85 GMC Jimmy Diesel vs. 75 GMC Jimmy

The full convertible is a beautiful thing. Bastard year, that - a square body with the full 'vert. '69-'73.... ah the first gen beauty. *big starry eyes*

batteries (since the owner wanted those

How sure are you that there is no rust? I just find it hard to believe you live somewhere where you have a rotted out 75 you fixed up and it roted out agian in a few years, and you found this jem for free? Just HOW rust free is it?

Yes it do. I would take the top portion of the 1975' wind sheild and graft it onto the 1985. Hopefully the doors on the 1975 are OK enough to throw on the 1985? I believe you can chop off the top frame of the door and get satisfactory results as well. Then box off the top of the rear pillars where you cut off the roof and you have a convertible with the nice striaght body line on the front fender and those goofy over-under square headlights. Better than that weirdo straight-down-backwards body line on the '75 though!

putting it on the 85.

Why? Total bastard of a transfer case!

Draw backs;

1: Heavy: Basically the same cast iron case as the venerable NP205 (they are direct swaps for each other) 2: Chain Drive: The gear box portion is quite stout, but the front drive shaft is run by a chain where as the NP205 justifies it's weight by consisting entirely of massive helical cut gears. 3: Full time 4WD: Wastes gas, tires, and power to the rears. Allows the truck to get stuck in a situation where 1 wheel is spinning just like it's a 2x4. This t-case acts as a differential allowing the front and rear drive shafts to spin at different speeds. No true t-case does this, they are locked and turn at the same speed. 3A: Part time 4WD kits exist: Whopty frikken do, every other T-case already is! So your going to spend a hundred bucks or whatever on an inferior t-case to bastardize it, and cause it to not properly oil it's self? Uhm, why?

Pluses; You can go too

and using your NP203 attach it to an NP205 and create a "doubler". *grin* - only really usefull if you have at least 1 locker. And like to get it dirty. Eh... ya... that's about it. Paper weight?

It's not that hard to put spider gears in a T-case. Does "electronic innovations" mean "made for lazy yupies" or "guaranteed to break when used"? Get a real T-case, the only thing that makes them fail for the *most* part is abuse, like drive line wind-up - or they eventually need to be rebuilt. No clutches, computers, encoders, motors, solenoids, aliens, etc. Just gaskets/bearings/etc.

T-case options:

NP205/NP203/Doubler: Probably over the top in your instance. But you can sure get allot of options with this bastard. Front wheel drive only, rear wheel drive only, four wheel drive, independent ratios front/rear (hi front, low rear) even! NP205: You don't have one, doesn't sound like you really (ab)use this truck, so why find one? NP203: You seem to like it. Is it a slip-yoke version (retarded design) or is it a fixed yoke version? Even if it's a slip yoke, if you like it throw it in the '85. It doesn't have as low a range as the 85's t-case though. NP208: T-case in your 1985. Another bastard year. Lightweight, aluminum, chain driven, slip yoke, and nothing you can do to it to change it. NP241: Basically like the NP208- lightweight, aluminum, chain driven, slip yoke - but you can put in a SYE (slip yoke eliminator) kit and turn it into a fixed yoke. Don't have one, why find one?

Fixed yokes are good for both road and offroad use. If you grenade your rear diff (burn outs or rock crawling), you can drop the drive shaft and not have to tape a coke bottle over the end of the t-case to keep fluids inside - then return in front wheel drive. It also puts the slip joint in the DS where it belongs, so there is no/little lateral force on the joint that can cause it to bind. This binding can potentially snap a slip-yoke type transfer case.

I say the NP208 is already in the truck, and I don't know what it would take to adapt the NP203 to the TH700R4 that is most likely behind that 6.2 vs. the TH350 that is likely behind the 5.7 that's probably in the '75.... hmmm

I think if the '85 is really cherry converting it to full 'vert would be sick - and you wouldn't need to do anything to the AC compressor! Don't forget the banks super charger for that 6.2!

GMC Gremlin

The 85 Being Cherry is a bit much, but it's nice. The 75 Came with plenty of rust and served in areas with a brutal winter. The 85 was probably garaged.

I forgot about the slip yoke. One more thing to replace. I had a 1980 3/4 Ton with most of the parts I'd need to upgrade except for the trannie. HD Axles, NP205 etc.

The NP203 does have that 'flaw' where if one wheel spins thats all she wrote. But having been on very bad roads with a one wheel drive truck, and a 4x4 with posi the 1x1 was much more stable to drive on ice until I put the

4x4 into 4 wheel drive. Where I was going with the comparison was that modern electronic system tout a bunch of features that the NP 203 had. I'll have to look at it and see if it's the bastard version. It probably is. I should of got a Dana 44 on the 75 but its a 10 bolt instead I suspect everything else will match the lesser version. The 203 does have a low range and drving it in snow the little I was able before it quit running I was impressed that it got around as well as it did in non lock mode. I fully expected to hit the gas and have one wheel spin immediatly.

Thanks for the input I'm going to print that out and save it.

So now the *full* story comes out!!! lol.

trannie. HD

3/4 ton will have the D44 and probably a 14BSF (semi-float) neither of which are that great.

truck, and

I agree and the NP203 does a much better job at it too. But the auto makers are always looking for "progress".

Why? D44 and corp 10 are "almost" the same axle. The D44 could be considered MARGINALLY stronger than the corp 10, but the parts are MUCH more expensive. About the only thing a D44 is good for is the front hubs so you can turn the cheap and easy to maintain corp 10 bolt into an 8 lug axle.

Unless you plan to go OVER 35" tires (38 say) AND your a total retard about (ab)using it, you should be able to beat the snot of out that axle with no breakages. Examples; turn it to full lock and floor the pedal.... Other then that go D60 or go home.

All chevy's t-cases have low ranges son :-) Low range is fairly well useless unles you have at least 1 locking differential. Other than that it puts *too much* torque too the wheels and breaks them free easier, where as you can finesse the power easier in a higher gear. That's why automagic's suck, unless you modify them you can't put it in 2nd gear to help control wheel spin in low traction situations. But once you get 1 or two lockers (of whatever type, welded, lock-rite, ARB, etc) then your diffy wont transfer power from the wheels that grip to the wheels that slip, and that low range will come into play.

That's another thing I like about part-time transfer cases. You can get

1 wheel to spin and the resulting fish tail is quite exilerating.... hehehe. Or you can put it in 2lo (don't lock front hubs) and produce massive amounts of smoke - easily. lol

No problem send me pictures when your done!! Hell, send me pictures now!

Gremlin (from work)

Thats a really nice lookin truck. Very nice.

what kind of tires are those? cant quite make em out.

They are just some pepboys (i think - didn't buy them) cheapies. Peerless force 4 A/T. They're OK in the snow, slippery in the mud, and roll pretty nice on the highway. But they do make allot of hum for how tame the tread is. Those are 31x10.5x16 (stock).

GMC Gremlin

Got the 3" body lift in the bed, been rattlin around for a few months. Got the new body bushings too. Just got a bunch of rot repair parts so I can actually attach the body lift too something, and I think this one would ride best on a bfg a/t or mud terrain.

Now my future 79/85 hybrid.... hmmm.....

GMC Gremlin