Project "Might as Well Make it Right this Time"

[Yukon Jack]

This is going to be wordy so hang in there!

As some of you may recall, my Rockwell T221 transfer case in my 69 K20 got low on gear oil and took out the input bearings on the rear of the case back in March of this year.

I considered my options of repairing or putting in a spare Rockwell or putting in an NP205. As luck would have it, a while back I bought a 1984 1 ton crew cab parts truck for its front axle so I had on hand a good NP205 with adapter for an SM465. And yes, part of this overall project will include swapping in the Dana 60! Say good bye to the drum braked closed knuckle Dana 44!!!

Now initially I was bummed when the Rockwell went belly up, but in the end this is a good thing! My last major project was swapping out the 69's mighty 307 SBC for a 454 BBC from a 1989 1 Ton. As some of the seasoned members will remember, I ran into terrible firewall clearance issues - in my opinion, worse than normal. That swap project turned into the proverbial “Might as Well” project and before I knew it I had the whole truck completely disassembled and rust repairs were tackled along with a new coat of paint.

My research had told me that a 2" body lift was usually sufficient to get around BBC fitment issues. I, of course, was not smart enough to do a test fit of the cab on the frame before sending it out to get painted. Well, we got the cab all painted and when it came time to put the cab on the frame there was major firewall clearance issues! Mind you the truck was at the body shop and in the interest of time it was decided to clearance the firewall to make the BBC fit.

Even after modifying the firewall, I still had issues which required the use of more body lift than I am comfortable with.

This is where the present Rockwell problem turns out to be a good thing. I’ve decided to put in the NP205 as it just seems like the logical thing to do - newer transfer case with no parts availability problems. Well, in researching the swap I have discovered the NP205 setup with adapter is 5" longer than the Rockwell T221 setup with adapter. The location where the adapters bolt to the crossmember is 2" different. That is going to be a very good thing as that will allow me to move the BBC forward 2" which should allow me to remove my excessive body lift and reduce it down to hopefully just a 1" body lift. I believe I will be able to leave my transfer case crossmember in its current location and only have to move the engine crossmember.

In case anyone cares, here are two pics of the different transfer cases with detailed measurements. Some of these measurements were done with the Rockwell installed so if I find any inaccuracies, I will update this info.

This shows the Rockwell + adapter overall length is 14" while the NP205 + adapter overall length is 19 ½"

For anyone doing a T221 to NP205 swap, it appears the NP205's crossmember sits about 1" lower so I’m not sure if I will need to lower my crossmember or if I will be okay since I’m still going to have a slight body lift. It may be I will need to lower the transfer case to keep the engine angle/driveline angle happy.

 

[Yukon Jack]

From the above measurements I think I finally understand why my BBC swap had such big firewall clearance issues. Some people swap in a BBC with absolutely no firewall issues while some have to bash in the firewall just a bit to give head clearance. I had major firewall clearance issues even after cutting part of the firewall out and using an excessive body lift. The 69's transfer case crossmember is not in the same place as my 70 K5's transfer case crossmember - the 69's is forward a bit, however, the length of the two transfer case adapters is measured from the face of the adapter to the location where they bolt to the crossmember is 2" different. I believe that puts the factory Rockwell equipped 1969's engine further back towards the firewall than a later year truck.

I don’t have a specific measurement, but if the above is all correct, I think a 1969's factory SBC sits back probably 1" to 1 ½" closer to the firewall due to the Rockwell’s adapter shorter length as compared to like a 1970 - 1972 that would have had the longer NP205 + adapter. If this is correct, that definitely answers the questions of why I had such bad firewall issues.

For those that don’t remember, here’s a pic showing the drastic firewall mods that were made to my cab - even with these cuts, I still had to use an excessive body lift to make the cab fit!

Oil pan clearance for a BBC can sometimes be a problem with the 67-72 4wd’s engine crossmember. I “fixed” that issue when I originally put in the BBC by using a number of washers between the block and the motor mount to slightly raise the engine. However, this obviously didn’t help my firewall clearance issue so I decided to correct that now. I found that by jacking the engine up I was able to remove the stock engine crossmember. I took it, along with a spare 73-87 engine crossmember, to a buddy and we took two 1" pieces out of the bottom of the 73-87 crossmember and welded each piece into the sides of my factory crossmember to drop it down to get rid of the oil pan clearance issue.

Here you can see the clearance this gives

I’ve had very little time to work on this project but Saturday morning I woke up at about 5:30 a.m. and couldn’t fall back to sleep - at about 6:00 I grabbed my work clothes and my trusty pup and off we went to the shop. Unfortunately I determined that my seats had to come out for me to get my tranny hump out so I set to work getting the seats unbolted. Of course one of the bolts was a bear to remove and I don’t want to even say how long it took to get it removed - I seriously thought I was going to have to cut the nut off - it was so frozen by rust! Finally got the seats out

A while back I borrowed a friend’s motorcycle jack and it worked really well to help me remove the Rockwell transfer case

I know I’ve read some guys are able to bench press a transfer case out and in a vehicle - well, I’m not one of them!

When I initially put in the BBC and resulting body lift, I found the easiest way to get around linkage modifications was to put in a low tranny hump. I really liked having that low hump as it gives a little more room to the cab, but removing the majority of the body lift is going to necessitate going back to a high hump. No biggie, except I’ll have to address the carpet issue now - doubt there will be much demand for a fairly new low hump carpet cut for a transfer case shifter - maybe I will be able to modify this carpet and still use it - have to see about that.

My next step will be to install the NP205 adapter and then move the engine forward until the adapter’s bolt holes line up with the transfer case crossmember. I think I will grab a hydraulic jack and a long 4x4 post and put one end of the 4x4 post against my truck’s receiver hitch and then set the hydraulic jack between the other end of the 4x4 post and the transfer case adapter and slowly push the engine forward. I will have a rolling floor jack under the engine to take the weight off the engine crossmember and allow it to move forward easier. Haven’t verified that I can do it this way, but that is what I’m thinking right now.

Then I’ll remove the radiator and start removing the body lift and replace it with hopefully just a 1" body lift. The exhaust runs between the frame and the body near the rear of the cab and I believe leaving a 1" body lift will keep me from having to have my basically new exhaust totally reworked. Project funds are very tight right now so I’m hoping that works out okay.

Assuming the above works out okay, I’ll then swap in the NP205 and start figuring out how all of this has effected my driveshafts. I have a two piece rear driveshaft and of course I replaced the carrier bearing not to long ago and had all new u-joints installed. I know another boardmember did the T221 to NP205 swap not long ago and he went with a custom one piece driveshaft. Have to see how that works out for me. The rear driveshaft exits the NP205 in a totally different location than the Rockwell T221 so definitely will require changes.

The final part of the project will be swapping in the Dana 60 - that should be relatively straight forward - course that never seems to be the case with me! I might drive the truck for a while before I swap in the Dana 60 as it has been off the road for 5-6 months at this point, but I’m assuming the NP205 will require front driveshaft modifications and I won’t do that until the Dana 60 is in place.

 

[bp71k5]

Pretty cool stuff! You probably already know this because I think you asked about it before, but when you push the engine forward, remember that the frame narrows towards the front so the engine crossmember may need to be narrowed a bit as it moves forward. I moved my 3.5" forward and it only required about 3/8" material removal on each side at most and that was only on the front corners.

I'd also drive it a bit before the d60. These things are just too much fun to keep on jack stands for so long.

 

[Yukon Jack]

I did remove some material from the rear corners of the crossmember and verified it will move forward more than I need, but definitely thanks for mentioning that - the last thing I want to have happen is to forget something like that!

 

[vtblazer]

Nuthin's ever simple is it?

I think the end result will be well worth it, an all around win/win combo that's going in.

Great on going saga, luv it when rides come up for 'round two' mods.

 

[Yukon Jack]

Yep, nothing is ever simple! Looked at my exhuast routing last night for a couple minutes and if I go with a 2" body lift I should be okay with the current exhaust routing, but I was kind of wanting to get down to just 1" of body lift and that would probably require removing the exhaust under the cab and having it re-done.

Here are a couple pics I took after the exhaust was installed

 

[Yukon Jack]

Guys, I woke up early Monday and since i had the day off I hit the shop with grand visions of progress. Did get a bit done but came to the conclusion that I'm probably not going to be able to ditch the body lift after all. After getting the engine centered up and looking at the frame and firewall issue it's looking pretty impossible.

The motor is going to have to move forward more than 3" to fix my firewall clearance issue. Moving the motor forward 3" will put the clutch fan within 1/4" of the radiator. Looks like I have a long water pump but I'm thinking switching to a short water pump and then finding all the necessary pulley's would be a major pain - I'm not even sure I could find the right pulleys since the motor and accessories are all 1989 vintage.

Plus, if I did get the engine forward 3" I'm afraid the frame would take alot of clearancing to clear the headers. Probably would need to cut between 3/8" and 1/2" to get them to clear. Using stock manifolds won't work as the stock pair I had originally would have taken major clearancing to work even in the present location.

Finally, moving the motor forward 3" or more would make the front driveshaft angle pretty severe.

As mentioned above, I'd also have cut out and replace my exhaust under the cab and change back from a low hump to a high hump and also replace the basically new carpet with a high hump carpet. Also noticed I would have to rework how my power steering cooler lines are routed and of course remodify my steering linkage. All in all, a lot of little things sure do add up to a lot of work.

All those things just add up to me thinking I need to just forget about removing the body lift - If I do that I can just get the transfer case replaced and get back on the road.

I know people bag on body lifts but aesthetically it doesn't bother me - with the flat bed there is none of the normal bed gap that looks terrible and under the cab the present body lift is actually not very visible - definitely see it at the inner fender/frame area but oh well. A big plus of removing some of the body lift was reducing the height of the truck - occasional back problems make jumping in a real b$tch sometimes, but I do have a set of Kodiak steps that I can install for when I'm old and decrepit

If anyone has any suggestions or comments, I'm all ears, I was pretty frustrated Monday but at this point I'm thinking it's no big deal not being able to reduce the body lift. My truck fund is pretty depleted and I'm having trouble getting any free time so just swapping in the NP205 and dealing with the resulting driveshaft issues will be alot easier to deal with money and timewise. Plus winter will be here before I know it and I love driving this truck in the fall/winter so I want to get back on the road!!!!!

Oh, a front bumper will be addressed regardless as I'm sick and tired of running around bumperless! Topless I can handle, but not bumperless

 

[bp71k5]

That's too bad, but couldn't you just leave the body lift on for a while and reduce it if the funds\time\ideas come around eventually?

 

[Yukon Jack]

Yep, could always try to tackle it later. However, unless I went with electric fans or got around the radiator clearance issue some other way, not sure how I would tackle the project.

 

[bp71k5]

unless I went with electric fans

Might as well???

 

[ChefBear]

Freeing up-extra horse power doesn't suck.

 

[vtblazer]

came to the conclusion that I'm probably not going to be able to ditch the body lift after all.

moving the motor forward 3" or more would make the front driveshaft angle pretty severe.

I can just get the transfer case replaced and get back on the road.

I know people bag on body lifts but aesthetically it doesn't bother me - with the flat bed

at this point I'm thinking it's no big deal not being able to reduce the body lift.

All the above tells me it's stayin'.


Minor trade off IMO, if it looks good, runs good, it's all good.

...and your truck does all that.

 

[Yukon Jack]

Got a little free time this weekend so headed out from some shop time. Spent a little time doing a little extra clearancing on the passenger side frame as when I got the motor situated again after modifying the crossmember the passenger side header was a bit too close to the frame.

Ended up using a thin spacer between the engine crossmember and the motor mount pad to raise the motor up just slightly and then used a cutoff wheel to cut a little frame clearance for two tubes. Was a tight fit getting the cutoff wheel in there - but got it done.

Pics don't really show, but I've got good clearance now. Ignore the battery cable, it doesn't end up there once I get it buttoned up.

Passenger side -

Driver side -

Next I took care of moving the transfer case crossmember back 2". I went ahead and bolted on the adapter so I could get the placement correct.

The forward white mark shows the previous postion of the front bolt of the crossmember

I luckily had a long 3/8" drill bit so I could easily drill the new holes. It was an old bit and my Drill Doctor sure did a nice job sharpening it!

My next step will be temporarily positioning the NP205 so I can mark and drill the side bracket holes. The NP205 crossmember is a little deeper than the Rockwell T221 crossmember so I'm interested to see if I run in to any problems getting the side bracket in place.

 

[Yukon Jack]

Grrr, well, I guess I'll be heading to the exhaust shop when I'm done - transfer case was contacting the exhaust when I tried to temporarily install it.

Hopefully will get out again this evening and actually get the transfer case in position so I can check out the drive shaft issues and mark the holes for the t/c side mount.

My dog gets all excited when she sees me grab my brown work jeans in the evenings. She's a Boarder Collie and of course they are a herding dog. Well, I guess I'm the herd. Anytime I brake out an air tool and get near the truck, she starts running around me and the truck. Not for a couple seconds - I'm talking she'll do it for thirty minutes if that is how long I'm under the truck. We head in and she's usually worn out from all the running - what a dork!

 

[Moody]

Gotta luv moving that transfer case in and out to see if it lines up.....I had to do that several times with a regular jack by myself and it got old real quick. In the end you'll feel better knowing that it's done right.

That's funny about your dog....I've got a rat terrier and she does the same thing every time I fire up the weed eater or the lawn mower. She does laps around the yard the whole time sometimes for an hour She never gets worn out though!

 

[70jimmy]

To give my dizzy more clearance I cut a square out of the firewall and had a box fabricated that juts into the interior of the vehicle and riveted it to the firewall. I had it made with a one inch flange all the way around. It is deeper on the top than on the bottom, I went the largest I could without touching the stereo etc on the inside.

I know I have some pics of it somewhere. If I find them I will post.

 

[Yukon Jack]

Got the NP205 temporarily slid into position last night. I tell you, that motorcycle jack really makes that job easy. I got it lifted up to the right height, about 2" from sliding in then used two long bolts as guides through the adapter bolt holes and slid it right into place.

For some reason my existing t/c side mount needs a spacer about 3/8" thick between the bottom of the inside of the frame and the side mount rubber isolator mounts. I'm also going to put in a 3/8" spacer between the side of the t/c and the side mount to put the bottom holes of the side mount a little further into the frame. Right now the holes would need to be drilled pretty close to the edge of the frame - this will fix that issue.

My front driveshaft will of course need to be lengthened but I'm gonna wait to do that until I get to the point of installing the Dana 60. Right now the front driveshaft would need to be about 29" long.

The rear driveshaft will need to be about 62" long. It is presently a 2 piece driveshaft but I'm not sure I will leave it that way. As you can see in the next pic, the factory drop spacer that the carrier bearing affixed to is directly in the way of where the NP205 output places the rear driveshaft. Ignore that wire you see - I hooked it to the rear axle's yoke and to the t/c's yoke to get an idea of the driveshafts location.

The outputs of the NP205 and Rockwell T221 are in totally different locations, heightwise. I hope that removing the drop bracket will be all that is necessary, but eyeballing it, it looks like I might have to clearance the crossmember that the drop bracket attaches to so the driveshaft will fit. I'll have to break out the grinder and cut some rivets - that is always such a joy to do!

Didn't knock my head on any crossmembers last night, cuss at the truck or go in ticked off - so it was a good evening!

Oh, a while back a boardmember sold me a bolt that attaches the shifter to the adapter - anyone know where I put it in the shop - I can't find it

 

[Burt4x4]

Hey YJ,
I wanted to let you know that I have ran a 3"body lift on my K5 for 15yrs and never have had any issues related to the BLift. Now I do have the Poly body mounts and replaced all the bolts to ensure they are all snug but the whole rummers about BLifts being a problem is not valid from my point of view. If they are installed properly they work just fine.
My .02c to set you mind at ease
Burt

 

[bp71k5]

Oh, a while back a boardmember sold me a bolt that attaches the shifter to the adapter - anyone know where I put it in the shop

I only had one of those so you better find it!

 

[Yukon Jack]

I only had one of those so you better find it!

I looked around for a while in the shop last night - I just for the life of me can't remember where I put it - it should be in one of three locations . . . sure would be nice if I could keep the shop better organized! Maybe it's with the shifter (I found one but I have located the one that came with the donor truck yet )

Just decided a little while ago that I'm feeling very sick tomorrow and am going to have to call in sick . . . so who all wants to come spend some quality time with me tomorrow turning wrenches?

Burt, you probably need a break from baby duties!?