Which manual tranny did you choose for your LS swap?

[72blu]

No I didn't move the original crossmemeber at all but its likely that my motor mounts carried the motor forward further then original. The oil pan is stock and I had no fitment issues at all!

[BaroneDog]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

I had a sm465 prior to the nv4500..I wanted to keep my 4.10 gears and needed the overdrive..my crossmember is at the rear of the trans..the adapter plates put the ls engine in the same place the smallblock was..love the nv..no problems with aa pressure plate or clutch..I looked into using gm parts to do it but I was having difficulty finding everything needed so I went with the adavance adapter kit. Got a bench seat and shifter clears it fine..headers are a nightmare if you've got a z-bar..I wound up using headers for a hummer and had to do a good bit of modifying to make them work..the problem was finding a set that dropped straight down on the drivers side and then turned back..there are headers out there that claim they'll work with a z-bar but don't be fooled..I think these are the adapter plates I used..http://www.ebay.com/itm/LS1-Conversi...hT29bU&vxp=mtr

I would like to stick with mechanical linkage as well. Would you be willing to provide some more details on the header modifications required to accommodate a Z bar?

[BaroneDog]

Originally Posted by 72blu

No I didn't move the original crossmember at all but its likely that my motor mounts carried the motor forward further then original. The oil pan is stock and I had no fitment issues at all!

Thanks. Did you have any Z bar interference issues? You run stock exhaust manifolds no headers, right?

[72blu]

There was some z bar fabrication required but nothing super serious. I had to cut one the bars so that I was getting the propper amount of push on the clutch fork. I used stock LS3 2013 camaro manifolds and they fit nicely. if you go with headers I believe there is less fabrication required in order to make the Z bar work. I will try and get some pictures of how it looks tomorrow.

[mongocanfly]

Barone...I'm advising against trying to do it the way I did..if I was doing it over from scratch I would look long and hard at the hooker manifolds or similar factory manis...i think it would be easier to route a pipe around the zbar that trying to make a header that's not designed to fit it anyway to work..like I said before..lots of modifications were necessary...I did beef up my zbar while I had it out but only because it had a crack in the factory welds..

[BaroneDog]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Barone...I'm advising against trying to do it the way I did..if I was doing it over from scratch I would look long and hard at the hooker manifolds or similar factory manis...i think it would be easier to route a pipe around the zbar that trying to make a header that's not designed to fit it anyway to work..like I said before..lots of modifications were necessary...I did beef up my zbar while I had it out but only because it had a crack in the factory welds..

Thanks mongocanfly. I do have factory manifolds, but prefer the look and sound of headers. Maybe it is just wiser to do to a hydraulic or cable setup.

[americanmusc1e]

Please respond with the details (including manufacturer) on what you used for:
1) Manual Transmission Type and Model NV3500 out of a C/K1500 (they have a different slip yoke in a S10 apparently). Started out with a 89 SM465. recently converted to nv3500

2) LS Engine Type and Motor Mount Adapters Used (did the motor need to be moved forward?) 2000 5.3. bone stock with headers and a CAI. Used ebay motor plates. I'm roughly 1" further back than the old sbc

3) Mechanical or Hydraulic Actuation? If Mechanical, what did you use for Z bar attachment to engine block? Hydraulic. hydraulic master from 89 C2500. SM465 used 89 C2500 hydraulic slave with custom bell housing adapter. NV3500 uses hydraulic throwout bearing from 99 C1500 with a fitting to adapt the clutch line to -3AN

4) Flywheel Type and Size The clutch and flywheel work with both transmissions. Factory 4.8/6.0 flywheel from amazon. dowel pins removed to fit the clutch (Sachs)
5) Clutch and Pressure Plate Type and Size 12" sachs "hd" clutch for 1970 C20 w/396. pressure plate holes slighly enlarged.

6) Bellhousing Type The SM465 used a mid-80s aluminum bell for a sm465. Nv3500 bell is integrated

7) Pilot and Throw-Out Bearing Types Chevrolet Performance Roller Pilot Bearings 12557583

8) Cross Member Type Factory Th350 Crossmember with the top frame mounts removed. factory th350 trans mount.

9) Any type of other critical parts needed (spacers ,etc?)

10) Year of your truck and did you have to modify any sheet metal? low hump cab and SM465 yes! high hump either fits no problem.

11) Level of difficulty from 1-10 (10 being most difficult) SM465 to nv3500 swap is much easier than doing oil pan gasket and rear main seal with the engine in the truck

Also, please include any other additional information you can add that might help another out when doing this. Anything you can think of no matter how small the detail! Pics would be great too.

Also, just your general feeling on how happy (or not) you were with the final outcome and if you would you do it again (or already did). Maybe even some comments on how you use the truck (daily driver or 1/4 mile, etc.). Much appreciated!! I'm never going back to SM465 unless i'm towing a house. I have 3.08 gears right now which makes it even worse.

[BaroneDog]

Thanks for adding your experience americanmuscle. What type/brand of headers did you use?

[americanmusc1e]

Originally Posted by BaroneDog

Thanks for adding your experience americanmuscle. What type/brand of headers did you use?

ebay stainless longtube headers for a 4th gen fbody. I highly DO NOT recommend them. They didn't have any kind of 3-bolt flange and the collectors didn't clear frame without modifications.

I ended up redoing the collectors and adding v-bands. they are ok now

[JPsChevy]

10) Year of your truck and did you have to modify any sheet metal? low hump cab and SM465 yes! high hump either fits no problem.

11) Level of difficulty from 1-10 (10 being most difficult) SM465 to nv3500 swap is much easier than doing oil pan gasket and rear main seal with the engine in the truck



Also, just your general feeling on how happy (or not) you were with the final outcome and if you would you do it again (or already did). Maybe even some comments on how you use the truck (daily driver or 1/4 mile, etc.). Much appreciated!! I'm never going back to SM465 unless i'm towing a house. I have 3.08 gears right now which makes it even worse. [/QUOTE]

What did your nv3500 come out of and how did you do your speedometer?
Thanks

[americanmusc1e]

Originally Posted by JPsChevy

10) Year of your truck and did you have to modify any sheet metal? low hump cab and SM465 yes! high hump either fits no problem.

11) Level of difficulty from 1-10 (10 being most difficult) SM465 to nv3500 swap is much easier than doing oil pan gasket and rear main seal with the engine in the truck



Also, just your general feeling on how happy (or not) you were with the final outcome and if you would you do it again (or already did). Maybe even some comments on how you use the truck (daily driver or 1/4 mile, etc.). Much appreciated!! I'm never going back to SM465 unless i'm towing a house. I have 3.08 gears right now which makes it even worse.

What did your nv3500 come out of and how did you do your speedometer?
Thanks[/QUOTE]


Mines out of a 98? C1500. It's the later model with no clutch fork. It would probably be easier to swap the older ones without the hydraulic TOB, but IMO the clutch pedal is nicer on the new ones.


I'm using a 2012 nexus 7 tablet mounted in place of my factory speedo that uses GPS for speedo and gets the rest of the engine information from my megasquirt fuel injection using this app.

[davepl]

1) Manual Transmission Type and Model

Tremec TKO-600

2) LS Engine Type and Motor Mount Adapters Used (did the motor need to be moved forward?)

LS3 on simple eBay mout adapters, motor in rearmost position

3) Mechanical or Hydraulic Actuation? If Mechanical, what did you use for Z bar attachment to engine block?

Mechanical

4) Flywheel Type and Size

GM +0.400 thickness

5) Clutch and Pressure Plate Type and Size

Chevy Big Block

6) Bellhousing Type

6036

7) Pilot and Throw-Out Bearing Types

I can get that if needed

8) Cross Member Type

Stock

9) Any type of other critical parts needed (spacers ,etc?)
10) Year of your truck and did you have to modify any sheet metal?
11) Level of difficulty from 1-10 (10 being most difficult)

7, mechanical linkage being the hardest part I think. Using the old BBC clutch with an LS3 required a specialized (some say truck, not sure) pressure plate from GM that cost about $300 and it is 0.400 thicker to take up the difference in dimension between LS and BBC. Never fully understanding that dimensional difference was the hardest part of the swap.

[Overdriven]

Originally Posted by davepl

7, mechanical linkage being the hardest part I think. Using the old BBC clutch with an LS3 required a specialized (some say truck, not sure) pressure plate from GM that cost about $300 and it is 0.400 thicker to take up the difference in dimension between LS and BBC. Never fully understanding that dimensional difference was the hardest part of the swap.

Yeah that dimensional difference does make things a bit more difficult. I've seen some swaps use a spacer, others a special flywheel or flexplate. Either way you need the longer bolts that are only available from GM.

Question. Just to verify, by 6036, you mean the QuickTime bellhousing correct? This is actually the trans, bellhousing and clutch combo I was looking into for my swap.

[BaroneDog]

[QUOTE pressure plate from GM that cost about $300 and it is 0.400 thicker to take up the difference in dimension between LS and BBC. Never fully understanding that dimensional difference was the hardest part of the swap.[/QUOTE]

davepl, I also have a question about your 6036 reference. If that is the Quicktime RM-6036 you are referring to, my understanding was that bellhousing was shorter to account for the 0.4" crank thickness difference, so you can run a stock LS flywheel.

I thought that you would have a problem if you use a flywheel that is 0.4" thicker AND the RM-6036 bellhousing together. But I have not yet tried it, so clarification of your first-hand experience would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[BaroneDog]

Originally Posted by BaroneDog

[QUOTE pressure plate from GM that cost about $300 and it is 0.400 thicker to take up the difference in dimension between LS and BBC. Never fully understanding that dimensional difference was the hardest part of the swap.

davepl, I also have a question about your 6036 reference. If that is the Quicktime RM-6036 you are referring to, my understanding was that bellhousing was shorter to account for the 0.4" crank thickness difference, so you can run a stock LS flywheel.

I thought that you would have a problem if you use a flywheel that is 0.4" thicker AND the RM-6036 bellhousing together. But I have not yet tried it, so clarification of your first-hand experience would be much appreciated. Thanks![/QUOTE]

So what I said above might not be accurate. I just received my 6036 bellhousing and it is only 1/8" shorter than the stock bellhousing (when the plate is included with the 6036). That was NOT what I was expecting. I had called Holley before buying this and they ensured me that the stock LS flywheel would work, however with only 1/8" difference I am having trouble seeing how that might be.

davepl (or anyone else who has used the Quicktime RM-6036) can you confirm what type of flywheel you ended up using? Thanks.

[BaroneDog]

One other thing..Looking at your original post (davepl) I see you do list the 0.4" thicker flywheel paired with the 6036, which makes sense given that I only measured a 1/8" difference. The confusing thing is that there is a HOTROD network article about this (and confirmation from Holley who owns Quicktime) stating that the 6036 was shorter and implied it would work with a stock LS flywheel.

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/legac...s-style-block/

l already bought a stock LS flywheel and need to decide if I should return it and get the 0.4" thicker one or keep it. Any experience out there would be appreciated. Thanks!

[roundhouse]

76 K-10
started with 350 carb Sm465 4 speed
changed to 1990 TBI
few months later, swapped Sm465 to NV 3500 from 2007 4.8 silverado, and ditched NP-205 Transfer case for NP-208 from 1985-ish K20 with TH400 from CUCV army pickup

(the TH400 output shaft is the same as the NV-3500 output)
drove that a few months and swapped in a 5.3 from a 2002 pickup

drove that a few months and swapped the 350 for a 2002 5.3 with 250K on the clock

used DD engine mounts and had to move engine forward about 1.5 ,

converted mech clutch to hyd by drilling a hole in the pedal and using a bolt with two nuts on the threads, on each side of the MC pushrod
MC from 1987 K-10 MC resovior from a honda accord I think

took the hyd fitting from the throwout bearing along with a stock 1987 K-10 hose, to a local shop that makes hyd hoses and they cut off the end of the fitting on the TO and welded on a fitting to match the stock 1987 hose

used the stock flywheel and clutch from a 2002 pickup

converting the clutch pedal to hyd was a PITA, but used units go for $350 which we didnt have.

also learned that if your upper clutch pivot is worn out, as mine was, so bad that a bushing kit wont fix, it, you can take a brake pedal from an automatic, and since the stock clutch pedal is actually two peices bolted together, you can cut the automatic brake pedal off about where the stock clutch pedal is, flip the automatic brake pedal over, drill one hole to match the upper bolt in the stock clutch pedal, and re install it and then drill the second hole to set the height of the clutch pedal exactly where you want it.

also, when youre drilling the holes in the firewall for the hyd MC, hole saw the large one, then slide the MC in, and use the bolt holes holes in the MC to locate where to drill the bolt holes in the firewall. way easier and faster than attempting to drill the bolt holes using a template


we used late model, 2014 maybe? Camaro exhaust manifolds and upper half of the downpipes,with the small first stage cats, we just smashed the cats from inside the downpipes .
we had to cut and re weld the pipes below the now empty small cats,
and then we reused the exhaust pipes and ancient Blue Streak glasspacks that were on the truck.

I know some of this stuff sounds cheesy to y'all, but
the local muffler shop wanted over $1000 for a new exhaust system, and we were on a very tight budget. worked very hard to get the entire transplant accomplished for as little as possible

we did the wiring harness ourselves, not rocket science but very time consuming.

I even reused the stock air intake from the donor vehicle,