So barring any unforseen complications tomorrow I will start swapping a 47re into my truck. Trading my nv5600 for an ATS trans. Trucks are both 02s but his is a short box which means we can't trade rear driveshafts. But I plan on taking lots of pictures of everything we do on the swap. We are not swapping transfer cases as I have a 271 and don't want to get rid of it. So I'll be digging into my transfer case as well as installing a fixed yoke kit on the rear output shaft.

Other snags is Cruise control. Mine is electronic(comes in handy when your having APPS problems) We are going to be switching PCMs so hopefully that will convert his to electronic and I can take all the Vacuum related stuff. Also steering columns. His has the radio controls on the steering wheel and mine is the plain jane one. So I will probably be going to an aftermarket shifter. Anyone have recommendations on which brand or style they like best? Right now I'm I thinking I'll either go with a B&M truck megashifter or a TCI outlaw.

 

So updates. Got to work on it Saturday at about 10:30 or so Got rear axles swapped. His Dana 70 for my Dana 80. Got the tranny dropped and the clutch out.

Changed out the pedals for the single brake pedal. That part wasn't too bad except your lying upside down under the dash. The shaft the holds the pedals in place has E-clips on both ends. The clips that hold the master cylinders on aren't too bad to get off once you figure it out. Unclip the shaft from the left and pull it out. Brake and clutch pedal will fall out (they have plastic bushings on each side of the pedal) and slap the new brake pedal back in and slid the shaft back in and clip it in. Hook up the rod to the cylinder and your done. Clutch master cylinder has 2 nuts holding it in on the inside. Unplug the safety switch and it will pull out.

Switched out PCMs and wiring harnesses. This isn't near as complicated as it looks either. One connection up by the passenger battery box for a ground, 2 connectors one black and one white one in the middle and the main connector at the fuse box. As well as the connections that go to the back for the transmission and the transfer case. Mine is a non-cad and his is a Cad front axle so the connections to the transfer case are different. Mine has an electronic switch for the 4wd drive lights and his has the vacuum switch. His wiring harness doesn't have the connector for my switch so I may not have any 4wd lights(which I don't anyways because the switch is bad.) but since I have a manual T-case I am not too worried about it.

Got the heat exchanger on. Make sure you run a tap or a chaser through the holes as they don't have anything in them except 130k miles of dirt and rust. We didn't have one and managed to snap off one of the bolts that threads into the engine mount. But it is still pretty solidly mounted with 3 bolts( 2 in bellhousing adapter and 1 in the engine mount). Got the coolant lines for the heat exchanger hooked up.

Flexplate is in. Took the starter off and the factory spacer for the 6 speed clutch came out in pieces. Cheap plastic. I still have the aluminum space that came with my DD I just never put it on because I didn't need it.

Oh and the nv 5600 is a damn pig! Couldn't get it out from under the truck on the jack so we were going to transfer it to 2 floor jacks and as soon as we loosened the ratchet straps the damn thing rolled off the tranny jack. Luckily the way it fell it didn't hurt anything. Sure got our hearts racing though. The fact that it has a rounded bottom is a big pain in the rump.

Things still left to do, Install the auto, Install the factory cooler and lines and the aux. cooler he had installed, Change tps and kick down cable. Figure out the switch from electronic to vacuum cruise control, drive shaft work, figure out which shifter I want and install it, change the input in the transfer case, and figure out what to do with the big hole in the floor.

Total amount of work done on the tranny swap itself, 3 people and about 7 hours. Didn't work on it while we were swapping rear axles because we could only get half the truck into the garage at a time and it was raining outside.

 

nice write up other than that

 

didn't take any on saturday. Forgot the camera. I'm tearing into the T-case this evening. I'll be sure to take some then.

 

Ok so its been a while and I thought I would update. Mechanical stuff is all done. Tranny is in. T-case input has been changed and Fixed yoke kit installed. Front driveshafts will exchange between the 2 trucks. However with the 271 installed the d-shaft is damn close to rubbing on the cross member. I've got maybe 1/8 to 1/4in with the truck sitting level. I might have to modify the cross member so that it doesn't rub at full droop.

The ATF cooler and the lines are a pain in the rump. We had to pretty much remove the front bumper to get the cooler in place.
On a good thought, the change in length from the tranny swap lines up the 271 T-case with the slot in the frame so I didn't have to modify the frame anywhere else. Bad thing is now the T-case has to be removed to get the cross member out.
Bought a B&M sport shifter. The bracket provided for the cable doesn't work with the ATS deep pan or the cooler lines. So it needs a new one.

Our current problem is the electronic gizmos. MY truck will not start with his pcm because of the antitheft system which my truck doesn't have. So we are busy working on that.

THings that still need to be done.
Take the rear D-shaft in to get modified.
Make new brackets and make a stand for the shifter to mount.
Install the interior trim peices
and plug the big hole in the floor.

As for pictures I took some of the t-case change over but other wise I didn't take any. Sorry kids. Gonna have to use your imagination.

 

AND THE DAMN THING RUNS! He he I'm so happy!

Had to buy a different PCM without the stupid antitheft. Took it for a drive yesterday and man it is nice to drive. However my truck smokes like ALL the time now. I could drive it without smoking with the manual but with the auto I get a good haze out the exhaust everytime it shifts. Plus if the engine is cold and I put it in gear it hazes black out the exhaust. The ATS Convertor is TIGHT!!! But it is an absolute blast to drive!

Still have a little bit of a coolant leak at the heat exchanger that I need to fix. Still need to patch the hole in the floor. Still need to put on the auxilliary cooler. Still need all the vacuum stuff for the cruise control too. I've got a steering column that I am cleaning up and painting and should have in the truck by tonight.

So that is all.

 

Out of curiosity though... WHY swap FOR a automatic? I hate that mine is auto... Wish it was a manual soooo bad! Just curious. I wish my Fiero was an auto because the stock manual trans' were NEVER made for the HP i am putting to it and it breaks ALLOT!

 

Because I swapped for a ATS tranny. I figure with the way I drive and the horsepower I plan on making, the cost to repair a nv5600 is about 1/2-1/3 the price of a built automatic. Besides, I had a particularly notchy 6 speed and it got worse with the dual disk. So I cringed everytime I shifted.

---AutoMerged DoublePost---

Does someone want to do me a favor? For those of you with an automatic truck, could you take the knee panel off and take a picture of how the little cable for the gear indicator mounts on the steering column? There must be a little plastic piece or something that I don't have because I cannot figure out how it is supposed to go in there.

Please and thank you.

 

Anybody???