Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

what trans are you running ?

th400 = 32 spline
203 = shortest tail shaft length .
205 fig 8 style next longest .
late 205 round 6 and 208 and 241 longer tail length .

th350 27 spline
203 AND 205 take same tail shaft length .

adapters are specific also .

and drive shaft lengths are different as is the shifters .

but i am sure you know this stuff .

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

I am running a th350. I really didn't know anything about doing this but I am learning. The guy I ordered the 205 from is very good on these. But he wasn't sure on the specifics for each truck/trans combo for shaft differences. His exact words were" no body ever calls me back and lets me know if any of the shafts need to have lengths changed" I bought a complete package from him. It has the transfer case with shifter, adapter and coupler.

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

that package deal will get you real close .

once its all in you will need to have the drive shafts reworked for the overall length . otherwise your good to go .

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

the sad thing is I just had a new rear shaft built for this truck and now I will have to send it back in to have it changed

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

Got the 205 transfer case on Monday, started install on Tuesday morning. It actually is a pretty straight forward easy install. the differences that I ran into are: driveshafts---front needs to be shortened, rear has to be longer. They are on the way to the driveshaft place as I write this. I should have them back Thursday or Friday. The speedo cable is on the opposite side of the tail shaft, in my case it was long enough to rerouted and put back on with no problem. The shifter lined up nicely in the hole, it does hit just a bit when going into 4 low. I could have bent the shifter or cut a bit of tin to make it clear but since I never use low range and it does go into low I decided to leave it well enough alone. The boot is a bit off center and doesn't fit tight on the top. I am thinking about buying a shift knob with the correct pattern on it. The crossmember and mounts lined up with no modifications. All and all I think it is probably the best way out of the NP203 problems without replacement of the trans.

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

make it clear . if you need 4w-low it can pop out from driveline twist in the engine/trans mounts to body flex .

looks like a super clean rebuild of that unit .

only thing i would have done if mine since i have had it done and LOVE it is a twin stick conversion and modifyed shift rail . gets you 2wd low and front wheel only high / low option also .

the 2wd low is so nice moving trailers around .

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

^x2
I had a dual home made shifter on my 203 transfer.
It was nice to use the high or low without the 4wheel drive.
here is a link of how to dual stick the 205. if you are interested.

https://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/gene...ick-cheap.html

Nice work It looks good

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

It hits just a bit when I put it in 4 low but has clearance when it is in gear. I have never used low range in the 35 years I have owned the truck. I don't even put a 1000 miles a year on the truck and all I ever use is 2 & 4 high. The guy that I bought this from was very helpful and honest. He does a lot of them from the way it sounds.

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

Got the driveshafts back yesterday. installed and truck is driveable once more. It all seems to work good.

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

Couple of weeks ago the tire shop/scrap guys across the street were scrapping a 78 chevy 3/4 4x4 I walked over to see what wheels were on it and buy them if possible. I ended up with all 4 steel wheels for $40. As I was looking at it I noticed that it had a vent shade on the right side door. I hadn't seen a set of those in a while. When I was in the dealership I put 100s of these things on, I used to put them on all of my squares. I thought it would be a good addition for the 77 but there was only the one and it wasn't that nice so I didn't bother with it. I went to our last swap meet of the season last weekend and lo and behold on a table was not one but two brand new pairs of vent shades for $10. I bought them without even trying to get him to go lower, he didn't think he would sell them. So on Monday ran a load of tires to the dump and decided that I would install them when I got back to the shop. I tried to find some stainless screws in town but of course no one seems to keep #4 x 1/4 in stock. I put them on with steel screws for now and ordered the stainless ones. While I had it in the shop I also decided it was time to do something about the radio, the volume control would cut out when I tried to adjust it. it was very annoying, I pulled it out, removed the covers and sprayed the controls with contact spray. Put it back in and it works perfect now. I also decided that I should get some wax on the old girl before winter. I picked up some wizards paint sealant and applied that after washing the truck. It is looking pretty good for going on its third winter since paint. Next up--blasting and repaint of the replacement wheels.

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

Truck looks great! The vent shades are a nice touch!

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

I’ve always liked those vent shades. They’re cool looking and functional. I’ve had them on every square I’ve had.

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

Got the wheels I bought from the junker guys blasted, primed, painted and are now on the truck.

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

Those turned out great.

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

Beautiful.

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

Got our first plow event day yesterday. I was plowing down at the shop, pushing the snow off the sidewalk into the street which I push into a pile for the city to pickup later. As I was doing that I looked in the mirror to back up here comes a cop car real slow, he pulls up, rolls down the passenger window and says "that truck is way to pretty to be driving around in this slop!" I just laughed and told him "it is a plow truck." Just thought it was funny a cop was interested in a old square body.

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

took mine out for here 1st ever together this combo way trip friday and everyone was saying the same thing thats to nice to plow with dont do it .

i told them its a pile of parts tossed together and a 2wd doner body to top it off with . and i have 3 other SUPER CLEAN ones at home that wont be seeing salt anytime soon .

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

I am happy to report after some heavy snows in the last few weeks the transfer case is working great. One of the really good things to happen from this is the fact I got rid of almost all of the vibrations I had in the drivetrain. With the new transfer case, driveshafts and replacement wheels it pretty much cured everything. Unfortunately I think the trans is getting worn out from all of the shifting from forward to reverse, so I will be pulling the trans when it gets past snow season. I did break some plow pieces from all the frozen crap we have hiding under the snow and I also had some plow controller problems. I luckily buy all of the plow controllers I see at the swap meets, so I have extra parts to keep 1 working.

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

I think your plow truck is nicer than most of the squarebody's left.

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

update on plow truck. it has been about 5 years of plowing since the rebuild with some other updates along the way. unfortunately even with every effort to stop the rust in this state i found myself and the truck starting to lose the battle again. i had a guy stop during the summer with a new business in the area that does fleet rust protection, basically oiling the truck with some secret formula for rust protection that will stop rust from getting worse. so i figured for $180 it was worth a try so we will see. I also went to the tire dump the other day and the plow truck quit on the way back. after doing a bit of diagnosis i discovered it had no fuel at carb, disconnected fuel line at pump, hooked pump to fuel can and started right up. old solenoid style fuel valve decided that 44 years was long enough and it was time to retire. of course as most of you know that exact part is no longer available. so i ordered up a new style valve and switch. i also had a look at the exhaust leak that i thought was a donut failure on the right side and looked at the stiff steering that i assumed was a failed axle joint in the front. well my friends never assume anything is going to be as easy as you think. The valve bolts were rusted solid to the valve, the exhaust manifold right side was broken between the #6 and #8 cylinder and the axle joints were perfect but at least one of the ball joints were seized. it also needed some new mufflers so i just pulled the whole exhaust off the right side to get more room to work on the replacement of the fuel valve and associated wiring that needed to be done. luckily i have been hoarding exhaust manifolds for years so i had some fairly nice ones to choose from some fighting with junk stud replacement and new mufflers we are good on exhaust. i just have to get the new switch and wiring to dash done and hopefully we are ready for another wonderful(sarcasm) plowing season to begin.

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

Plowing is kinda rough in the rust department. You get the fresh sloppy snow mixed with Calcium or rock salt stuck to everything. Stuff only tends to last 5-6 years when exposed to that stuff.

You can't easily re-use the original 73-80 NL2 harness. You'll need an 81-91 NL2 harness or roll your own. Not terribly difficult to do either way.
The dual tank theory of operation thread is here.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=754061

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

i did read your theory of operation but i guess i missed why it is hard to reuse the original harness. i reused the original wires that were for the senders to operate the valve and used the original solenoid valve wire for fuel gauge wire. i used the pigtail on the valve and a different packard 56 4 place plastic body at the new dash switch. did i miss something?

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

If it works properly then use it.
Most folks don't have the skillset to repurpose the older harness and make it work properly.
I've come back to some of my more creative wiring jobs after a decade and wondered who the heck did that and what did he do.:eek::eek::lol::lol:
You might want to draw a diagram of your wiring job on an 8.5x11 sheet of paper so you don't have to wonder who "that guy" was. It'll help the next guy if you sell it.

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

actually i did draw it out before i did it. part of my job in the shop is rewiring classic cars. i am not an expert nor can i do it with out drawing a map but i have learned a few things over the years of doing this. replacing the harness just seemed to be more work than i needed to do to get this to work correctly. but i will admit the stupid loop from the gauge to tank and back again to the switch for the fuel gauge did make me stop and look at it again. i worked in a pontiac/gmc dealer in the 80s and dealt with gm's 1 harness for each model and add to it as needed.

Re: Rebuilding my 1977 plow truck
 

Such a good-looking truck. No surprise at all that folks think it's too nice for winter. But you can't beat a purpose-built rig that does a good job doing what it's meant for.