate a simple carburetor anymore when going from 5,000 ft elevation to over 12,000 ft where the truck wouldn’t run right and sometimes not run at all. To get EFI you get all of the complicated baggage that comes along with it which isn’t too bad of deal if you have experience with late model powertrains and have the tooling.

Lostfamilyof6,

Thanks for the kind words. Your kids appreciate the sacrifices you make for them even though they may not tell you or show it sometimes. One day they will! You will get much more satisfaction out of your family than I will ever get out of this truck.

 

[BigCountry77]

You have a sharp looking rig

 

[Jean-Seb]

Amazing work Larry ! Can't wait to do this to my truck, if I ever get around to it.

Interior is nice and quiet (except for the noisy NV4500 we just installed…errr)

Sorry, but that made me laugh pretty hard. :ylsmoke: hehe

Keep it up !

 

[Cody1771]

hey Chilliwak, i run the TH400 with NP205 in my truck and i hammer down hard on that thing all the time. i dont think i could break it if i wanted to. they are pretty bulletproof. they usually pop up on bc4x4 for about $200. im guessing your running the 208 in your truck? it should bolt right up. send me an email and i can give you the run down, the swap is quick and easy. honestly i think a 205 might be a built overbuilt for what you use, a 208 would be a good choice if you dont mind having a slip yoke style of transfer case.

 

[saveitforsunrise]

larry,
thats the price range i expected, i paid 500 for the whole trans/clutch setup/flywheel/transfer case in mine, its a 3500, witch i hear is complete crap from the guys on pirate, but its a fairly recent gm replacement trans, so hopfuly itll hold me until i can throw something stronger in, but ill tell ya, it got rid of that crap 4l60e they put in the gmt-400s

 

[chilliwak]

Thanks for the advice Cody. I would definatly be interested in picking up a trans/transfercase set-up like you are talking about. I would probably have the transmission rebuilt and have a shift kit installed with new torque converter. I do sometimes tow a heavy load, and my canopy is pretty heavy as well. I would probably need to get the transfer case rebuilt too, dont you think?