My original cab is a Granny 4 sp with Master/slave cylinder clutch, no AC and No Cruise/tilt.

My new cab (from New Mexico), Not a speck or rust, has AC, Cruise/tilt, BUT an automatic tranny.

Do I need to remove the tilt/cruise column (from New Mexico), put it aside, so I can get to and remove the Automatic steering column bracket and plate from the fire wall and scrap that one?

Then, remove the original straight column (scrap that column) the remove the original 4-sp steering column plate bracket (which has the clutch mount on it) and install it into the New Mexico Cab so I can install the original New Mexico Column and run the original 4-sp set up?

 

I know in the '92-up trucks the hole was already cut and blocked off for the MC, but I don't think the older trucks had it.

 

82+ models had the holes stamped, but not punched out.
The pedals are a direct swap, and yes the column has to come out to do this.
You *can* use an auto column for a manual, but you won't have the push button to allow turning the key to "lock". Can be an issue if you have something come up while driving that requires turning off the engine before getting stopped. Also, the auto columns have an internal block that will only allow the key to be turned to "start" when the lever is in P or N position. Could cause issues if it gets out of alignment.....

Were it me, I'd stick with the manual trans column. Tilt is not worth the *potential* issues from using an auto trans column with a manual trans.

 

I just did what you are going to do with my 84 F250. Take out the pedal assy for more room and not to drill into it too. There are dimples where the bolt holes go, drill them out to 5/16"(I not sure now, could be 3/8"). Take some bolts and nuts mount the master cylinder gasket in place to find the big hole location(no dimple on the cab I had). Drill out that bigger hole and fix up the drilled areas with some good paint.

The tranny tunnel needed to be cut out on the cab I got. So I used my original tunnel cover to mark out the mounting holes and using those for reference(half inch in from them), cut out the center tunnel.

Took me longer to find and setup the stupid hole saw than to do the whole job!

If you have the cab totaly stripped out, now is the time to really clean it up and reseal the cowl seams and firewall areas.

 

HI Rogue, Not really interested in the tilt function, But I do want the cruise function that is in the tilt wheel.
Eddie, not sure what you mean, "There are dimples where the bolt holes go, drill them out to 5/16"(I not sure now, could be 3/8"). Take some bolts and nuts mount the master cylinder gasket in place to find the big hole location(no dimple on the cab I had). Drill out that bigger hole and fix up the drilled areas with some good paint".

 

Unless the replacement cab is an 80 or 81, it should have the holes for the clutch master stamped into the firewall, but they are not fully punched out. A hammer and blunt tip punch should able to know them out rather quickly.
If you were sticking to the NP435, I'd suggest adding the firewall support from terrapin mfg, but doing to a small block ZF with the "concentric" slave, it should never be needed. Honestly, that plate isn't needed even on the external slave units, if the throwout bearing and snout on the bearing retainer are greased properly when the TOB is installed. The primary cause of firewall flex, is the TOB binding on the snout it rides on, placing excessive stress on the master mounting location. This issue does not occur with the internal style slave.

This plate is MUCH easier to install when the cab is bare, compared to having to work around an engine and seat/dash.

 

On the firewall where the clutch master cylinder goes, if it is not punched/drilled out then there will be dimples on where to drill the fire wall out for the clutch master cylinder. For the bigger hole the clutch master cylinder fits through the fire wall had no dimple for me to drill it out. So I used the gasket as a pattern to locate the bigger hole.