Drivetrain options

GotWood

GotWood

Sayer of Fact
Joined
Jan 12, 2007
Location
Maiden, NC
As some know I'm working on a crawler project. It is now time to take care of a propulsion system! I have a 351M/sm435/205 and Ford axles at the moment. The motor and trans have to be rebuilt so I'm kicking the idea of going with something ready to bolt in and drive. Money is a factor so I just can't go pick up a crate motor and such.

My question:

What are my GM motor options that will give me a 4spd and driver drop t/c? Atlas is out of my price range but a d300 would be cool.
 
GotWood said:
My question:

What are my GM motor options that will give me a 4spd and driver drop t/c? Atlas is out of my price range but a d300 would be cool.
Click to expand...
Your wanting to stay 4spd manual?
Trust me I've already priced out everything and I've taken the advice of others. By the time you build a dana 300 with twin stick 32 spline outputs and 4:1 gears and flip it you could just have bought an Atlas and been done and have a stronger case, which is what I did.
 
Keep the 205. With a 6.69 1st trans gear you'll be happy with it. Any gm v8 will bolt up to a 435 either by redrilling a stock gm 465 bell housing or by buying a billet aluminum one. I went with the second route. If you read back in pirate archives about a decade ago, Kirby used a 435/205 behind s 6.0ls. His only complaint that I remember was having a void between gears because of it's wide ratio, that I remember.
 
If what you have is in decent shape I'd just run it. I'm assuming the M is still carb do covert that over to a simple efi and be done.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
Why not put on if those xj drivetrains in it?
Click to expand...
Missing 2 cylinders.

Chris_Keziah said:
If what you have is in decent shape I'd just run it. I'm assuming the M is still carb do covert that over to a simple efi and be done.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I have all the parts new to go in it, just needs machined and assembled.
 
XJsavage said:
Keep the 205. With a 6.69 1st trans gear you'll be happy with it. Any gm v8 will bolt up to a 435 either by redrilling a stock gm 465 bell housing or by buying a billet aluminum one. I went with the second route. If you read back in pirate archives about a decade ago, Kirby used a 435/205 behind s 6.0ls. His only complaint that I remember was having a void between gears because of it's wide ratio, that I remember.
Click to expand...
This would be a route I will have to research. I would also like to have a hydraulic clutch instead of the mechanical one too.
 
GotWood said:
This would be a route I will have to research. I would also like to have a hydraulic clutch instead of the mechanical one too.
Click to expand...
I'm a few weeks away from finishing a 5.3/435/205 install (Build thread). I'll make sure to keep it very detailed. Or derailed.
 
if it were me, I would find a running chevy v8, vortec cheap, run a sm 465 np241 from an 88-92 trucks. run a lower gear in the axles and will take the strain off your transfer case. Then you have easy and cheap to find parts.
 
Ive really grown to like the ease and simplicity of a LS standalone. The harness and computer do add the extra 700 bones to the motor fee (unless you want to do the harness yourself from a stock one, then just a 75 bone flash fee then whatever to tune). The only downside. I did not like how the block severely limited me on trans choices. If i was to do my build again (or if this motor dies) I would like to have bought a tbi 5.7 (they are soo cheap! and roller cams!) and just done the efi conversion at some later date. With that block, all the old school trans and bh's are all accessible and usable. iirc. just my two cents.
 
ckruzer said:
Ive really grown to like the ease and simplicity of a LS standalone. The harness and computer do add the extra 700 bones to the motor fee (unless you want to do the harness yourself from a stock one, then just a 75 bone flash fee then whatever to tune). The only downside. I did not like how the block severely limited me on trans choices. If i was to do my build again (or if this motor dies) I would like to have bought a tbi 5.7 (they are soo cheap! and roller cams!) and just done the efi conversion at some later date. With that block, all the old school trans and bh's are all accessible and usable. iirc. just my two cents.
Click to expand...


Im not sure where you are going.
A th400 or a th350 are direct bolt ups to a 5.3/6.0...need the right TC but the bell housings bolt right up.
 
Ron said:
Im not sure where you are going.
A th400 or a th350 are direct bolt ups to a 5.3/6.0...need the right TC but the bell housings bolt right up.
Click to expand...

right but isnt it true only 5 of the six bolts on top will line up, and the bottom two will not?
 
5 out of 6 total, yes. Plus the dowels

More than enough.
 
Yep. Just the very top bolt doesn't line up on the LS/th350 combo. Plenty. And the dowels do line up. That's how I have mine and it worked for a while and many others do the same.
 
Back
Top