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Project: Hank - '93 W250 Daily/tow

6568 Views 153 Replies 13 Participants Last post by  cutoutcummins, 
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Well, i did a thing. With the prices of late model used trucks thru the roof in pandemic, and old solid trucks basically never going down, i "invested". not only did i get basically double for my '08 than i should have, but when a truck just makes you happy it's an investment in sanity! love this new things and started getting into some things that others might find helpful or interesting and thought i'd start a thread. some of you may have seen this truck on the forum before too, i'm like the 4th owner of this build from way back.

1993 Ram W250 Club Cab
Cummins / G360 / NP205
D60 / D80
6" / 4" lift
35's on 17" street-locks
Oldschool Compounds and fiddled with screws

i had been looking for a GM square body to 12V swap, until i found the club cab. i'm just too tall for a regular cab, and quad cab is too much wheelbase for a daily imho. spent a good long while looking for something clean enough to be worth the money and time to keep on the road, but used enough i didn't feel bad doing truck stuff. also wanted something stock to build myself, but obviously threw that to the wind!

I'm from PA and found this bucket of bolts in Mississippi, so decided to make an adventure of it. Flew down on a Thursday night late. My wife and i were dead when we got the hotel and i couldn't sleep like it was Christmas eve as a kid. He picked us up first thing in the AM and the truck was as-advertised, off we went to the bank and notary, then to drop him off. He sold this cuz he got a TRX! i demanded a ride before we left! 🤣

were so close to the coast, so we drove down for lunch on the beach. pan fried grouper taco 🤤 walked the beach for a few minutes, toes in the Gulf, and then headed north. 500miles the first day was basically uneventful and pleasant. though, the wife did use my noise canceling over-ear headphone the whole ride,😂 . stopped Friday night in Nashville, and spent Saturday looking around.

Day 2: breakfast on Broadway, live music, tchotchke shops, etc. even taco bell was bad ass! the tours of drunks at 11am were the best though, holy hell. tractor pulled hay rides, monster truck rides in the city, you name it. city ppl who came to the city to party like it's the country! toured the crazy opry hotel before going to the opry for the Saturday night show. best part was Billy Ray Cyrus singing Achy Breaky live! 🤘

Day 3: headed home, 575mi, again was uneventful for the truck. got a clicking in the steering when not moving, still not found it, and no heater. was at least just above freezing. left early and stopped into the Corvette Museum at opening. totally worth stopping, but can't say i'd have driven there just for that. everything was great until it got cold, rainy, and even snowed. as the sun set the cab stopped holding heat and the windows started to fog up on us. i kept running the defrost to wash the warmer moist air out so i could see, but this froze the wife. she had the DeWalt heated jacket on, hat n gloves, like 4 pairs of socks (one mine), then my spare jeans over her 3 yoga pants, all wrapped in a sweater, still wearing my noise canceling headphones over her hears. on a scale of 1-10, loving it to tuck n roll jumping out the window in front of traffic ... she was about a 9 for the last 3h. 😢

but we made! what an awesome adventure of a weekend!
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sdeeter19555 said:
SBC should be able to refresh that clutch if you wanted to put it to use...
Click to expand...
Called SBC, it's $699 for the rebuild plus shipping both directions on an over 100lb package. at $1000-$1100 new for the street dual, looks like this whole thing is trash. maybe someone will want it for parts though.

thrashingcows said:
If your running a 2nd Gen engine adapter and starter in a 1st Gen you have to grind off approx 3/8" off the top of the frame rail to clear the starter....NV4500 or NV5600.
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That's exactly what i ended up doing! i really thought i had seen that it didn't need that, but makes me feel better knowing this is all nominal.
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so trans adapters ... 1.125" longer for the 2nd gen.

2nd Gen: 2-3/8"
1st Gen: 1-1/4"

so this means my t-case actually moves back 6-5/8"
The shifter moves back 3-3/8"
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first things things first, making the NP205 bolt to the NV5600. most ppl seam to just remove the rear seal from the 5600 and let the void between trans and t-case fill with fluid. i just don't like that option.

i put a rag over the 205 input and tapped the input collar over it to hold steady. then had the wife run the 205 output with a drill so that i could grind the end of the collar to 2.0" like a fancy little lathe. polished it a bit, and she slips right in.

my only concern is the striations from the grinder that are still there after polishing are going the wrong direction to wipe fluid back into the case. they might actually pull fluid thru the seal. i guess we'll find out, and i can have a machinist do the other side of the collar if needed.


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next i got distracted and made a shift knob adapter. M10x1.5 to 1/2-13. this gives me the EATON shifter, and gives me 2 air switches on the knob. one is for exhaust brake for sure, but not sure on the 2nd. front locker? air horn?

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now onto the good stuff! first trans stab complete and it looks like everything is going to fit really nice! new trans jack from HF is also really good. dual axis tilt on the head, goes higher and lower than my welded junk i had been using, nice stable base, the damn thing even weighs more than the 5spd did. all win. plus now i can cut the adapter off the other and have a standard floor jack back.

started by finding the CG of the 5600/205 for best placement on the jack. worked out nice at the seam in the rear case. made manipulation under the truck way easier having that set middle of the jack pad. plus now i can pull/stab it all together and not have to pull the 205 under the truck. that thing is heavy enough to require the trans jack by itself. hell, i can even leave the t-case shifters on while pulling it now.

before the stabbing i started a base for the 205 twin stick shifters, just waiting on the shifter kit to start modifying those parts onto my bracket. was expected Friday, but it appears to be lost now ... at least i could finish the rest easy enough in the truck while this bracket really needed done on the bench.

LIFT YOUR TRUCK! cuz then you can slid the trans under without jacking it up :LOL:




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u2slow
6DoF said:
so trans adapters ... 1.125" longer for the 2nd gen.

2nd Gen: 2-3/8"
1st Gen: 1-1/4"

so this means my t-case actually moves back 6-5/8"
The shifter moves back 3-3/8"
Click to expand...
It's not that simple. Some of that extra thickness is reduced by a shallower bellhousing.
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u2slow said:
It's not that simple. Some of that extra thickness is reduced by a shallower bellhousing.
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My earlier measurements were from the bell mating surface to the transfer case mating surface. By adding in the transmission adapter block surface to bell surface you then get block to transfer case mating surface. Any measurements within there don't affect how far my transfer case moves back.
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u2slow
@6DoF Ya, sorry, I see what you mean.
Most often the question is raised in a context where the driveshafts and tcase position are stock/pre-existing and folks are reluctant to mess with it.
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Yup, and I'm always open to a double check! Thanks for confirmation.

I am ALWAYS looking for numbers, and they are usually hard to find. I try and post anything i find to hopefully help someone else.
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2 steps fwd n one step back ... never fails.

got the tunnel and floor sealed/cut last night, that went well. i decided there was no reason to go too crazy and throw sparks under the dash, so i made the tunnel patch semi-permanent and removable. could go back to the factory trans easier/ patch was easier / it's sealed in place and the new carpet will make it look pretty.

then the NP205. the single stick running 2 shift rails deal wasn't good when new, let alone after 30 years. if i'm making a custom shifter for the 5600, it's going to be a twin stick. if it's a twin stick it has to be capable of FWD. easy enough, just pop out the main shift rail and grind out for the interlocks. sure enough i now have FWD-high, and FWD-low! 🤘

i also now have rear-high and fwd-low at the same time 🤦‍♂️ ... and since it's the direction that a passenger could just kick one stick one notch and get there, i'm going to have to re-pull the stick and add some metal back. oh well.


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fixed it! no more NP205 cross ratio! mod all the 205's though, that only took me 35min to pull the rail, weld, re-grind, and totally reassemble/test.

twin stick kit should be here today, hoping the lateness wasn't cuz UPS destroyed the box and it's missing parts ...

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twin sticks complete and functional! not only that, they fit thru the hole ever so nicely.

started with a GM shifter kit from JB Custom Fabrications and started cutting them up. crazy enough the offset was too much and i had to section 1-1/4" out (1-3/8" on the angle) to get the center of the sticks 7" from the center of the 5600 shifter. 1/4" plate and angle mount bolted to the trans was good spacing, but better with the little spacer that came in the kit. the fwd boss already had a thru-hole and i just tapped the angle for the bolt, while the rearward boss needed to be drilled and tapped. i drilled and tapped the center of that boss, and the shifter pivot is 2" up from that rear bolt, and 2-5/8" forward of it.

the shifter connectors aren't as nice as i wanted, but i can fix them later. instead of buying new heims or threaded sleeves and such, i welded a bolt to one end of a 5/16" rod for the female heims to adjust, while i just welded the male heims right to the rod. if i ever need to replace a heim I'll redo them better ... till then this was all i had laying around. i moved the mounting hole in the bottom of the shifters for better misalignment clearance and i didn't need the extra length like the GM kit required.

the adapters bolted to the 205 shift rails are swapped from what the GM application called for. the one on the fwd stick is unmodified while the other i had to cut the sleeve shorter and drill a new hole for the bolt thru the rail. real happy how those came out, and were easy.

i now have the transmission bolted into the truck for good! while still missing the crossmember, i had to see how the shifters felt. this is a short-throw shifter with a factory 3rd gen stick screwed to it and the EATON shift knob. pictured is 2nd gear, talk about an easier reach than the factory setup! depending on how you hold the shifter you can hit your hand on the steering wheel in the 1-2 shift, but I'm going to drive it before i start modifying that.

i think the t-case shifter hole is good to go, the new twin boot covers and seals it great. i MIGHT have gotten the 5600 shifter hole a little small :LOL:





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mschultz443
you sir are my hero!
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wow, decent weekend of work! wife actually left me alone and i was productive.

finished getting a lot of little things like the trans adapter covers, starter bolted in, clutch master on, etc. shoot, i had already converted my g360 slave cyl to use a braided stainless -3an hose (very worth it) so i just tossed the 5600 slave on that line. low and behold it was too short 🤦‍♂️ had a 36" line in the truck, needed a 48". set about searching thru my "inventory" (the parts hord) and found a 48! 🤘 hooked up, re-bled, much win.

cut down the rear DS and ended up with this stubby thing, not impressed but will function. the carrier is even basically trashed but together. i have about 68" yoke to yoke, so when i re-do the rear suspension later this spring I'll get a new 1pc shaft for back there.

you ever paint stuff and keep working hoping it'll be dry by the time you need them? doesn't always work ... almost as bad as forgetting to power wash the fluid film off before major work and cleaning eeeevvverything.

cross member came out nicer and easier than i ever thought it would. i was finishing up taking all my measurements to go CAD up a nice custom tube cross member, when i looked at the factory unit, had to at least see how it lined up. well after the g360 riser had been un-riveted, it slid in there against the frame without hitting anything, no other modification! even the clocked down np205 was still above it! in order to clear the front shaft, the crossmember is about 9.5" back while the t-case only moved just over 6" back. by moving the factory 5600 trans mount back by 1.25" on it's trans plate, i got the mount centered on the crossmember even. the new 4" c-channel riser is 1-1/8" tall.

my front drive shaft was 19deg different from the pinion before this, now it's only 9. should be WAY less chatter with the hubs locked now. hopefully i can make that a few deg better this spring when i mess with the front suspension too.

the twin stick feels AMAZING to shift in the truck. 10,000x more positive feel and smoother than the wallered out factory BS. highly recommended. no more trying to find what feels like half a detent move between 2wd and 4wd high.






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Wombat Ranger
Looking good.

If it's not too late, you ought to open up that transmission shift tower hole up. Give at least an inch all around the tower. It is going to move around during use, and with how tight it is right now it will hit the floor all around.
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Wombat Ranger said:
Looking good.

If it's not too late, you ought to open up that transmission shift tower hole up. Give at least an inch all around the tower. It is going to move around during use, and with how tight it is right now it will hit the floor all around.
Click to expand...
Agreed! this was the first go to get it thru until everything was fixed and officially mounted. I'm going to put the factory boot over it, so i need to cut open the inner boot to go around the tower and get it mounted. once that's screwed down I'll know exactly how much extra i can trim back. same with the new twin-stick boot, it'll let me open up the sides a touch around the sticks.

an inch around seams excessive for a minimum, but would be obviously functional. hitting with an inch gap would require new engine mounts, not more hole! i'll take whatever the boot allows, but i feel like bare min 1/4" front and back, and 1/2" on the sides. then if it does hit it would just be a fringe scenario and just a kiss.
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1320Fastback
Would love to do a trans swap on mine but just had the Getrag rebuilt. Have you sold off the old getrag or parting it out?
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1320Fastback said:
Have you sold off the old getrag or parting it out?
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still have everything, and everything must go! hopefully someone wants the g360 and all the fiddly bits for spare parts. i haven't actually posted it yet though, what should i ask? i am seeing $5-600 core charges, but i was thinking more like $3-400 with everything. everything being 205 shifter, obviously the g360 shifter, slave cyl, trans mount, and a blown out SB dual disc if someone wanted to take it.
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Wombat Ranger said:
Give at least an inch all around the tower. It is going to move around during use, ...
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6DoF said:
an inch around seams excessive for a minimum, but would be obviously functional. hitting with an inch gap would require new engine mounts, not more hole! i'll take whatever the boot allows, but i feel like bare min 1/4" front and back, and 1/2" on the sides. then if it does hit it would just be a fringe scenario and just a kiss.
Click to expand...
i started thinking more about this ... and i think I was thinkin too small. i think i'm getting on your bus here. my entire frame of reference for shifter movement vs the body is in Jeeps with full cages. 100% assume this truck will flex and twist a lot more!
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