My '82 suburban w/6.2L was converted from auto to a 4-spd shortly before i bought it. Problem is my cruising speed is around 65 mph. I don't want to change rear ends. i want to find a 5-spd or possibly a 6 to replace the 4 with. Will a 5 bolt to the bell housing of the 4. My clutch is good. I don't want to mess with it for $ reasons.


Thanks

I am by no means an expert on this subject, but I have exactly the same issue. My friend has a Getrag 5 speed that he says will work, and he tends to know about these things. Also, I think you can get an NV4500 for Chevy that will bolt up.


From what I know, the chevy bolt pattern for this vintage is basically universal.

Once you have the 5spd you'll curse and dream of 6 shifting from 3rd to OD and hitting the flatspot in the gears.

Quantum Mechanic-


I don't quite understand your responce. Do you mean that the 5spd would be a wise upgrade?


Thanks,


Owen

I looked on car-part.com for a 5spd. I found some NV4500's for about a $1000. Is this a diesel tranny only? Will a trans from a gas engine say a 350 or 454 bolt to the bell housing on my 6.2L? Will an NV4500 work? If so, is it the only one? Is my good 4spd worth anything on trade?

Any manual trans should be able to handle the diesel engine. My Muncie 465 was originally behind a 350. Now it backs up my 6.5. It bolted right up no problem. I had to get a new flywheel specifically for the 6.5 -- couldn't use the one from the 350. But you must already have a flywheel for yours.


If you get the NV4500, let us know how it goes. I'm looking to do the same upgrade myself.

thumbsmasher-


Since your 5spd was originally behind a 350 are the gears not quite right for a diesel? How does it pull? How fast can you go and still get good milage? What rear end do you have? I don't really care what 5spd I use. I just want to have a better cruising speed and still pull good.

To bolt in a NV4500 you will need an Advance Adapters bellhousing that is made for the year model of the Chevy transmission you plan to install. You will also need to carefully grind down the starter nose and the opening of the new bellhousing because of the larger size of the 6.2 starter. This will also have to be done even if you swith to a late model gear reduction starter. I have this set up in a M1008 army truck and it works great. My truck had a 400 turbo and aluminum transfer case. The transfer case bolted up to the NV4500 and both driveshafts worked fine. Some transfer cases won't bolt up without an adapter.

Here's a NVG 4500 with all the options


http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/uploads/quantummechanic/2004-11-10_061923_nv4500_p1.jpg


http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/uploads/quantummechanic/2004-11-10_062043_nv4500_p2.jpg


I've taken the topcover off and I know that someday I'll be replacing the gears sets.

Will the NV 4500 (just the trans without bell housing) bolt to my current bell housing that the 4spd is paired up with? If this is the case I could probably make the swap very easily. What is 5th gear's ratio like on the NV 4500 compareed to my 4spd. Will it be enough to give me a good highway speed, or will I need to look into changing rearends?

The NV4500 will not bolt up to your bellhousing. The factory Chevy NV4500 bellhousing with the slave cylinder on the passenger side will not work because the front drive shaft is in the way. The later style factory NV4500 bellhousing with the internal slave cylinder will work if you use the later transmission that is made for it. The early and late NV4500s have different bolt patterns. I used the early style, (1993) transmission, so I had to use an Advance Adapters bellhousing. Order a catalog from them, it has a lot of information. My truck has 4.10 gears and I can cruise at 85 mph now. I think the overdrive ratio is roughly .75, so that would change a 4.10 to 3.075.

pvkj454-


So, What you're saying is I need to find an older NV 4500 and get an adapter for it or find a newer one that will bolt up w/out an adapter.


Do you have a 6.2L diesel in your pickup? Do you still get good milage @ 85 mph? What kind of rpm are you running @ 85? I still need to figure out what ratio my rear end is. Any thoughts? 1/2 ton Suburban, 6.2L, originally was auto.

Considering a 2spd gear splitter. Any thoughts?

PM gmctd and ask if he'd comment in the open thread. He has the splitter behind a th400.

How would a splitter work correctly behind an auto? Edited by: War Wagon

pvkj454-


So, What you're saying is I need to find an older NV 4500 and get an adapter for it or find a newer one that will bolt up w/out an adapter.


Do you have a 6.2L diesel in your pickup? Do you still get good milage @ 85 mph? What kind of rpm are you running @ 85? I still need to figure out what ratio my rear end is. Any thoughts? 1/2 ton Suburban, 6.2L, originally was auto.





My truck has a 6.2 and gets a steady 20 mpg mixed driving during my 120 mile roundtrip commute , (50% interstate at 75 mph, 35% highway at 60 mph, 10% curves and hills at 40 mph, 5% stop and go city). I dont have a tachometer. My truck had a 400 turbo with a 32 spline NP208 transfer case with the round 6 bolt pattern. It bolted up to my NV4500. The older version NV4500 will require the Advance adapter bellhousing. In my opinion the easiest and cheapest swap would be the later style NV4500 with the hydraulic throwout bearing. You can use the bellhousing that came with that transmission. Any swap will require fabrication. Depending on your transfer case bolt pattern and spline count you may need an adapter for that. My guess is the swap would cost $1500 to $2000.


Here are some links.


http://www.high-impact.net/transmission_and_gear/nv4500.htm (http://www.high-impact.net/transmission_and_gear/nv4500.htm)


http://www.advanceadapters.com/Edited by: pvkj454

The splitter (when purchased new) has two switches. One foe autosplitting an auto tranny or a thumb switch for manual engagement.