Hey guys, I have sucessfully swapped a NV4500 5-speed into my '67 390. Here's a semi-short version for anyone who's interested:

I found a tranny for $1100, rebuilt with all new syncros and seals from a guy in Denver recommended by Advance Adapters. Very good guy. Bought an adapter kit from Advance Adapters $240. Reman Chevy C10 clutch $35. Fabbed up a custom cross member (free). Bought a new 1 5/8" 31 spline Dodge NV slip yoke $140(!!). Had a custom driveshaft built at local shop with front Cummins U-joint (HUGE) with a stock rear U-joint to my Dana 60, balanced, painted, etc $150. 5qt's of Royal Purple full synthetic gear oil $49. Junkyard Dodge Dakota shift handle $5.00. Misc grade 8 bolts, $5.00. Total: $1,750.00-ish!! A little more than I budgeted for..

Drives like a dream. Very short throw shifts! Overdrive is NICE!! Lowered my RPMs 500-600 at 60mph.... 2800 down to 2200.

I could have saved some money by getting a used slip yoke, but none could be found, anywhere locally!!! I saw one on eBay go for $41 + $10 shipping, but I decided not to get it.

Another thing, I don't have a speedometer.... ERR! (You can find the right NV4500's that had speedo spots but I did not.) That's another problem another day, as I see it. Prolly have to get some kinda electronic deal.

Anyway, I'm exhausted over the whole deal... took up almost all of my Christmas vacation... but worth it in my books. Good luck to anyone who is interested in doing it themselves. Feel free to ask me any questions, I know the ropes!

 

Good for you! You must be proud! Send more details. How about a tech article?

 

A tech article... How do I do this?

 

GREAT to hear that you put it all together! How exciting...

I do have a question: Did you say you used Royal Purple oil in the tranny? I was under the impression that only GM or Dodge oil is to be used period. If this "special" oil is not used, the syncros will burn up and your newly rebuilt tranny will be back in the shop needing another rebuild.

This is my understanding from all the research I have done on the NV4500...since I am very interested in the swap.

I agree with DAV1972...a tech article is in order...and pic's for sure!

Congrats!!!

 

The install sounds great, be proud of what you've done, but, please post pictures and snags you ran into for us. Thanks again. Carl.....=o&o>.....

 

hey guys, I'll have to post an article. I took pictures throughout the build, maybe this weekdend I'll do it. Today's my 19th Birthday and I have to freakin' go to work.

Biz, About the Royal Purple.............. I HOPE NOT. The guy I got the tranny from said, do not use anything else but Castrol Syntorq Chrysler part number blah blah. I called the Dodge dealership and they wanted $15.55 per qt!! I thought that was CRAZY. Especially knowning that it isn't even synthetic. So I did some research. I also asked my uncle (big Dodge fan) and he runs RP in his NV4500 ram. Said it is awesome stuff. He said that I don't really need to use syntorq as long as the oil meets the GL4 rating. Which this Royal purple max life, said exceeds GL4 and meets GL5. So hopefully nothing goes wrong. Although.................. when I first tried to drive the truck, it would not go into any gear, at all. I had to work it and finally force it into 2nd and start driving it around. Then finally it worked loose. It's still kind of tight.... I hope thats normal. Any ideas?

 

I'm very curious to know how this OD affects your mileage. What rear gears and tire size are you running? I want to do this to my '73 F100 2wd 390, but the initial cost is a little high...

Marty

 

Spoken like a true Gearhead! I have always been a big fan of the 390FE motor and now you have a tranny to make maximize that torque.
Good Work, Ceetwarrior!

 

Hey thanks Trux!

73Custom, I have no idea what my milage is because i no longer have a speedo/odo, err. I'm curius to know, myself. I was getting 11.5mph before and I am always in the 4bbl, so better if I drive easy, of course. Now with 27% OD it should be very good. It cruises down the interstate VERY nicely though!

I've got 3.54's in the rear, and just normal 235/75/R15's.

 

More research from several different websites...and this is what I found over and over again.

I understand how R/P oil works...as it is the only oil I use in one of my cars (GREAT stuff), but hope what you are using will indeed do the job.

Really glad to see a NV4500 mate to a FE classic. If you do not mind, what part # from advance adapter did you use? I know you have a 2wd...and I have a '76 4wd, but just curious.

 

biz, the kit was A.A. is #712551. It comes with nice c&c machinced alum plate, perfect fit holes, bolts, and pilot bushing. The pilot bushing that comes with the kit DOES NOT fit, though. I'm going to call them today and let them know about that so they can change it in the future for the FE. I reused my old one, but you have to drill press a 3/4" center hole to fit the NV. No biggie.

I hope I am doing the right thing with the oil. Like I said, my uncle is/has ran this oil in his NV4500 '98 ram for many miles and he said it's great stuff. So, I was going off of his oppinion. I'm going to call him and do more research on this so I can change oil (if needed) before my syncs get screwed up (if).

I'm also going to call the guy I got the tranny from and tell him what's going on and see what he thinks.

 

I would spend the $15 a quart for the right stuff. A friend filled his NV up with some sort of high test aftermarket synthetic and it toasted his tranny. I have 2 NV4500's in ford trucks and run gm oil in them. Have a few friends that run the trannies and we've determined the only oil to run in them is the stuff sold over the dealer counter. Do you have the upgraded 5th gear? If not, tack weld the C-clip in place. If that clip comes off you will have a very, very bad day. Work with a guy whose V10 dodge had 5th gear came apart at 80 mph locking up the tranny, pretzeling the driveline and cracking the housing on his dana 70 rear. Good luck.
Dustin

 

I just talked to my uncle about this and he is good friends with one of the royal purple designers. That guy has personally has ran that oil in his NV4500 for over 200,000 miles changing it every spec. My uncle has ran it in his ram(s) for many as well.

It was explained to me like this: If you are selling a product and you design it around a certain oil and you make a deal with Castrol, for instance, then of course your gonna say to only use that oil because you have a deal with Castrol. I think it's crazy to pay dealer cost of $15.55/qt for NON synthetic crap from DODGE or CHEVY. I don't even like Dodge or Chevy anyway, why would I support them? I think I should take advice from experienced users of the oil rather than here say.

Averagef250, I don't have my tranny torn apart nor do I want to get inside of it. But no, I have not welded any clips and I've never heard of any such thing unless the tranny guy did it, which he did not mention. Just because one accident happend to one person doesn't make them all bad, although I appreciate your warning! I here of people blowing up their Powerstrokes, and they think they are POS, why? Because probably the people themselves are stupid! But maybe very few are lemons. I also personally know people that get great service out of their PSD's and have gone 300,000 without any problems.

 

It is very widely known that the NV4500 has a big problem with 5th gear coming off the shaft or stripping it's internal splines. It's an easy fix that can save your life or atleast a big investment. There's a reason why companies manufacture aftermarket parts to upgrade the nv4500 5th gear. All you have to do is remove the extension housing and put a few tack welds on the clip. Not calling an NV4500 a POS, just saying it's a common problem with an easy fix.

 

Average, I am new to the NV4500. I have heard of it happening on highly modded Cummins motors but not V10's and certainly not my mild 390.

Thanks for the heads up, if I ever have my tailshaft off I will tack it up.