Hi everyone. I’m a newbie to the truck restoration world so please don’t beat me up too much lol. Anyway the transmission in my 1988 K5 (700R4) is starting to fail and rather than have it rebuilt I would like to swap it for a manual. I rebuilt the K5 from the ground up but how to proceed with a swap is beyond me. I’ve read a few threads but they are disjointed and confusing. Anyone ever done this before? I don’t use the K5 as a daily or as a trail truck, pretty much it is my weekend bomber around town and stays on the highway. I replaced the original engine with a crate 350 rated at 405 HP so it moves right along. I would love to be able to run through the gears via a stick. Any and all advice would be great. Thanks!
CK5
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700R4 swap to manual
- Thread starter Cbeez82
- Start date
You'll have to decide a few things you want, 4 or 5 speed, mechanical or hydraulic throw out bearing, same for clutch linkage. How much $$ can you devote to this swap.
I believe most here will suggest hydraulic clutch system with external slave cylinder, mechanical fork and throw out bearing.
If 4 speed you'll want to source a 4wd sm465, assuming you have 4wd.
5 speed choices are little more complicated, and t case adapters come more into play.
Ask away no one here will give you a hard time about asking truck questions, we save that for the lounge
I believe most here will suggest hydraulic clutch system with external slave cylinder, mechanical fork and throw out bearing.
If 4 speed you'll want to source a 4wd sm465, assuming you have 4wd.
5 speed choices are little more complicated, and t case adapters come more into play.
Ask away no one here will give you a hard time about asking truck questions, we save that for the lounge
I did this to my '90 K5 2 years back. Installed a SM465 with NP205. I used a hydraulic pedal set from ebay out of Denver and a hydraulic bellhousing, also ebay out of Montana. The hydraulic parts that fit only exist in '85 to '91 squares and you will need to buy them wherever you can find them. All the clutch parts were purchased new from rock auto. I tried to buy mostly 1 brand so everything worked properly together. LUK brand flywheel, clutch, fork, throwout bearing and pivot ball. AC delco on the master and slave, my K5 had the holes in the firewall marked from the factory. Everything worked properly from the factory. Expect to spend $750 on the clutch and pedal stuff if you get a bunch of new parts PLUS whatever trans and tcase you get. The pedals and bellhousing are going to be $200 each easy, they are desirable parts that are not being reproduced.
