New M715 Owner Tips Suggestions???

[Jesus Machete]

I am fortunate enough to come into ownership of a rust free 1967 M715 question is I don't really know what to do with it. The only thing is that everything under the hood has been stripped out (engine, electrical, etc...). I have a blank canvas and the freedom to start over but don't want some knarly crawler like I see all over this board, instead I want an everyday driver I can hop on the freeway with and do 65 comfortably. Do I run a completely different drivetrain underneath and sell the original to offset that cost or change the gearing in the rear end? Any pointers or suggestions gladly appreciated

[jpsnblood]

rust free! you have no idea how lucky you are!
as far as the wiring being stripped out.
great replace it with modern safe wiring harness. It's real sad to see someone work hard on a project just to have 40 year old wiring burn it down.
Retuning it to stock will probably be pricey.
did you get transmition and tranfer case?
If so you have to decide if you want to keep them with a common conversion.
The np 200 has speed limitations!
If you have no trany or transfercase. maybe get a complete 4x4 and transplant engine, tranny,tranfer case, heck maybe even differentials. powersteering and brakes.
good luck
please post some pics.

[Jesus Machete]

It's crazy I have tranny, transfer case, pto, drivelines, shift levers, and all that jazz just no engine or electrical under the hood! Can you recommend an adapter manufacture that lets a v8 or v6 to connect up to the stock tranny that would allow me to get this out on the road for the last few weeks of summer??

[jpsnblood]

i have a novak adapter. http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/m715_swap.htm check out link. Jp magazine did a good article on the swap. I don't think it's on their website. But i still have a copy. I f you are interested I could help with the article.
this will open a can of worms.
I have 3 np 200 transfer cases and 2 good tranys.
So I am running thew common conversion.
I am sure the tranfer cases will all die one day but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
I put in a chevy 350. I used a transdapt mount to allow me to move everything forward so I didn't have to clearance my firewall. Clearance = beat a dent in!
I really love the e-bake and the dual transfer case handles so I'll go the extra mile to keep them.
Thats another reason I am keeping the np 200 for now.
If your going to swap in a motor go at least a v8. The truck is heavy. you will appreciate all the torque you can get.
A lot of folks are swapping in the GM 6.2 diesel like the military used. they are cheap ,dependable and make that cool diesel sound.
Then again I got a couple of big blocks that are on the back burner.
There a lot of posts on different swaps give it a search. You will find alot of good ideas.

heres a pic of my junk

have a good one

[randyscycle]

If you want to hop on the freeway and do 65 comfortably for any distance, you will at the very least need to do an axle swap (to gain decent gearing and real brakes) and you will need to ditch the NP200 in favor of an NP205 to eliminate the heat and noise issues the 200 has. A better transmission with overdrive might be a good idea too.

There are a million ways to go with this project and no one way/combination is perfect or better than what you ultimately decide on.

[fisherman]

If your not going crazy with oversize tires and high horsepower you can re gear your stock axles with 4.56 gears to achieve the 65 mph pretty easy. I have stock gearing and can cruise at 60 and hit 65 mph for short stretches. I don't like to rpm up past 3200 for too long. With my truck the stock gearing works better as most of my driving is under 50mph on back roads and up and down hills.