DarioGMC
Newbie
Hello, as said in my truck's thread i started this coversion on my '97 GMC Sierra K3500 6.5 TD.
It has a 4L80E that i hate and i want to convert it to manual.
It hadn't been easy but i've found a NV4500 in Germany.
It's an early model with very short 1st gear and the bellhousing had the external slave cylinder.
The first thing to do is to buy the 4wd tailhousing because the gearbox was on a 2wd truck.
With the gearbox and bellhousing the German sold me also the clutch and flywheel.
If i'm not wrong (i did some research here and there on the web) , the clutch should fit (the diameter is more or less 300mm or 12") but the flywheel not....it was on a 5.7 gas (350) it weights 13,1 kg (28,8 lbs) . Am i right?
I read that the diesel flywheel weights 45 lbs.
Of course i don't want the dual mass flywheel, is it better to buy the 6.2 one or one of the solid conversion ones for the 6.5 TD?
I've got some pics :
Clutch plate and pressure plate seem to be quite good and reusable...anyway, buy everything new could be a good idea...what do you think?
Then the clutch and brake pedals :
i read that there are two versions for the clutch pedal : '88-'94 and '95-'2000
mine is a '97 but i bought an old style bellhousing with external slave cylinder :
do you know if the '95-'00 pedal work with the older slave? Or is it better to adapt a '88-'94 one? I've got a machining shop...
In the worst case, for the brake pedal, i could keep the automatic one and cut it....but i hope to find the right one.
Shafts :
does anybody know the lenght difference between the 4L80E shafts and the ones for the NV4500?
I read that the 4L60E should have the same lenght of the NV4500 so i could use the shafts of a truck equipped with this gearbox if i find one with the same wheelbase....it's a bit hard to find a GMT400 in a scrapyard in Italy but not impossible......
Most of the GMT400 here in Italy are 1500s....do you know if 1500 shafts fit on a 3500?
I could also buy some used ones from the USA but the shipping is very very expensive.
Another option is to ask to a drive shafts shop to make some custom ones.
ECM
I read that the 4L80E comunicates with the ECM and pull it away from the truck could generate a lot of error codes.
So...what to do?
I read a lot about this but i'm still confused :
some say that you have to reprogram the ECM to "tell it" that now the truck has a manual transmission
some other say that they left all the 4L80E elctrical stuff connected and they drive with no problems
What's the truth?
Then there should be some other questions about cruise control and something else that i don't remember....and then i think i write enought.
I can't wait to start driving my truck the way i used to, i really hate that ****** automatic. And it's an exciting challenge do this conversion here in Italy....all my friend tell me i'm crazy.
Thank you in advance for the patience for reading all and for your help.
It has a 4L80E that i hate and i want to convert it to manual.
It hadn't been easy but i've found a NV4500 in Germany.
It's an early model with very short 1st gear and the bellhousing had the external slave cylinder.
You must be registered for see images attach
The first thing to do is to buy the 4wd tailhousing because the gearbox was on a 2wd truck.
With the gearbox and bellhousing the German sold me also the clutch and flywheel.
If i'm not wrong (i did some research here and there on the web) , the clutch should fit (the diameter is more or less 300mm or 12") but the flywheel not....it was on a 5.7 gas (350) it weights 13,1 kg (28,8 lbs) . Am i right?
I read that the diesel flywheel weights 45 lbs.
Of course i don't want the dual mass flywheel, is it better to buy the 6.2 one or one of the solid conversion ones for the 6.5 TD?
I've got some pics :
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
Clutch plate and pressure plate seem to be quite good and reusable...anyway, buy everything new could be a good idea...what do you think?
Then the clutch and brake pedals :
i read that there are two versions for the clutch pedal : '88-'94 and '95-'2000
mine is a '97 but i bought an old style bellhousing with external slave cylinder :
do you know if the '95-'00 pedal work with the older slave? Or is it better to adapt a '88-'94 one? I've got a machining shop...
In the worst case, for the brake pedal, i could keep the automatic one and cut it....but i hope to find the right one.
Shafts :
does anybody know the lenght difference between the 4L80E shafts and the ones for the NV4500?
I read that the 4L60E should have the same lenght of the NV4500 so i could use the shafts of a truck equipped with this gearbox if i find one with the same wheelbase....it's a bit hard to find a GMT400 in a scrapyard in Italy but not impossible......
Most of the GMT400 here in Italy are 1500s....do you know if 1500 shafts fit on a 3500?
I could also buy some used ones from the USA but the shipping is very very expensive.
Another option is to ask to a drive shafts shop to make some custom ones.
ECM
I read that the 4L80E comunicates with the ECM and pull it away from the truck could generate a lot of error codes.
So...what to do?
I read a lot about this but i'm still confused :
some say that you have to reprogram the ECM to "tell it" that now the truck has a manual transmission
some other say that they left all the 4L80E elctrical stuff connected and they drive with no problems
What's the truth?
Then there should be some other questions about cruise control and something else that i don't remember....and then i think i write enought.
I can't wait to start driving my truck the way i used to, i really hate that ****** automatic. And it's an exciting challenge do this conversion here in Italy....all my friend tell me i'm crazy.
Thank you in advance for the patience for reading all and for your help.
