Cart before the horse...

Hello folks. I've been 'lurking' around this forum for a while now and figured I'd finally say hi. I can blame my friend Top_Prop for getting me into the military surplus equipment way of life, and for the M101 trailer now sitting in my driveway. Still have yet to procure myself a CUCV (hence the cart before the horse reference in the thread title. Hopefully at least one other person thinks it is as clever as I did.....).
Once I find the right one, I'm hoping to have myself either a 1008 or 1028 pickup. Been collecting the pieces to swap it over to an SM465 manual trans and NP205 t-case, gear it down to 4.10's and throw on a lift and 37" HMMWV wheels/tires. Final combination should give me about 2400 RPM at 65 MPH, but still have a lower crawling gear (and lower '1st' gear, for that matter) than the stock setup. I also have the air conditioning setup out of a junkyard truck (I live in Alabama, it gets hot here). And for all those folks out there (like Top_Prop....) who wonder why on earth I'd take something that works just fine, pull it apart and do all sorts of crazy things to it, I say the question should really be: Why not?
And yes, I've given plenty of thought to the hurdles involved in both the manual swap and the air conditioning. I don't yet have a truck to tinker with, so I spend my spare time thinking about tinkering with one instead. Is that normal?.....
Anyway, I've already gained a bunch of knowledge about these trucks from this forum (A noob who found the search function! A novel concept, I know....), and I hope to continue to do so as I sink deeper into this madness known as a hobby.

love your plans only thing id do diff is a nv45000 and leave the 4.56's lol the added cost of the 4500 would offset the regear and allow you even lower crawl and overdrive. I have been looking myself for a truck in my pricerange to do the same swap.

Thanks! I've given serious thought to the NV4500, it is a continued debate I have with myself. On the plus side for the NV4500 is gear selection, downside is I have yet to find one for a price I like anywhere near where I live. For what I burn in gas or shipping getting the thing I could get a new set of gears. Plus side for the SM465 is I already have one sitting in the garage, mated to an NP205 and sitting on the appropriate cross-member, they are easy to rebuild and I have a box full of parts for them. Downside of course is the added complexity of the gear swap for the diffs and lack of an overdrive.... What to do...
I guess the only prudent thing to do would be to get one CUCV for the SM465 and one for the NV4500....

I think thinking about doing stuff before you have the truck is completely normal. But maybe I'm thinking too much. If you can find one, grab a M1028A1 or M1031. They've both got a NP205 (granted slip-yoke) T-case to begin with. They're basically the same truck, the 1031's just a cab and chassis. Some of the M1028A1's (like mine) started as 1031's and then had the pickup bed added later on. Plus they've got limited slip diffs in the front. Something to keep in mind with the NV4500 is that there's all of 3 gear oils you can safely use in the tranny (anything else is likely to or will make the synchronizers go bang) and the gear spreads are pretty funky.

Shade_Tree said:

Thanks! I've given serious thought to the NV4500, it is a continued debate I have with myself. On the plus side for the NV4500 is gear selection, downside is I have yet to find one for a price I like anywhere near where I live. For what I burn in gas or shipping getting the thing I could get a new set of gears. Plus side for the SM465 is I already have one sitting in the garage, mated to an NP205 and sitting on the appropriate cross-member, they are easy to rebuild and I have a box full of parts for them. Downside of course is the added complexity of the gear swap for the diffs and lack of an overdrive.... What to do...
I guess the only prudent thing to do would be to get one CUCV for the SM465 and one for the NV4500....

Click to expand...

Here what I am doing as we speak and the break down.

One part at time..
200-300 bucks-nv4500 2wd out of junk yard 200-300 bucks

120-slave cylinder with master cylinder assembly from rock

400 for 4wd adapter output shaft for 4x4 spacer and 5th gear nut and oil

40 bucks for throw bearing pivot and keeper

150 for a good flywheel and clutch off craiglist but got another turbo with it

200 for installion of above parts

700r4 rebuilds are about the same for towing and diesel apps.

and if I decided to in a cummins in it I am half way done

southdave said:

Here what I am doing as we speak and the break down.

One part at time..
200-300 bucks-nv4500 2wd out of junk yard 200-300 bucks

Click to expand...

I wish I lived near your junk yard. The best I can seem to find is $600-1000 and 300 miles away for an NV4500....

I have one more I am thinking of using in the m37.. if you have to there is place in Indy that sells on egay for $1040 rebuilt with out the bell chevy set up the bell is about 250 at the dealer... the price is comming down on these it seams

Not to hijack... but Its good to see you are saying howdy to the forum my friend!