Re: NP540 / Clutch info from Rob


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Posted by Gary Robertson on Wednesday, October 29, 2003 at 10:53AM :

In Reply to: Re: NP540 - Clutch Help Needed posted by Gary Robertson on Tuesday, October 28, 2003 at 11:08AM :

I have done the conversion from the original 435 transmission on my '63 W-300 to a 540, and it was a direct bolt-in, with a shortening of the drive shaft by about 2 inches. I don't think the 420 was original in your truck, but it's probably a civilian 420, so the bolt pattern is the same as the 435, and your bell housing, if original, should have the extra lower left bolt hole for the 540 on it. There may be a difference in the spline count, as some of the 420's had 1" splines, and some had 1 3/8" splines like the 540. Your truck should have had the 1 3/8" originally, but it is only a clutch disk swap difference. There are different covers used on the 540, I have seen shift lever towers right near the front of the case (used on my '58 W-300) and towers about 4 inches back (on my '63 and 67 W-300)

You can also go from the 11" disk to 12" disk with no problem as a bolt-in change.
12" disk is NAPA # CA1733 and the pressure plate is NAPA # RCF586. I just did this on my '67.
I have the geometric 540 (ratios 7.41, 4.05, 2.40, 1.48, 1.00, reverse 7.85) behind a 413 and I really like it. I think it is a better setup than the short 4th. Rob Stellar

Just found out about this easy upgrade on W-300 with 1 3/8" spline clutches. The original standard 11" clutch disk (Borg and Beck #12559) can be replaced with a 12" disk (B&B # 13363) now NAPA # RCF586, and the pressure plate (B&B # 1433) can be replaced with 12" (B&B #1575) now NAPA # CA1733. The pressure plate is the same
on the WM-300, and there should be a matching disk for the 1" spline. On doing cross references of these parts beware that the actual clutch diameter is 11.87", not 12.00"!! Rob Stellar



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