what would you do?

[tuck]

Well, we had some good fortune this weekend, or so I think. We were shopping for a 3/4 ton GM truck to snake axles from and we ended up with a pretty good truck.

It's a 1980 Chevy 3/4 ton, 350 (rebuilt within 2 years), sm465, np205, 8 lug 10 bolt and 14 bolt ff with 4.10 gears.

Originally we were just going to take the axles and part out the rest of the truck, but this drivetrain is hard to pass up.

Right now the wag has a tired 360, th400 and dana 20 t-case. We were thinking we would run that setup till it dies, then go with something a little bigger, big block and the th-400, maybe a caddy 500 :cool:

But now we have a decision. We could pull the entire chevy drivetrain and have a bulletproof setup, good crawl ratio and a healthier motor. And still have the capability to run GM motors in the future.

I'm still leaning toward the 360/th400/d20 setup since it's already in place. But if anyone wants to talk me out of it, I'm all ears.

BTW. The jeep will be used mostly in moab and local areas, towed to the trail. 37-39" tires, mostly rocks, maybe a little snow and mud on the side.

[jode]

Only thing I kin thnk of is that the 360 (rebuilt) will prolly have more torque than the 350 (2years on rebuild)....other than that, that parts rig sounds like a beaut...

[FSJeeper]

I would swap in the Chevy drivetrain without a second thought.

[porkchop]

I would go with the chevy engine but keep an auto in there with the np205. I know it is not a direct swap but.......

[Retro93]

Go with the Chevy.... :D

[blt2krl]

Tuff call. I would say go with the all chevy stuff but the NP205 (strong as heck though) has a crappy low range in it but so does the Dana 20. Crummy crawl ratio and thats being nice. If you keep the standard your okay. You go with the auto and you lose your low crawling ability. The lowest gear set you can put in a 14 bolt( I think, could be wrong) is 5.13. With 37-39 your going to need lower gears. You can upgrade the Dana 20 with the ultra low 3.14 gear set and gain some crawling ratio. This is just all open thinking in my head right know so if it doesn't make sense I apologize. If it were me, I would swap in the chevy motor and axles and sell the other components to upgrade or rebuild the parts your swapping in. Thats just my opinion. At least your choosing from strong components and not weak garbage.

[Rogue]

i would put the chevy drivetrain in, but only cause i want you to send me the d20 and 400 adapter! :D :D :D

[wanablikemike]

I'd just build up the chevy truck and forget the Jeep. They are just so much cooler.

----------------------> (That was a joke!)

[2j20's]

I say build what you already have and give me the chevy stuff :eek: ;)

[FSJeeper]

If you need lower gearing with the NP205, go with a NP203 doubler. You can't beat the SM465/NP205 setup.

[gsmikie]

i would put the wagon body on the chevy frame

[Tad]

I would probably take both of them apart and sit there and wonder about it for 2-3 months and then loose half the parts, make some sort of poor decision and then break something trying to put one or the other together. But that's just me, most of you folks never do that.

[scotty]

id swap the whole drivetrain. of course my opinion may be biased,cause i dont care much for the 360 and i really dont care for an auto tranny. and youll have to try pretty hard to break a 205 ;)

my $.02 on that

[joe]

Since you've already got the complete truck I'd swap the entire set up. They way the Chev truck is now it's got a crawl ratio of 50:1 which is pretty darn good. Much better than what you have now and it'll essentially be bullet proof.
Oh yeah and no more stoopid alum timing cover to mess with. For just a few bucks more($75?) than that lame covers costs you can get an entire rebuild kit for the 350.

[ July 16, 2002, 07:21 AM: Message edited by: -joe ]

[tuck]

Well, it looks like we're going to stick with the 360 for right now. I can hear the boo hoos already. smile.gif I can't believe how many people chimed in for chevy parts, I thought this board was loyal. ;)

I might add that the 205 is a slip yoke :rolleyes: , so that would need to be changed before it would be completely bulletproof.

And while the crawl ratio with the 4 speed is better, I have great faith in my torque converter until we can get dual cases or lower gearset in the 20. (17:1 with 33" tires) And the more I think about it I think I would rather have an automatic. Plus I couldn't part with my megashifter. :cool:

After the axles are under there we'll see how things feel, and how much more gearing we'll need, then we'll probably reevaluate the drivetrain situation. I would probably rather sell the 350/465/205 and put in a 500/th400/20 and later go to a 205/203 doubler.

Thanks for all the input, I'll be sure to keep everyone posted.

[Bob Barry]

Originally posted by tuck:
Well, it looks like we're going to stick with the 360 for right now. I can hear the boo hoos already. smile.gif I can't believe how many people chimed in for chevy parts, I thought this board was loyal.We're only about as loyal as Jeep was; they used any engine, tranny and axles they could get their hands on. So do we smile.gif

[scotty]

well said mr bob :D

i ran my jeep with various NP cases and a dana 300 with an auto and 3.31 gears,and it did just fine,despite being 6 cyl powered.the convertor helps you out alot.

id say with 4.10s youll be in good shape with the auto as far as gearing goes. the doubler is waaay cool,but a final drive that low is something very few people actually need(want is a different story ;) id love to have dual t cases,but for the trials we run,i really dont need em)

good luck with your project smile.gif

[ArtsiFrtsi]

:D You could pacage up the drivetrain, and drop it off down here! :D

BTW, are you related to Tom Tucker in TF?

[tuck]

yup, that's my dad
I live in Boise since I'm going to school up here, but the Jeep is in TF. We're working on it together, a family project.