84 suburban trans tunnel replacement

[Nick joiner]

I have run through google, lmc and searched through these forums a good bit. If the question I'm about to ask has already been answered and I missed it then I apologize in advance.
I have an 84 k10 suburban, 350/700r4/208. I'm putting in a sm465 with 205. I got the trans, t case, pedals, linkage and a tunnel from a mid 70s donor k10 swb. So far all is good except the donor tunnel is about 2 inches shorter then my suburban one. Does any one know of a place I can get a factory replacement panel for a 4spd suburban like lmc? I would like a direct bolt in instead of hacking mine up so I can keep a stock look. Any info or links would be great. Thanks.

 

[drew4x4]

I was looking for one, but I'm pretty sure thats a junkyard part. Go to a pickapart, find a decent one, and paint it up. I didn't even know there was a difference between the suburban and blazer tunnels. I wonder if the difference is just years? Cause the 700r4 got longer then the turbo 350's-400's of the 70's?

 

[Nick joiner]

I'm hoping the year is the difference so I can find one. Finding a standard suburban or blazer in the junkyard might be tough

 

[76k5blazerr]

I have a standard tranny tunnel cover like your looking for. PM me if you are interested.

 

[dyeager535]

Did you get your tunnel?

I don't recall what years it was, but the later tunnels are all tack-welded in place, no bolts, plus many/all after some point were already dimpled. My '85 was dimpled for the 465 shifter.

Problem you will have is you will have to hack up the proper tunnel, unless you happen upon a one ton tunnel, since those were the only '81+ that got the 205. Later 205's ('85+ I think) used a square cutout anyway, which then gets into the different shifter handle, which is positioned differently than the earlier one.

Or, put a 208/241 in the truck and not worry about the t-case shifter issue. Then your 465 is worthless too since the output shaft is wrong.

I know people love their 205's, but I'm pretty much done with mine. Shifter fitment, rattles, not very good low range. Only benefits over 208/241 are that it lasts near forever and there are fixed yoke versions. If you are going to bounce it off rocks, the cast iron will hold up better than AL too I suppose.

Really stuck like chuck if you want to use most 205 setups in a later truck without hacking things up, sorry.

 

[Nick joiner]

I never found the right one, but I'm going to heat up the t case shifter and bend it then make the trans shifter cut out. Mine isn't dimpled but I don't think it's going to be too hard to hack up my tunnel. I won't be doing any crawling with mine, it's a mud bog rig and I want to be able to drive it in town occasionally if I want. Doubtful it will ever see 50+ mph. Right now it just has 35s but eventually it'll be getting 38" boggers and a 60/14 bolt. Thinkin a 205 will handle the stress. I did the pedals the other day and wow what a pain in the ass that was. Now that I just have the trans tunnel and driveshafts to do I'm thinkin cuttin holes in it ain't to bad of a deal

 

[campfire]

Interesting. My '84 K10 Suburban has no removable tunnel. The floor pan simply rolls over the tranny as one piece. Anybody know what the rhyme or reason is to this difference in floor pans?

 

[dyeager535]

The only non-welded later tunnels I'm aware of were 2WD.

Can't explain rhyme or reason, everything I've seen/owned indicates the early stuff was bolt in, everything later was tack welded or one piece (2WD), but due to the different trans tunnels for the various vehicles, perhaps the suburbans are different. And it could also be a year/plant of production difference? We went round and round on this awhile back, I remember the early bolt ins, then the differences between 2 and 4Wd tunnels, but beyond that don't recall what else was settled, if anything.

 

[diesel4me]

I never found the right one, but I'm going to heat up the t case shifter and bend it then make the trans shifter cut out. Mine isn't dimpled but I don't think it's going to be too hard to hack up my tunnel. I won't be doing any crawling with mine, it's a mud bog rig and I want to be able to drive it in town occasionally if I want. Doubtful it will ever see 50+ mph. Right now it just has 35s but eventually it'll be getting 38" boggers and a 60/14 bolt. Thinkin a 205 will handle the stress. I did the pedals the other day and wow what a pain in the ass that was. Now that I just have the trans tunnel and driveshafts to do I'm thinkin cuttin holes in it ain't to bad of a deal

Your last paragraph explains why after I swapped a SM465 into my '72 K5 (from a TH350 & NP205),despite having ALL the required parts off a wrecked donor the same year,I was never enthused enough to attempt another automatic to manual swap...though I like manuals,the amount of labor it takes to swap one in seems excessive to me..

I was about 34 years old,when I did the swap,it took me and a friend a week of 6 to midnights at his small house garage the truck barely fit in,and I was sore as hell for weeks after it was done..
I would not attempt such a job now at 57...

Then the rebuilt 12" Borg-Warner 3 fingered pressure plate decided to fail a month later,had to pull the t-case and tranny back out far enough to replace it in 20 degree weather in a slushy driveway in February..
The second one failed in the same manner in the heat of July..
I ended up with a used 11" Centerforce setup I got for 20 bucks off a friend and that one had a diaphram style pressure plate--it was a lot easier on my left leg and never gave any grief,I was thankfull for that..

 

[Big Ray]

hmm...I had an '89 and an '86 2x, I have an '86 now 4x, and all 3 had 1 piece floor/tunnel set up. I also have a 2x '90 V2500, but it still has carpeting in place. I'll crawl up under it when the weather breaks and take a peek.

Fwiw, all of the above are 'burbans.

 

[dyeager535]

Y

hmm...I had an '89 and an '86 2x, I have an '86 now 4x, and all 3 had 1 piece floor/tunnel set up. I also have a 2x '90 V2500, but it still has carpeting in place. I'll crawl up under it when the weather breaks and take a peek.

Fwiw, all of the above are 'burbans.

Eventually my goal was to make my '85 K5 tunnel removable because trying to get the 465 in/out is incredibly painful with the tunnel in the way. In *my* trucks case it is certainly tack welded in place, as the seam sealer/gasket they used is visibile from teh underside of the truck.

The tack welds themselves will be a bear to remove and replace with bolts, but still practical compared to a one-piece floor pan!