Hello all, I have been lurking on this forum for awhile now and decided to finally join in. This past December I purchased my 53' 3100. Overall it is a pretty decent truck that is very complete, right down to the original drivetrain. The truck runs pretty good but I plan to actually drive this truck quite a bit so I have decided that I would like to swap out the original 3spd on the column and closed driveshaft/rear to a t-5 and rear pumpkin from a 55-62' 1/2 ton. I know some of the "purists" would be upset and say "just swap out the gears using one of the patrick ring and pinion setups"...but I have decided against that. If I was restoring the truck to show and collect points for originality I would have gone that route. I actually want to drive this truck and have it more hiway worthy. Here is the deal...I know first hand that the job I listed above is way out of my mechanical capabilities. Body repair is more of my strong point. I am looking for somebody in the Kansas city metro area that can help me get this done. I am not talking about free labor. I am more than willing to compensate somebody for the work to be done. I'm just looking for somebody who has already done this swap or knows of somebody who has. I would really like to work along side somebody knowledgable so I can actually learn more about the mechanical side of things. If anybody here has any leads please send me a p/m. It would be much appreciated. Thanks!
It actually shouldn't be that difficult of a swap. You may have to fab up some trans. mounts and a clutch master cylander mount, but a rear should only need some saddle brackets welded and bolted in, take your measurements for the driveshaft, have it made by a shop, then bolt together. Do a little research to find out what parts you will need to collect, then assemble. These trucks are about the most basic vehicle you can work on, don't be afraid.....
tranny end of drive shaft Russ what about the Tranny side of the drive shaft what has to be done to change from closed to open drive shaft? Bill
Bill, a new driveshaft has to be made. If you keep a stock type trans, you need later style tail housing, and yolk. If you switch to new trans, you need a driveshaft made to fit the transmission output shaft and seal. Most reputable driveline shops should be able to help out. My 1950 uses the stock 4 speed, with a later style tailhousing and yolk. The drive shaft bolts on with u joints at both ends, and a built in slip adjuster on the driveshaft.......Mike
We have done several of these swaps so here are a couple tips that might b useful. First use a T-5 that has the shifter in a forward position. I can't tell you what they were used in but I'll bet someone here can. I pick mine up from a long time friends salvage yard where they are on a rack so I just go by sight. You can fabricate a shifter so it misses both the seat and the dash; sometimes they have us use the shifter from an old chevy 4-speed or from a 47. If the shifter is at the rear of the trans you have to use bucket seats and the seat riser on the AD's is welded in. You have to turn the splines on the input shaft back about a half inch and take a little off the end that goes in the pilot bushing plus use the T-5's clutch plate and that's about it. We use a lathe but I've seen ones done with a grinder that work fine. The T-5's seem to range from around a 0.78 to 0.82 fifth gear so don't get a real shallow geared open rear end. Here is the math for final drive gearing: a 4.11 will be 3.29 with a 0.8 5th, 3.20 with 0.78, and 3.56 with a 4.56 rear and 0.78 5th gear. The latter is very close to the Patrick's swap and the former is close to the 3.38 ring and pinion our host sells. All good highway gears. The 4.11 and 4.56 rears with the same six lug bolt pattern as a chevy are under Nissan 4wd pickups and will fit the AD but I use a 1" spacer on each axle flange to allow a better tire selection. You can use your same emergency brake with a very simple modification that I have pictures of on earlier posts. It's not a hard swap; Good luck
I'm assuming you have a 235 under your hood not the 216 motor. My 52 3100 has a 216. Swaping anything out on the truck to make it go faster without swapping the engine will result in you standing on the side of the road with a melting engine... LOL. Later this summer I'm going to swap out my 216 for a 235... I got lucky and found a 55 that was being hot rodded and was able to obtain the newly rebuilt 235, trans, driveshaft and the rear end. (Many, many thanks to Ol'Chebby for that one!) Russ (Ol' Chebby) is correct when he says it's not all that hard. Before I got my 52 I had never really worked on old cars... Russ got me to buy the shop manual and pointed me in the right direction and I was off to the races. The majority of stuff on these old trucks is beyond simple - it only works one way... I think the only thing I wouldn't do is change out the gears in the rear end myself and even that I could prob. get through with the book, some time and several bad words. The people on this site, forum are AWESOME! If you get stumped or need direction, ideas you can post and get answers fast!! Give it a go! If I can do it just about anyone can.
Be shure to grab the yoke with the trans, and the yoke with the rear. I took my driveshaft shop 2 shafts, one for the 350 and one for the 8.8....they made one out of the 2 for a little over $100.
Thanks for all the info...I appreciate it. I have been reading up a great deal about this swap and collecting info on all the parts needed to make the swap happen. They actually have alot of good resourceful info on this swap on the stovebolt website....If anybody else is interested.
