Posted by Vaughn on Thursday, November 16, 2000 at 21:43:40:
In Reply to: 230 military dodge engine posted by L.S.Bright (Fleetwing Farm) on Thursday, November 16, 2000 at 10:30:45:
Info from prior posts:
A 540 directly from a 72 D-600 into my 63 W-300 along with a 413. The old 318-3 bell housing would have worked fine as well, with no mods other than shortening the stub drive shaft about an inch, and a new hole in the floor to fit the further forward shift tower on the 540. Oh, yeah, I had to reshape the shift lever as well. I think that a Ford 540 cover will fit the Dodge transmission, as it has the shift tower farther back, so it might actually work better than the Dodge cover I used. Rob
By this designation are you referring to what is also called the NP540? Please read my little dissertation in "Best of the Forum". If you find a 5 spd OD truck transmission in a bolt pattern and input configuration that is much more common, i.e. Chevy truck, all is not lost. All that is unchangeable is the gearbox length. The 13" of the NP540 is short enough so that the jackshaft will still be usable, though it will need shortening. The following things will need to be done:
1) Remove bellhousing. This can be done without removing motor.
2) Enlarge center hole from 4.75" to 5.125"
3) With transmission fitted up to bellhousing, 4 new holes can be made for mounting bolts. You need to check with a tape measure before doing any of this to make sure the 4 transmission "ears" butt up against good metal in the bellhousing. If not, look for another bolt pattern. An Advance Adapters catalog has schematics of bolt patterns
4) Find pilot bushing with ID suitable for your crankshaft, proper ID for input shaft. Make sure it's an "extended pilot bushing", the GM input shaft is an inch shorter.
5) Buy clutch disk proper diameters for pressure plate but with 1-1/8" 10 spline hub. Mount it in whichever orientation allows good spline engagement, no binding. Bearing retainer snout shortening is an option.
6) The throwout bearing for the Dodge is "rebuildable", the cental bearing insert is replaceable. Get one that has the proper ID for the snout.
The ratios for the OD version are:
6.06, 3.31, 1.81, 1.00, 0.82
1st gear in the direct version is about 7.52:1