m135/211 repower

[beetle]

I might have a chance to buy an old deuce. It looks like the pre m35 trucks with the rolled down hood. It is only the cab & chassis. I was wondering if anyone is out there has repowered one of these with a m35 drive train. It sounds like a good project, but I don't want to have to do a lot of welding & cutting. Will a deuce engine & tranny fit in one of these without too much word. Thanks in advance for any & all input. Thanks Beetle.

 

[lacoda56]

In theory, anything's possible. If you want a multifuel M211 it'd be way easier to put the cab and front clip from an M211 on a n M35 frame and drivetrain. And yes, there will be massive amounts of cutting and welding! I've thought of doing something similar myself, but when you have the trucks side by side, it's much easier to just leave things alone. Oh and by the way, the M211 transfercase is only a single speed, low range is in the hydramatic trans, so if you do an engine and tranny swap you're stuck with high range only.

 

[drgreg]

I do not think a LDT engine and trans will fit. This would, in my opinion, be a very complex conversion. The original Engine/Trans set-up would be the way to go.
I have not owned or worked on a 135/211, yet, so I could be wrong.

 

[DavidWymore]

How about a chevy LS transplant? heehee

 

[Ashley P]

How about a chevy LS transplant? heehee

I understand this is an old topic, but I'm a little defensive about my small block swapped xm211. I'm sure the LS would be even better.

 

[Valley Rock]

Adding to thread necro ...

I understand this is an old topic, but I'm a little defensive about my small block swapped xm211. I'm sure the LS would be even better.

Did you keep the auto ?

Link to Build thread or pics ?

 

[DUUANE]

Ill be embarking on a smallblock/MT653 swap in the near future i hope..'ol rusty stud is patiently waiting in the weeds for my hydramatic and i feel bad about getting wrapped up with work to the point of chaos.
The more i look at it i think the main issue will be starter clearance to the front axle upper torque rod. If i could find the flywheel housing to do it i would use one of my 413 chryslers with the allison.
My reasons for this are.
Drivers side starter
Nice forged crank
Factory sodium filled exhaust valves.
Ultra duty block and head cooling.
Already set up for a belt driven air compressor that uses standard belts.
Distributor up front.
The rub is coming up with the allison housing and flexplate stuff. The place to look would be in an airport fuel tanker. Not many of those in my neck of the woods.
I have a 6.8l tubocharged john deere here with a #3 housing that "may" fit but im not really that big a fan of them and parts are$$ so that aint gonna happen.
My pick for a diesel would be an inline pump dt466 mechanical.
Either way..ive been cooking a plan and ill dig up my thread and post all the pics and gory details i can once we get to tearing it down.

 

[rustystud]

Ill be embarking on a smallblock/MT653 swap in the near future i hope..'ol rusty stud is patiently waiting in the weeds for my hydramatic and i feel bad about getting wrapped up with work to the point of chaos.
The more i look at it i think the main issue will be starter clearance to the front axle upper torque rod. If i could find the flywheel housing to do it i would use one of my 413 chryslers with the allison.
My reasons for this are.
Drivers side starter
Nice forged crank
Factory sodium filled exhaust valves.
Ultra duty block and head cooling.
Already set up for a belt driven air compressor that uses standard belts.
Distributor up front.
The rub is coming up with the allison housing and flexplate stuff. The place to look would be in an airport fuel tanker. Not many of those in my neck of the woods.
I have a 6.8l tubocharged john deere here with a #3 housing that "may" fit but im not really that big a fan of them and parts are$$ so that aint gonna happen.
My pick for a diesel would be an inline pump dt466 mechanical.
Either way..ive been cooking a plan and ill dig up my thread and post all the pics and gory details i can once we get to tearing it down.

Yep. Ready to go right now and get that little puppy from you ! I still need several parts to restore mine and hopefully yours will have them. The only reason I'm even doing this is because I have a small block Chevy housing for the Hydra-Matic and I want to install it in a Deuce. At this point, unless your going for an original restoration of a M135/M211 I would not try and rebuild the Hydra-Matic transmission. The amount of money I have already spent on parts is way more then a good used Allison AT540 would cost. Even a TH400 built with racing parts would be better then the original Hydra-Matic . Hard parts have almost completely dried up. The "kits" which don't even have all the soft parts needed for a true rebuild cost over $400.00 to $600.00 now. Several rings don't exist anymore, so good used is your only option. Also there are three bushings that are needed that also don't exist now. One company that specialized in "vintage" transmissions had two of the bushings, but they would not sell them. They where for a "special" customer that restored classic cars. These bushings will need to be machined at a shop and will probably cost me a small fortune.
So yes I'm waiting patently for you Duuane .

 

[DUUANE]

Hopefully this weekend will yield some action on the M135 front..i've whittled the honey do list down to some one liners and ill actually be in town at the shop..so if the weather holds and the boys make an appearance things could get going.
An AT545 would be a horrible choice of transmission. There is no converter lock up and the stall speed is really high. I see there are at least 4 part numbers for converters now..im guessing 2 are gas and 2 are diesel. There would need to be some expensive and labour intensive tssting to see which one is tight enough to be useable.
I chose the MT allison for the lockup.