The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Panels 'N Burbs Drive train swap

I've got a 62 3/4 ton chevy with a 235 and a 4 spd. that I want to put into my 46 1 ton chevy panel. I'm thinking it is a clean swap. Is this wishful thinking ? Any helpful insight would be greatly appreciated.

This is not a big problem. You will have to deal with the usual suspects:

I don't know if you have front or side motor mounts on the new engine, and I am assuming you also have the bell housing.

You probably have an SM 420 going in, and this could posssibly cause some minor bell housing/clutch and brake pedal alinement/clearances issues, not much to worry about. I suspect figuring out the system to mount the pedal assembly will be your biggest problem. This can be remedied by getting a modified bell housng from Jim Carter or welding a bracket of some kind to your replacement bell housing or ???

The SM 420 is a much bigger transmission than the original. When I swapped mine, I had to get creative with the access hole in the floor, again easy fix using a hack saw and fiberglass.
You will probably need to have a new front drive shaft made. The SM 420 is also longer than the original. I hade the original shortened, it was not too expensive and worked out great.

The SM 420 is a tremendous improvement over the original.

This is not a very difficult swap in the big picture but will require some work and a little creativity.

Also, there may be water pump clearance issues, solved by using a different water pump. This is also a good time to go to 12 volts as well.

I am sure there are a few other things, this is just some of the stuff I have encountered.

Thanks for the info Mike. How do I know what kind of tranny it is? The 235 is a front mount. I would also like to swap the rear end as well. Thanks again.

The SM 420 is much bigger than the old no synchro model. The gear shift lever on the old model will have reverse lock out device under the knob.
Go to the links section, click on parts, scroll down to Transmissions and there a couple of articles on the SM 420 that have pictures. I don't know the year the SM420 become the standard 4-speed but it was around well into the 60's, is still fairly easy to find and there a lot of parts sources. The articles will fill you in.
There are articles in there about rear end swaps and this is a common theme here. I haven't done it yet so I can't offer much. I am still looking for the magic easy swap that doesn't require require too much effort or down time.