The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop 4x4 conversion

My guess would be that being is the truck has a leaf spring front end all you would need to do is find a front axle of the correct width with the spring perches in the correct place and the wheel bolt pattern and gear ratio that matches the rear and bolt it in. I would most likely start by buying a whole 80s 4X4 parts truck with good running gear a cheap rust bucket would serfice. Then I would alter the axles for width and mounting. Your stock steering should be easy to make work also and if the truck you chose is a 4 speed you could most likely have a machinist bore the pilot hole in your bell housing to except the later model SM465 as the only mounting difference between the stock 420 in your truck and the SM465 is the pilot bearing support and if you need any cross members for the transmission and transfer case you can always modify the ones from the parts truck. Keep the parts truck till the end of the project and when finished put any usable parts left on ebay or Craig’s List and scrap the rest. In less of course you are looking to have a more authentic NAPCO.