R380 + LS

AdamSanta85

AdamSanta85

Well-known member
I am planning for my swap. Going to start acquiring parts soon, shopping for a good engine candidate. Due to somewhat limited budget I have decided it is probably best I "settle" for one of the lower horsepower engines. Something along the lines of the LC9 315hp/330tq.

I really want to keep my truck manual transmission. I see people suggesting the NV transmissions but not many people actually doing it, or even better have one actually on the road that actually gets driven.

What about just keeping it simple and just using a L Suffix R380?

I know the LS engine makes more torque then what it is officially rated at, but in my experience with other cars (Honda's, Evo's, Subaru's, Nissan's etc) the transmissions in many cases could actually handle a lot more power then what they are officially rated at. And these are cars that were getting drag raced and abused. One of my 5 speed WRX's was making 320whp+ and I would drag race it and launch it often... I don't drive my Defender nearly as hard as those cars. If I don't launch it and don't slam gears maybe it will work....

What do you think? LC9 + L Suffix R380 + 1.2 Transfercase

All you would need to do is adapt engine to transmission, weld in mounts, handle the accessories, maybe a stiffer clutch pressure plate, and bob is your uncle.

No messing with transmission tunnels, no shifter mods, no adapters from tranny to t-case

Thoughts?
 
javelinadave

javelinadave

Administrator
Staff member
I suspect people will say it will be fine till it breaks. I have no idea how strong an R380 is but at 315hp you are swapping in a motor that has double or triple the hp potential.
With that said aircraft engines are ran in a de-rated mode. Basically they are able to produce "X" amount of power but are operated at "80% of X" or "91% of X" so not "getting on it" may allow the R380 to last longer.
 
Boswalt

Boswalt

Well-known member
I'm running the NV4500. Finished my swap about 2 weeks ago and loving it. I had no problem finding an older Chevrolet unit, parts are cheap and plentiful, nicks adapter isn't cheap but works awesome.


I needed to widen the LT77 tunnel slightly but it wasn't a huge issue. Made a top plate for the enlarged hole and cut the original shift boots and screwed them into place.


Road miles only so far but piling them up.


So far no complaints and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.


Not saying you shouldn't do the R380 but the NV wasn't bad and will handle everything my motor can throw at it.
 
AdamSanta85

AdamSanta85

Well-known member
Great. 280ft lb to 330ft lb isn't that crazy of a jump, 16%. I know people on other platforms pushing there stuff beyond torque ratings way further
 
modernbeat

modernbeat

Active member
You can adjust the tune for the engine to reduce torque when at low speeds (in lower gears) to help preserve the transmission. Most GM truck engines have some "torque management" just for this reason.

I'd like to use the NV4500 in my RRC, but the NV4500 shifter is so far forward that it won't work. And I don't know of any way to move the shifter back without doing a hack job of it.
 
AdamSanta85

AdamSanta85

Well-known member
Boswalt said:
I'm running the NV4500. Finished my swap about 2 weeks ago and loving it. I had no problem finding an older Chevrolet unit, parts are cheap and plentiful, nicks adapter isn't cheap but works awesome.


I needed to widen the LT77 tunnel slightly but it wasn't a huge issue. Made a top plate for the enlarged hole and cut the original shift boots and screwed them into place.


Road miles only so far but piling them up.


So far no complaints and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.


Not saying you shouldn't do the R380 but the NV wasn't bad and will handle everything my motor can throw at it.
Click to expand...


To use the NV4500 you needed to buy transmission, inspect that it was working/repair if needed, make some adaption to the shifter area, use NV4500 clutch disc, and slave cylinder?

FWIW I already have an R380 L suffix in my truck which makes the R380 way more tempting.. If I had to buy anyway..
 
Boswalt

Boswalt

Well-known member
AdamSanta85 said:
To use the NV4500 you needed to buy transmission, inspect that it was working/repair if needed, make some adaption to the shifter area, use NV4500 clutch disc, and slave cylinder?
Click to expand...


Pretty much but the parts list was already put together by Landy Andy on his swap posts. I pretty much followed that and it was very smooth.


I was able to use the stock transmission / T-case mounts and my T-case is in the stock location.


Transmission was $300, after rebuild I had about $1000 into it. If you can rebuild it yourself, it would only be about another $400 in parts and you have a solid transmission that will last forever behind this engine.


Again, I'm in no way saying the R380 isn't viable, I just wanted the most durable setup I could get so I spent a few more bucks and man hours. I also wanted to point out there are guys running the NV4500 that are on the road and doing awesome!
 
Boswalt

Boswalt

Well-known member
These are the pics of the finished tunnel. All I?ve got on my phone. I wasn?t snapping a ton of pictures during the build unfortunately.
 

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AdamSanta85

AdamSanta85

Well-known member
Boswalt said:
Pretty much but the parts list was already put together by Landy Andy on his swap posts. I pretty much followed that and it was very smooth.


I was able to use the stock transmission / T-case mounts and my T-case is in the stock location.


Transmission was $300, after rebuild I had about $1000 into it. If you can rebuild it yourself, it would only be about another $400 in parts and you have a solid transmission that will last forever behind this engine.


Again, I'm in no way saying the R380 isn't viable, I just wanted the most durable setup I could get so I spent a few more bucks and man hours. I also wanted to point out there are guys running the NV4500 that are on the road and doing awesome!
Click to expand...

No doubt, I very much appreciate your input. You have been there.

Now that I am looking at your thread this was another point of contention I was curious that had me leaning towards the R380. I had these thoughts before seeing you make this comment from independent research.

"The NV4500 is a great standard transmission but it's a heavy duty truck tranny. It shifts like a truck and it takes some getting used to."

Can you compare this to how the LT77 shifted? I had an LT77 which shifts basically the same as my R380. It shifts pretty nice.

What did you do about the slave cylinder/header issue that you were having?
 
AdamSanta85

AdamSanta85

Well-known member
Boswalt said:
These are the pics of the finished tunnel. All I?ve got on my phone. I wasn?t snapping a ton of pictures during the build unfortunately.
Click to expand...

That is your factory tunnel? Mine is very different

Edit - nevermind I see now from the side picture what you did. Same tunnel cover with that plate you made on top.
 
Robert

Robert

Well-known member
No way an r380 lives behind a 5.3

Lay shaft bearings went out on mine about a year after putting in a built 4.6. It did have 220ish miles, but fluid was always kept up, and its a Disco so it has a cooler
 
AdamSanta85

AdamSanta85

Well-known member
Boswalt said:
Transmission was $300, after rebuild I had about $1000 into it. If you can rebuild it yourself, it would only be about another $400 in parts and you have a solid transmission that will last forever behind this engine.
Click to expand...

Where did you source it? I can't build a tranny and labor rates around here are insane. The cost of getting my old LT77 fixed was more then what it cost me to get a brand new R380 stumpy from Ashcroft.
 
AdamSanta85

AdamSanta85

Well-known member
Robert said:
No way an r380 lives behind a 5.3

Lay shaft bearings went out on mine about a year after putting in a built 4.6. It did have 220ish miles, but fluid was always kept up, and its a Disco so it has a cooler
Click to expand...

What did you replace it with?
 
Boswalt

Boswalt

Well-known member
AdamSanta85 said:
No doubt, I very much appreciate your input. You have been there.

Now that I am looking at your thread this was another point of contention I was curious that had me leaning towards the R380. I had these thoughts before seeing you make this comment from independent research.

"The NV4500 is a great standard transmission but it's a heavy duty truck tranny. It shifts like a truck and it takes some getting used to."

Can you compare this to how the LT77 shifted? I had an LT77 which shifts basically the same as my R380. It shifts pretty nice.

What did you do about the slave cylinder/header issue that you were having?
Click to expand...


After a few more miles on the transmission it's much more manageable now, the LT77 had a few issues and would do the usual grind going into 2nd sometimes. Neither is like driving a manual Honda but both are very drivable. I've got the rhythm now and a simple 1/2 second pause before shoving it into the next gear works wonders. Neither is better than the other, both have quirks, but the more I drive the NV, the more I like it. One of my biggest irritations with the LT was getting it into 1st or reverse while standing, sometimes it took several tries or a slight roll to get things where they needed to be. The NV doesn't have any of these issues, the gears are where you would think they should be and there is no "is this first or third this time" BS.


Header / slave cylinder was a problem but I was able to locate a set of welded headers with a exit port near the middle instead of to the rear of the block. This allowed the exhaust shop to drop below the external slave. Some newer NV4500's you might be able to do the internal slave but mine was older and I'd have needed to do some more fabrication. The reroute of the headers was easier.
 
Boswalt

Boswalt

Well-known member
AdamSanta85 said:
Where did you source it? I can't build a tranny and labor rates around here are insane. The cost of getting my old LT77 fixed was more then what it cost me to get a brand new R380 stumpy from Ashcroft.
Click to expand...



Craigslist. I just looked for an older GM NV4500 and one popped up almost immediately. It's a 93 so my first gear is extremely low but that's what I was looking for. The first shop I took it to wanted $1700 for the rebuild. I bought the parts and took it to another shop, told them what I needed and it was done in 3 days with my parts. Purchase+parts+labor right around a $1000 and change.
 
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