This is about the biggest non-combatant war going on in the US! Even though I agree with Rob about petty arguments, etc, etc. I have some input. My boyfriend and I have both been Ford people for years. For some reason we decided to buy a '77 Chevy 1500 and had nothing but problems with it from day one. It's a very nice truck to look at....but.... Tranny, head gaskets, rides like a tank, rear main leaking, just blew out the rear end this weekend, t-case (3rd one in 6 months)...and this is a truck that we are NICE to, no rallying PERIOD! We have rallied all 6 of our previously and currently owned Fords with not too many problems. Maybe Chevy's problem is that they only really made one good motor (350) and they put it in EVERYTHING and then they stop making it! They never could put a tranny behind it. But as far as getting rid of good motors go....I really miss the 302....

 

In 1977, pickups were very much alike between brands. The automatic transmissions (C6, 727, and Turbo 350 & 400) are basically the same thing. All three were designed by the same man. The only two transfer cases were the fulltime NP 203 and the NP 205. Both are strong, but the 203 gets criticism quite often. Motors were choked down with emission equipment and left a lot to be desired. I can see why the rear end is going out, if it is a 10 bolt. They are a little on the weak side.

I disagree about the tranny thing. GM probably has the best automatic transmission out there, at least as far as the OD trannys. Initially, there was some trouble with the 700 R4, but it was worked out and, since then, GM has had great transmissions.

The 350 is probably the best motor that Chevy has made, but it is definitely not the only good motor. The 454 had a low life expectancy when introduced, but, in later years, it seemed to hold up very well. The 305 is not Chevy's best, but was a reasonably good motor despite problems with the cam. The 4.3 V6 was on the light side for a 1/2 ton pickup, but was still a durable, fuel efficient motor. I did not like it when GM quit using the 350 in pickups, but the 6.0 seems pretty good. The only very bad motor that GM made, besides the pre-Dmax diesels, was the 400 small block. If this is the motor in your Chevy, I can understand why it is giving you trouble.

 

I for one hand own quite few Chevrola's and still do but your question for your problem is that the pickup you and your boyfriend have and that you purchased was prolly been abused by the owner who had it or for another reason, i have a 75 Chevy K-10 and a 77 GMC K-15 and the 75 runs a big block 350 and a NP-203 fulltime now i had this one for years and the reason its been running for a long time is that i maintain it every truck has to be maintain it doesnt matter if its a Ford, Chevy, or a Dodge, My 77 is also running a 350 small block with the same t-case 203 but its converted part-time both t-cases run good no matter how bad or how i use them, but no matter how you put it every truck has its problem including ford and chevy. Every old truck has its problems its up to you to fix them or let them RIP

 

Maybe you just got a lemon. It happens. I love my 93 f150, but before that all I owned were 70's and early 80's chevies. Hardly ever had any trouble with themcompared to the 76,77,and 79 fords I tried my hand at.Transmission problems were nil. 78 didn't have overdrive. The transfer cases are made by New Process which I think is or was owned by chrysler. If it has a 400, that would explain head gasket problems.

 

Around my area, there's nothing but old Fords, as far as trucks before 1980. The only Chevys here have new engines, and I don't even recall seeing an old Dodge except for ones sitting in fields dead.
I don't think anyone had a clearly stronger transmission, though. The Ford engines of that era just seemed to be a little bit more durable, in my experiences anyway.

 

It has a 383 stroker in it, 203 made into a part time, 10 bolt rear end, TH350 tranny. It's been fully restored which is why I don't think that it was abused as a child, but I don't know the history...and this is Alaska I'm in and that cold is pretty harsh to anything and everything. So....there's THE REST of the story.

 

I have heard that the part time conversion on the 203 lessens its life, but it is hard to explain why 3 have went in six months. The 383 could possibly have been built badly, and the power output of it could explain why the tranny has been troublesome. It is too bad that you have had that much trouble with it.

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles with the truck.

However, I really don't think it's fair to judge the reliability and quality of a brand based on a truck that is 27 years old and has been modified. If the motor has been apart and made into a stroker, how can blowing head gaskets be GM's problem. Was the block decked, where the heads cut or checked for trueness? Like others have said, the transfer case in that truck was used by all the manufacturers at the time, and GM does have the best transmissions out there. There are so many variables that come into play on a vehicle that old that has been worked on by who knows how many people, it really isn't fair to say Chevy's suck based on your experiences with that one vehicle.

 

No, no, you can't blame Chevy for anything that happens on a modded truck. I mean, you can in a way, because it is Chevy components that aren't working, but they didn't come that way from the factory.
EV2DEMON, would it be safe to say that Ford engines hold up to modifications better, then?

 

What would lead you to that conclusion?

 

Personal experience with older modified motors that are way past any resemblance of anything stock that ever was produced by anyone.

 

Not all modifications are the same. This should go without saying. Any backyard butcher turned hotrodder wannabe could manage to screw up any engine - even just enough to keep blowing gaskets- or even heads. Just because the Ford modifications you describe were installed or completed by a competent person Lariat, does not mean that everyone's are. This is all EV2DEMON is suggesting. This may (or may not) be the case with this Chevy - who can know? Also I agree about not being able to make a judgement about a manufacturers vehicles altogether, based on one single solitary, modified, 27 YEAR OLD sample. If that were legit, then Ford would have an extremely hard time measuring up to my fathers 1972 C20 Custom.
That truck worked 14 long hard years, during which time it aquired 489,000+ miles on the very same 350 engine, and the same SM465 4 speed manual transmission. Those are some big boots to fill...care to?

Point is, all manufacturers make good trucks (keep denying it if you wish), and some turn out to be really great samples. Some turn out to be a whole lot less than average -lemons. There's alot that can go wrong straight from the factories, let alone when someone starts messing around with modifications without actually having the know how. This guys truck is definately poor proof of bad GM quality. JMHO .

 

I did not actually say that "Chevy sucks"....I happen to love Chevy cars. My input was just that we had been Ford people and decided to try out Chevy--being the open-minded people we are--and didn't have a good experience. It is my second and also my boyfriends' second Chevy experience. I had a '89 Jimmy 4.3 that the tranny went out in, no complaints about the motor and he had a '99 Silverado for eight months with no complaints except the front end popped. I'm a firm believer in preventative maintenance and that is what is reflected in any rig and how it runs/drives.

And I also wouldn't go so far as to say that Chevy's modify better than Ford's. But I don't have THAT much experience modifying either.

 

OK here we go, I think I got it.

From my 7 or so years of experience driving stuff (all sorts of stuff), as far as Chevy and Ford go, it seems to me that you can pretty much beat the crap out of a Ford and it will beg for more, or at least it'll get you home limping. As for Chevy's, my MINIMAL experience tells me that a Chevy will reward you with a good truck if you baby it, which isn't really a bad thing--it's just not my thing. I like to take my ***** out in the mud and not even let a hose touch it for weeks and drive it to work everyday and forget to check the oil for a few days and then with that same truck I want to beat everyone off the line!!

 

Yeah, sure, I'll fill those boots for ya. My old 1979 F-350, 789,000 on original motor and 4 speed transmission, that's before we lifted it, changed the engine and tranny.
As I stated, you can't blame a manufacturer, but with personal experience, a `backyard butcher` has luck with whatever he throws at a Ford, and the Chevrolet engines generally don't hold up.
Again, though, as I stated in my original post, this has nothing to do with what Chevrolet put together from the factory, just their engines in general not being able to hold up to `backyard butchers`.