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Best transmission/T-case options for '73 Chevy 4x4?
I've got a couple trucks I'd like to combine into one decent farm/hunting truck.
Truck 1 is a ~73 K5 Blazer 4x4 Automatic, missing engine and rear end.
Truck 2 is a '73 3/4 ton 2wd, running 350 and 4 spd SM465 and 14 bolt rear.
I'd like to put the running engine and rear end from truck 2 into truck 1 and have a running 4x4 Blazer. I know I will need to check axle ratios to make sure they match etc.
My question is which transmission should I use?
I'm going to assume that the TH350 in the Blazer needs a rebuild ($400?) and that it has the NP203 transfer case (It might be the 205?). The SM465 is set up for 2wd, but for $500 I think I can adapt it to the existing transfer case. If there is a better option than buying the adapters new, I'm interested, or if there is a cheap alternative to the existing transfer case that would work better with the SM465.
With both trucks sitting side by side, converting the Blazer to standard wouldn't be too bad of an ordeal, and I'm 60/40 on wanting a stickshift. It will be a hunting truck only, no highway or daily driving, maybe 200 miles a year at 20 mph...
Looks like adapting the SM465 to NP203 might need rare parts since it was a '74 only option, so I may need to find an NP205 and adapt to that?
How much would a decent NP205 cost?
2 Answers
- monkeyboyLv 78 years agoFavorite Answer
Built my own K5, about to swap it's drivetrain into a better body.
If you swap axles, what are you going to do about the wheels/lugs? Can't make a 14FF into a 6 lug without adapters, and they are retarded. Highly unlikely the gear ratios will match. Truck and K5 had two different gvwr's, so that would have affected the gear ratios available.
You'd be best off finding a 1985-1991 K5 with 465/208 or 241 combo. 241 is a better t-case. 205 is nice, but the 241 is actually rated for more power. Also has a far better low range than the 205.
The '85+ 465 is hydraulic clutch, again far better than mechanical.
Different rear axle is going to require different rear shaft, and any different trans/t-case is going to require a different front shaft too.
Although a Suburban is longer, they are good donors, since they ran until 1991 too, so more likely to find a 3/4 ton 4WD Suburban, which will have the larger rear axle, matching gears, and COULD have been had with 465/208 241, although apparently more rare than in the K5's.
