auto to manual/manual to auto

[gravdigr]

here is the scenerio. Say you have a 79 blazer which will be the trail rig. It has 350/th350/np203. And you have an 86 blazer which is a dd and has 350/sm465/whatever tcase came stock with that combo. How difficult would it be to swap trannies in these vehicles to make the dd auto and the trail rig manual? I have a chance to buy the 86 cheap but my dd has to be auto so my wife can drive it and I'd prefer the stick in the trail rig anyway. Could I just swap trannies? Tranny and tcase? tranny tcase and driveshafts? Should I keep looking for an auto dd?

 

[75-K5]

You'd have to swap both the trannies and cases, because the 465 will have a 208 (I think, in an 86), which won't bolt right up to the 203-version th350 without a different adapter, and possibly output shaft.

 

[wayne]

Not a difficult swap but you will have to swap everything from one to the other. If you are getting the 86 cheap enough go for it. If you pass on it give me some info as I might need a Heep replacement for now. /forums/images/graemlins/whistling.gif

 

[gravdigr]

So I'm assuming the tranny in your jeep is toast then wayne.

I was hoping the swap would be easy. I have room in my garage I could park them side by side and just swap em that way. I'd prolly put a floor shifter in the 86 rather than swap steering columns. Now I just gotta convince the wife it would be a good deal /forums/images/graemlins/deal.gif

 

[wayne]

[ QUOTE ]
So I'm assuming the tranny in your jeep is toast then wayne.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep but parts and labor to completely rebuild it (if I don't do it myself) is $486. Not a bad price so I'm thinking about sending it out and rebuilding my spare engine and just dropping them in together. I got to much other crap going on right now though to mess with the engine.

 

[Bruiser]

Might be easier to just swap collums since you will have to take the collum out to get the pedals out to swap them:P Might as well swap them while they are out.

 

[MoonMan]

I went from a TH350/205 to a SM465/205 back in October. Since, I was using a 205 for both trannys the driveshaft lengths stayed the same. Driveshaft length will not be a problem for you since you are making the swap from two identical wheel base vehicles. I believe the only modification you will have to make on either vehicle is that you may have drill new holes for the crossmember. Thing that may pose a small problem is that the 86 will have a hydro clutch and the 79 was setup to have manual linkage. This means that the locating marks to line the clutch master cylinder up on the firewall will not be there and you will have to locate them. This is the most difficult part of the swap (still really easy). You might as well swap steering columns since you will have to remove them anyway to swap pedals. One other thing to consider is if you are going to swap radiators as well to maintain the tranny cooler or buy an external cooler.

 

[gravdigr]

Ahh I didn't know about removing the steering column. Thanks for the tip. I have 3 radiators laying around here that I could swap in so that isn't a problem. And I think I could probably make a cardboard template to mark our for the hydro clutch. Thanks for the helpful info, someday I'll be orange to pay it back I promise.

 

[84_Chevy_K10]

A hole that can be used for your master will likely already be there. Mine already had a hole that worked out great and my truck is from the pre-hydro days as it's an '84.

Henry found the same thing in the CK5 SM465/hydro clutch swap article.

Hydro clutch is one of the best mods I've made to date.