The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Repowering an AD 1 ton

Thanks for all your informative comments. I really appreciate it.

I suppose the choice of transmission depends on what bell housing I can find.

What is the difference between the car bell housing for the tri-fives and the truck housing?

Can I cut and weld a little on the existing cross member and use the truck bell housing? I'll PM Yellowsub about his cross member if that'll really work. I only worked on one hydramatic six and that was forty years ago so I don't remember much about it.

Using the SM465 would save me overhauling the SM420 but would create some additional headaches, like boring the bell housing If I can't find a later truck housing but more than that there is the e-brake ratchet bolted to the side of the 420. On the other hand maybe it's best to bore the bell housing to ensure concentricity with the pilot bearing. That would mean using the 465. I've read that some BHs are a long ways off from the factory and then when you start swapping BHs and blocks it compounds the problem. I may have that problem now as the input bearing on the 420 is noisy after about 100K miles.

I haven't looked closely but I don't think the 465 has bosses for the e-brake lever. Plus I'd have to rework the brownie linkage as it's bolted to the 420. So if I can use the 420 that sounds like the way to go.

My whole project is complicated by the disappearance of auto parts stores. There are now no full line jobbers in north Seattle - Not even NAPA. They all closed up. My favorite parts men have all retired and the countermen now can only look up something by application. So it's up to me to know what year/model various parts were used on. Try asking the computer jocks for a series 1320 u-joint and you'll come up with a blank stare. Sigh.