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6 speed behind a 454?

A

airnathan012

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Just got an 87 1 ton long bed. It has a built 454,turbo 400, and the NP205 transfer case I believe...Ive already got a trail rig and would primarily like to make this my DD. I did a search lookin for anyone who has done a 6 speed swap and didn't find much...Anyways, I was looking at swapping the 400 for the ZF6 (ZF S6-650) 6 speed that Chevy put behind the 8.1's and duramaxes. Anyone ever done the swap? Would it be very difficult? Thanks guys...

-Nathan
 
I'd be interested in your 400 to put in my '85 K30.
 
I can get the tranny, thats no problem, just need to know if the damn thing will bolt up to the 454. Im sure ill need an adapter plate of some kind.
 
If it bolts to a 496 it should work on the 454
 
the duramax 6 speed should bolt to a 454 as i believe you can bolt a th400 to duramax so same bell pattern, but i think it's an nv5600 you are looking for. the zf6 is a ford tranny. easy to id, it has a flat spot on top like a 460 bellhousing. the chevy tranny's come to a point and the dodge ones use a circular pattern.


and you would have to adapt hydro clutch linkage. they used a 241 driverside drop so you might be able to use a pass drop 241 with adapter.
 
Hmm...you recommend the nv5600 huh. My buddy has the zf6 speed in his 01 chevy 3/4 ton with the 496, thats where I got the idea for that specific tranny. From looking at everything, it shouldn't be that bad getting a 6 speed to work with what ive got.
 
there were at least 50 of the nv version allison transmissions on sale at government liquididation.com last week in fort brag,NC
they shouldn't be hard to find
 
I was going to install a Viper 6-speed behind a BBC, but I never got around to it.

It needed a special bellhousing, but they were easy to find in the aftermarket.

Obviously, this would have also required either a custom machined xfercase adapter, or a divorced setup.


:usaflag:
 
bftank said:
the duramax 6 speed should bolt to a 454 as i believe you can bolt a th400 to duramax so same bell pattern, but i think it's an nv5600 you are looking for. the zf6 is a ford tranny. easy to id, it has a flat spot on top like a 460 bellhousing. the chevy tranny's come to a point and the dodge ones use a circular pattern.


and you would have to adapt hydro clutch linkage. they used a 241 driverside drop so you might be able to use a pass drop 241 with adapter.
Click to expand...

the NV5600 was found in dodges only, so I don't know why he would want that. The chevy version of the ZF6 speed will bolt right to his 454. As far as the transfer case...you could use a 2wd trans and divorced case, or possibly adapt something to the zf, I don't know much about them.
 
Use the Chevy ZF6. You should be able to bolt it right up to your 454 using the ZF's internal slave cylinder with the 454's stock mid 80s clutch setup. You'll need to install a hydraulic master cylinder on your firewall, install some clutch pedals and likely need to modify the stock pushrod for the newer master cylinder to work with your older pedals.

I'm not 100% confident, but I am about 90% sure you should be able to bolt any 32 spline 6 bolt round transfercase directly up to the ZF6 without any special adapters. I have an NV3500 from an 04 K1500 in my truck, with a 91 NP241 pass side drop t-case bolted to it. Even used the same mount as the original SM465 / NP208 in the same position.

The shifter location could also potentially be a problem, same with the overall massiveness of a 6 speed transmission. If you can get one to test fit before you buy, that'd be a good idea. I've never heard of anyone bolting a ZF6 into one of these older trucks before.
 
:ignore: sorry for the confusion. does ford have a zf6 or do i just need to put the crack pipe down?:dunno:
 
Yes ford uses a version of the ZF6, and so does chevy.

Thanks for the info Russell, I guess ill be the first to try it. There will be a build thread for my project soon.
 
Ford used the ZF-5 while GM and Dodge used the NV4500. Somewhere around the time that Dodge went to the 5600, GM went to the ZF-6 along with Ford.
 
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