Posted by Keith in Washington [162.158.255.83] on Sunday, March 28, 2021 at 11:24:35 :
In Reply to: Re: 57-68 WM300 NP420 posted by Dean in CA [172.68.57.62] on Sunday, March 28, 2021 at 08:42:30 :
As far as I know it is the original bell housing on the engine. The casting # appears to different than Vaughn expected, but that doesn’t mean it’s not original or correct. When I got the truck in 1986 it had 20k miles. The cylinders had a 4 thousandth lip/wear but I had to bore it as the head gasket had blown and one ring had rusted and pitted the cylinder wall. I swapped the transmission the first time because I found a PW in a junkyard with a winch. I bought it and the transmission with PTO and installed them on my truck. I later installed the M37 transmission to get more synchronized gears. I guess the M37 is a late transmission when I thought it was an early. Bottom line, I have a spur gear mounting pattern.
The truck had been a brush fire truck in Montana so it was little used and in great shape.