Yes, Joe, that's the guy.
There is a 235 in my 1.5 ton. It uses the stock 39 bellhousing, stock 39 clutch, stock 39 pressure plate and stock 39 throwout bearing. A special input bushing was sent with the kit. Some have said the SM465 does not work with the stock clutch, but it does, same spline count (10) and input size (1 1/8").
You have 3 choices when it comes to the bellhousing setup and a later transmission.
1. use a 47-54 bellhousing and find another way to mount the pedals
2. use a 47-54 bellhousing and weld pedal mounts on (or order it from jim carter which buys them from buffalo enterprises)
3. use an adapter to bolt the transmission up to the stock bellhousing
I opted for #3 since my sm465 has a larger bellhousing index than the 47-54 bellhousing does and it seemed easier.
I sent my bearing retainer to buffalo enterprises. He cut the nose of my bearing retainer off and indexed my bearing retainer to the adapter. He puts a stock 37-46 bearing retainer on the adapter. The adapter bolts to the bellhousing with a set of countersunk sockethead screws on the top and the stock bolts on the bottom. My original bearing retainer went on my transmission with a set of countersunk sockethead screws and my transmission bolted to the adapter with 1/2 inch bolts. All hardware was supplied.
Buffalo sent a special input bushing that is about 3/8-1/2" longer to make up for the plate. There is no problem with the length of the input shaft. The adapter is about 1/2" thick.
The SM465 clears the stock battery box, but I do not think an SM420 would due to the bulge.
The ebrake handle bolts to the SM465 housing just like stock.
I had to cut a bigger hole in the floor to clear the shifter tower. The shifter is moved back about 3 inches and to the left a couple inches. The shifter cleared fine, but I did heat it and bend it to the right a little give myself some more knee room.
If you are not familiar with Buffalo Enterprises, do a search in the archives or check at inliners. He makes good stuff. Not super fast, but quality parts. I knew he made automatic adapters and T5 adapters, so I called him and asked him to make this one.
Next time I am thinking I should have him make one for an NV4500.
A long long time ago there was some discussion about a similar adapter used to install a f*rd toploader overdrive or a mopar a833. I can't remember if it was Tony or Barry that had something to do with it. The f*rd OD toploaders out of mid 80s F150s are dirt cheap on ebay. If I get the half ton truck I am looking at, I'll ask him to make one for it, too.
I'll take a picture in the next day or two and post it.
Sorry for the length on this one.
