Jerry’s pretty much got it covered Keith. I would just add that your Muncie SM420 has a 7.05:1 first gear, not much that a change in rear end is gonna do to help that. The later four speeds would have first gears up in the 4.xx:1 range.
Take a look at this site for some very good information on the transmissions that we see in these old trucks:
http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/sm420.htm
http://www.novak-adapt.com/index.htm

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL


Denny G
Sandwich, IL