NV4500 Transplant

[inVERt'D]

As a few of you know, my current NV3550 pops out of first like crazy, which just plain sucks whether you're on the pavement or off; the parts to fix the internal linkage per the service bulletin are like $450 from the stealership.

Anyway, against my better judgement (because of the money), I just scored me a Dodge NV4500 on eBay. It has the 5.61 1st gear (not bad!), the 4x4 tailhousing, etc., and is apparently ready to throw into my Jeep with the help of an adapter bellhousing. One other small detail: I have to get the thing home to Anza (45 min E of Temecula) from Fremont (Bay Area).

Here's the eBay Description:

1998 Dodge NV4500 4x4 manual transmission 5 speed

This is the Dodge Gas NV4500 with the 1-1/8 x 10 spline input and the 23 spline 4x4 output shaft for Dodge, Jeep and other transfer cases.

This transmission was converted from 2WD with all original New Venture parts. This is the ideal conversion transmission with the 5.61 first gear, and fully synchronized in all gears including Reverse. This transmission comes as you see it, fully assembled and rebuilt, with a new input shaft, counter shaft, and main shaft, synchros, bearings, and special improved 5th gear retainer. It has the correct Dodge gas input shaft and clutch throw out bearing retainer. It has a refurbished (gasket face repaired and resurfaced) 6-5/16 deep aluminum 4x4 6 bolt round factory transfer case adapter.

This transfer case adapter is compatible with the Atlas, and many other Advance Adapters or Novak conversion systems. Also fits the 23 spline NP231, 241, Dana 300, etc.

This transmission is just like new. It is clean, and there is nothing wrong with it. It is ready for your Bronco, Jeep, Land Cruiser, or daily driver. It is the late model Dodge unit with the correct shifter, for 1998 and up NV 4500 applications.

Apparently it's not really a '98, but a '97 or older, since it has the bottle style shifter.

Does anyone have any experience transplanting one of these things?

[inVERt'D]

For the love of God, where are all the know-it-alls when you need them!?

[womb raider 940]

go to pirate

[aw12345]

Look on advance adapter website what you neet to get the thing bolted to your engine. They have an adapter kit for the ax15 that should work. The ax15 and the NV3500 use the same bellhousing acording to the quardratec knowledge base thing. So the setup with the external slave ought to work.
http://advanceadapters.com/product/3...ne-NV4500.html

From the description what you bought you would basically need either the belhousing and or an adapter plate only and whatever is needed to get the slavecylinder to work. You also might want to ask
about the lenght of the output shaft, from what I looked up just now the nv3500 and the a999 automatic use a somewhat different lenght output shaft than a ax15 trans. If its to long you can always cut it.
Hope this helps.

Found some more info

http://www.jeepsunlimited.com/forums...500+conversion

[inVERt'D]

Thanks, Art, that does help. I wasn't trying to get someone to use Google for me--I'm not that lazy. :wink: I had done some casual research over the past few months, but it's hard to find info that's cut and dry, like: if this is the tranny you have, this is what you need to make it work... I find that the devil can usually be found in the details with a swap like this, even after all the major things, like bellhousings, etc., have been addressed.

Anyway, I just bought a new daily driver commuter sissy car, so I can get a little more aggressive with tearing my Jeep apart now. I'll cut the tub, stretch the rear, and do whatever else I have to to make it work. I wanted a little more rear stretch anyway...

[DavidWymore]

What happened with the 4500? Hate to see you pass up the opportunity for beef, I did it once. I run a machine shop, hint, hint...

[blackZZR]

Novak Adapters, and I would jump on a 4500 like stnk on %&#*

[brokenujoint]

i know it aint no bolt in project. there is trimming to do. new drive shafts, mm issues bl issues.. have fun.

[inVERt'D]

What happened with the 4500? Hate to see you pass up the opportunity for beef, I did it once. I run a machine shop, hint, hint...

Hey, any help or advice from someone who has done it would be greatly appreciated. I'm planning on doing the swap real soon, cuz no 1st gear is really cramping my style. I've been doing almost nothing except laying in the dirt working on cars for weeks now, and I really wanted to get out there and wheel before I tore my rig apart again, so that's what I did today.

Getting laid off happened. Instead of spending close to $1K for Advance Adapters setup, I plan to make an adapter plate out of 1/4" steel. What I had in mind was buying the pilot bushing from AA and paying them to machine the bearing retainer (they told me $50, Novak told me $80). AA really wasn't super helpful--I don't think most of those guys know what they're talking about half the time.

Novak Adapters, and I would jump on a 4500 like stnk on %&#*

Where were you when I was trying to sell it a few weeks back? Novak doesn't seem to like the NV4500; they think all anyone really needs in a Jeep is a 4-speed. *Quack* Mine is a driver; I'm still running 3.73s and I use 5th all the time. Also, I think having syncro'd granny and reverse is pretty damned useful; you're not going to find that in one of those older 4-speeds.

i know it aint no bolt in project. there is trimming to do. new drive shafts, mm issues bl issues.. have fun.

Who needs bolts? That's what welders are for. I have a plasma cutter, so trimming will be fun. My rear drive shaft will be fine; I relocated the rear axle a long time ago, so an inch or two would just make the driveshaft more comfortable. I need to fix the front driveshaft anyway; it's a thin-walled P.O.S., and it has dents going all the way around it. The will be no body lift or motor mount issues because I don't believe in lifting either on a Jeep. I'd rather cut a hole in the floor, weld an armrest on the tranny, and call it good.

[blackZZR]

a few weeks ago I was totalling my jeep on the 215

[ECV Jeep]

Just a thought, cuz I do not know anything about this particular conversion....how about having a lengthy discussion with the seller? That person may have been planning such a swap, and if honorable, provide some good info to you.

I do know some folks you could speak to for some free advice, and would be happy to put you in contact if you wanted. I would also think lobbing a call into Advance Adapters would be good idea, as they are normally very helpful on such things.

Send me a PM if you run into trouble and are looking to for some advice from others. Be aware that I am leaving tomorrow for a week.........to spend some quality time on Dusy-Ershim.

Good luck.

[inVERt'D]

I know, but I thought that was less than 2 weeks ago. I was trying to sell the 4500 back in May I think. How's your rebuild going? I still have that windshield frame (not my tweaked one). BTW, don't settle for aftermarket hinges--they're much thinner than OEM; and they're a very important part of your Jeep's rollover protection--even with most cage kits.

Did I just hijack my own thread!? :hijack:

[DavidWymore]

http://www.nv4500.com/index.php/cPath/3142

[inVERt'D]

Just a thought, cuz I do not know anything about this particular conversion....how about having a lengthy discussion with the seller? That person may have been planning such a swap, and if honorable, provide some good info to you.

I do know some folks you could speak to for some free advice, and would be happy to put you in contact if you wanted. I would also think lobbing a call into Advance Adapters would be good idea, as they are normally very helpful on such things.

Send me a PM if you run into trouble and are looking to for some advice from others. Be aware that I am leaving tomorrow for a week.........to spend some quality time on Dusy-Ershim.

Good luck.

I had a lengthy discussion with the seller when I arranged shipping. He's a Gen. 1 Bronco guy, so he doesn't know much about Jeep swaps in particular. He strongly suggested I try to talk to a particular person at AA, because he said most of the rest of them were idiots. I never did get to talk to that person, but after talking to several others, I can see where he was coming from.

Have fun on Dusy-Ershim!

[inVERt'D]

NV4500 Adapted

Finally got to this point earlier this week. Here is my NV4500 wearing my NV3550's bellhousing. Mating the two together is my 1/4" steel adapter plate. The requisite design and precision machining were all realized at my state-of-the-art facilities in Anza, California.

Honestly, there were some real challenges to overcome, especially considering the precision required to make an adapter that won't ruin your transmission. Of course, the bolt patterns are completely different, but that's just the start. The NV4500 and NV3550 transmissions use different schemes to index to their respective bellhousings. The former indexes off of its round input retainer, while the latter utilizes dowel pins. Parts of the bellhousing interfered with the tranny and vice-versa. In the end, some mild "machining" of the bellhousing was required. I also did some some mild grinding/ reshaping of the mounting flange of the tranny to allow for better clearance of the stock TJ slave cylinder.



Since I started with a '98 Dodge 4x4 transmission that had a compatible input shaft, output shaft, output flange, and bearing retainer, it seemed overboard to then spend $1000 "adapting" it to my Jeep. (No disrespect to Advance Adapters--they make some nice stuff, but it gets pricey.) Turns out it's their short bellhousing which makes it as pricey as it is, since it necessitates replacement of the Dodge input shaft with the shorter Chevy version (and likely adjusting end play of the same), machining of the input bearing retainer, pilot bearing, different slave cylinder, adapters, and hydraulic line. BTW, although some of their sales reps seemed to be somewhat confused on the point, the "right" NV4500 for their TJ kit is the Dodge "standard-duty" gasoline version.

I considered using AA's AX-15 adapter plate, but it requires use of an internal slave cylinder/ release bearing. I happen to not like that at all. I also considered using a modified AMC bellhousing from an old T-18(?) equipped Jeep, but didn't for several reasons.

My adapter and mildly modified NV3550 bellhousing reuse all of the Jeep clutch components, including release bearing, fork, pivot ball, slave cylinder, and pilot bushing. One caveat, this adaptation did require clocking the tranny a few degrees towards driver. I'm really happy with how it worked out.

When the weather clears I'll begin the actual installation and mounting.