New member / I have custom np205 brackets

[Twobit]

Hello! I recently purchased a 65 M715. My family has a ton of AMC pickups and I've always loved the M715 style.

Mine is pretty much stock besides a Chevy 350/4spd trans swap. Near zero rust. Has the holes covered in the bed from a water tank/pump setup. Drives amazing besides the screaming banshee of a transfer case.

Already researched and decided to go with a NP205 swap. This truck will not be extended hwy, just a camping/haul rig. Found a Chevy 32 spline divorced one local for $600. Good shape besides seals.

Dropped the Np200 to see that the mounts are wildly different. I was able to model up designs for brackets to mount the NP205 to the stock mount locations. Sent the designs off to a online company in NV. And 3 days later I had my brackets. Mounted perfectly. (Does not make room for the PTO, I don't plan on using it)

If your interested in the brackets msg me and I'll give you the files for free and you can get them made with the same company. Cost is around $120 for the pair.

Happy to contribute! Hello from the PNW!Attachment 3867Attachment 3868Attachment 3869

[Eric Thompson]

Looks great!

[Kaiserjeeps]

Great improvement over the NP200. Seeing 205's in the want ads is sometimes comical. Or just plain shocking. The mounts look great. If there were more of these trucks out there, a kit would do well.

[Twobit]

I honestly don't know if my NP200 was just bad, But even at 40mph it sounded like a jet engine was inside the cab. No way it had to have been like that new. Both outputs on the NP200 are at the lower end which means even if your not in 4x4 its turning all those gears not a great design. It's not like the drop distance mattered.

It's still not a quiet ride, but it's not deafening anymore. Mine is Chevy 350 swapped with a SM465, I can do 65-70mph but it's pushing the RPM's to 3k. (bigger tires will help It's my camping rig so it needs to do at least 60 for sustained distances to be useful for me.

These brackets let you directly swap in the NP205, Only fab you will have to do is for the 4x4 linkage. The rear axle linkage will fit with some adjusting, The Front axle linkage is 2" to long and has to be shorted. And of course you loose the parking brake. they have kits for the NP205. I'm still working on that.

[Kaiserjeeps]

Well you won't be limited by the np200 now. As much as I appreciate a stock truck, and I had a sweet one, it is nice to make them usable especially on the hiway. When I bought my 1st 1968 in Tucson, I drove it to Portland OR and overheated the NP200 first thing on a cool morning doing 60+ right out of Tucson. I boiled the oil and roasted the seals. I limped home hundreds of miles doing 53 or less and put gallons of oil in on the way. Ah the memories. My second 68 in my build thread is built to camp and get there in a timely manner. I hope to have it wired in a month or two. Roughly where are you in washington?
I just moved to the wenatchee area.

[Twobit]

I'm in Gig harbor, WA Just skimmed though your crazy long build thread. You did an amazing job, great metal work. I'm a mechanic by trade and we do alot of off grid camping. planning on using it as much as possible. My family has a slew of J trucks and I've always wanted a 715!

[Kaiserjeeps]

Gig Harbor...Cool. My grandparents lived there. Although now deceased I spent some time there. They were out on the point on Goodman dr. I guess my grandma had a relative that used to run the light house out on the point that is now gone. Many many years ago. The home got sold after they passed and I have not been back. Well at least you can drive to BJ's offroad and pick stuff up direct. If you can afford them...LOL I hope you do a build thread or something. The site is pretty quiet and could use some reading.. I hope to get my truck inside soon. It snowed again. And it is time to get something done.

[eightydeuce]

I have the kit from NW Fab, works really well, but will interfere with your speedometer cable. I plugged mine and use a GPS speedometer.

And it look like you and I had the same idea on the mounting brackets

[Twobit]

Hows the ebrake kit? Attached to the stock handle?

[eightydeuce]

I had a cable made and used this handle. I'm pretty sure I mounted it where the winch PTO lever would be.