found one

[randyscycle]

Ryan, that is some really nice fab work. Makes me a bit jealous now....Think I will go out and practice my welds some more this afternoon!

I like that engine mount setup as it provides some great support across the frame rails as well as a place for the engine to sit.

That should be a well put together truck when you are finished.

[Roy]

Excellent work..great design...

[ryanroo]

Thanks guys.

i wanted an additional crossmember from the start, and there was enough room for it thankfully. i noticed when i was pushing the truck around that the frame would move the slightest amount when turning the wheel with the crossmember out, and after it was bolted in the movement was gone. that made me feel better. hopefully the NV4500 happens this week as i have planned. then i can start working that direction.
Ryan

[Barrman]

Looking really good Ryan. Since I have a NV4500 in my M715, I can tell you this from experience. Go with a Duece 3053A. Stronger gears, real metal shims, no 5th gear walking off the shaft, no special $35/qt oil and they are a lot cheaper. You do lose some OD though. The NV4500 is .72 I think and the 3053A is .80 if I remember it all correctly.

Plus, the 3053A was driven for half a century by guys who didn't care how long it lasted and they survived. I have 3 years and 12K miles on my new NV4500 and a few of the gears are starting to complain about being used.

Just my opinion.

[ryanroo]

i agree with you Tim, but i guess i am lazy. the 4500 i found is in the scrapyard just up the road, and i get advance adapters at cost through work. so finding the tranny, the bell and all the associated stuff and then making it work just isn't worth it for me. and rebuilding the 4500s is pretty easy. I built a 72 GMC a few years ago with a 4500 and i was pleased by the nice smooth shifts and the cruise gear. I am sure that i will be wishing i had heeded your advice in a few years when the syncros get crunchy and i've bought my umpteenth quart of synchromesh. one other thing is that the more wife friendly i make the truck, the more she gets into it. so a nice smooth tranny she can drive with a familiar shift pattern is good for that too.
ryan

[ryanroo]

the victim...


the score...


went to the scrapyard today and yanked this out of the truck. took me about 3 hours of rolling around in the dirt and cussing to get it done. i have several new wounds to show for it, including one skinned knuckle that is all the way to the bone. i am pretty excited to get this in the truck
Ryan

[brute4c]

Nice score...I think you gave too much blood for it though...OUCH!

[Kaiserjeeps]

Wow! Lots of great new pic's!! Looking really good Ryan. You do good quality work. Thats going to be a nice functional truck when you get done. People want quality fab work like that. It's cool that not only did a good truck get saved, it's getting hopped up and reworked nicely and to what you want.
Sweet man! Keep up the pic's.

[ryanroo]

thanks guys. as for blood, i did leave alot there. the amount of broken glass shards was crazy.

Al, thanks for the compliment, and the truck was pretty nice, but just messed up enough that i don't feel to bad torching it all up and making a bunch of custom non reversible mods to it. i already have the itch for a stocker, and i think i know where one is....

off to the shop for a power washing and maybe take a look inside the thing
Ryan

[ryanroo]

washed it off and cracked the cover. the inside is CLEAN. not nasty stuff, and best of all, the oil doesn't smell like 80w90. hopefully this thing had synchromesh in it its whole life and the snychros are not all crunchy. also verified with the input/output count that it is the early 6.34:1 version