Drivetrain removal/installation question

[Tomahawk30]

So I'm thinking about doing an engine / transmission swap in my 72 Jimmy 4x4. It currently has a 350/th350/np205. The th350 is pretty well worn out, so today I picked up an identical rebuilt th350/np205 with a heavy duty shift kit to swap in. My son's project 69 shortbed has a 383 stroker engine that, in my opinion, is way too much engine for his first rig! I'm debating pulling the 383, mating it up to the new th350/np205, and dropping the whole thing in the Jimmy. The healthy 350 in the Jimmy would then go back in his truck with his existing manual transmission.

In my 65 Impala (the only drivetrain install I've done) I had a ton of room to work and didn't have to disassemble anything to install the 350/powerglide together. The engine compartment on the 67-72 trucks seems considerably smaller... How much disassembly would I have to do to pull the small block, transmission, and transfer case out of the Jimmy as one unit?

[Tomahawk30]

Nobody has pulled the engine and tranny on their 4x4? Maybe I should move this to the 4x4 page, but it seemed more like a 67-72 specific question. Maybe it is just how the engine sits in the 4x4, but this bodystyle just seems like it has a shockingly small engine bay for a pickup.

[mrein3]

I don't think it would be possible to pull the engine/transmission/adapter/t-case all bolted together.

I pulled my 350 and replaced it with a 383 in my shop at home. I have a cherry picker and normal hand tools. It was easy.

I swapped my 3-speed manual/adapter/NP205 for a th350/adapter/NP205. For that I paid a guy at the shop I used to work at to help me. We put a transmission jack under the trans/t-case, got some chain around it all, removed the crossmember, and pulled them out the bottom while the truck was up in the air on a hoist. The new trans/t-case were bolted together on the shop floor, raised with a cherry picker on to the transmission jack, then installed from underneath.

If I was doing this at home (no hoist, only my cherry picker) I'd:
take the hood off
pull the engine and set it aside
support the trans on a floor jack, unbolt it from the adapter and roll it out the front
unbolt the adapter
get my floor jack under the NP205 and roll it out the front
reverse the process with the new stuff

If I remember correctly the NP205 doesn't balance nicely on a floor jack so be careful. Those suckers are heavy.

[Tomahawk30]

Ya, I figured that out when we lifted the still-assembled np205 and th350 into the back of my truck yesterday! The old powerglide from the Impala didn't weigh much of anything compared to this beast...

I haven't decided if I'm going to mess with swapping out the 350 for the 383 yet. Since the Jimmy is my daily driver, I'll probably just get a floor jack and an extra set of hands and do the tranny swap for now. The Jimmy has a 6" in lift and 35" tires, so it has a pretty comfortable amount of space to work underneath. We are going to have them both in a friend's big, well equipped shop for paint in late spring / early summer, so I may just do the engine swap then.