Has anyone successfully mated one of these 5-speed manuals to a nailhead? What did it take? Pix would be helpful. TIA!!! Was a lot of talk about these transmissions here.
Dunno' if you want to mess with that one or not. Truck transmission primarily, steep first gear. Off topic Jeep application for me. Not very strong, I want to say 275ft lbs or a little better. I dunno' ... it didn't last long ... and neither did the six cylinder that I started with. I used a bunch of stuff from Novak to fit it. Wasted my money. The Novak parts were great, the NV3500 not so. I think your nailhead would kill it in even more spectacular fashion. NV 4500 is stronger ... same underdrive 1st gear though/granny ... I'd save my money for a Tremec product ... TKO600 or better.
This is a Russ Martin recommendation for the Nailhead and I can verify that it is a good combo. Borg Warner Super T10 4sp out of a 80/81 Camaro and 270 rear gears. 1st gear in these trans is real low and with this rear gear ratio, it's like overdrive. Martin sells the bell housing.
The NV3500 is a 'mid-size' power trans, not overly robust but certainly not a weakling. If the 401 is not too radical then it should be fine in a daily driver. Drag racing? Not-so-much.... There was a 'close-ratio' version available in small GM trucks and in the Ram 1500 1st gear 3.49; 2nd gear 2.16; 3rd gear 1.4; 5th gear at .73 .
The trans come with bellhousings rated at 300 ft lbs. and are a ***** to work on with out special tools.