that project truck of ours ( i know i know.. but this is tranny talk not truck..) came with a 350. We are wanting to find a 400 for it over the 350. Can i take the tailshaft houseing or whatever off the 350 and put it on a 400 with an original 2wd tailshaft houseing? Or do i need to just find a 4x4 400? its not difficult to find here. i can get a used one for like 200 bucks on craigslist.

also.. any idea what T-case was put into those things? i need to find a good Silverado forum. But i havent come across any. You know of any Jr? I know your big on a dodge forums.

 

I'm almost positive you can swap the tail shaft housing, however maybe someone with more knowledge on the subject could jump in. If you can find a 400 that's already 4wd that cheap I would say that's the route to go.

What year is the truck? Again I'm pretty sure that most of them came with the NP241c

 

the "new" truck is a 1980. Was a nice truck back in the day. power everything.

I thought i had heard that i could swap them as well. but i wanted to clarify. But yea obviously if i can get a tranny thats already 4x4 thats the best route. but sometimes its hard to find one without spending a arm and a leg. I think this thing should be rebuilt any way we look at it though.

 

Now would be the perfect time to upgrade to a built 700R4...

http://racetransmissions.com/store/i...9d878436d747d7

 

To swap the shafts out, you need to dismantle the entire trans innards to get to it. Tailshaft is the first thing in, last thing out. If you have the big heavy cast iron transfer case, it would be a NP203. The newer (1984 and up I believe) is a NP 205. There would be an ID tag on the case.

 

I was totally wrong, lol. I don't know a whole lot about Chevy trucks, just Dodges and Jeeps.

 

The 205 is the older all gear drive case,the 203 is the full time case that came out later,both were available in 1980 the locking hub rigs got the 205.
Many of the 203's have conversion kits for part time operation and lock in hubs,my '78 has this set up.
The old 205 is a stronger case,best bet for high hp and hard off road use.
The later all aluminum t-case you're thinking of is the 208.

Here's a link I saved a while back 203 vs 205 ID.
http://www.chuckschevytruckpages.com/drivetrains.html


What had what........ http://www.drivetrain.com/parts_cata...nce_chart.html

 

this wont be high power or a rock crawler. just a little better than factory build as far as motor and tranny goes. Mostly just for creature comforts.

 

Ooh, that's right, got those numbers mixed up in what's left of my memory. I still have an old 203 case laying around too, out of a Blazer. Anybody need a big paperweight? That's one heavy summabeach too!
I also used to have a 205 out of a Ford truck. It was a nice little remote case, not mounted to the trans type. Had plans for that, but never got to it.

 

I had the "remote" (actually called divorced) 205 in a couple rigs,my '72 IHC Ttavelall had one and my '62,'66 Chevys each had one swapped in to replace the old Rockwell,had a Rockwell in my '64 Chevy and was always bust'n u-joints.
My '72 GMC has the bullet proof "married" 205/4 spd.
Those old 205's are tough as nails either way,never had one fail and I've tortured the hell out of a few of them lol.