[MV] M-211 repower questions

Dave Cole (DA_Cole@compuserve.com)
Fri, 20 Mar 1998 12:23:08 -0500

Message text written by DBaumanjr
> My brother-in-law has a M-211. All stock, with a cable tool well drilli=
ng
rig
mount on it. I've been telling him about the GMC V-6/ bus trans /cckw
transfer
conversion & he's very interested. But we have some questions: what motor=

mounts? trans mounts? clutch linkage? Why not a 355 chevy medium
truckengine/turbo400? Why change the stock tranfer case? will it hold up =
to
more power? He also has access to a 454 chevy & turbo 400. would this be =
a
feasible repower? I'm a certified Mechanic & he has above average
mechanicle
skills. If we decide to do this swap, we'd like to have as many questions=

answered & parts rounded up beforehand. I would REALLY like to talk to
anyone
who's done this swap.Not just someone who had a friend that knew a guy...=
<
<

I've looked at a few M211s and have thought the same thing. With the
divorced transfer case there really shouldn't be a problem with a small o=
r
big block chevy and a turbo 350/400. Someone mentioned on this list a
while back that there were two speed selections for the transfer case and=

that this was actually done in the tail housing of the 4 automatic trans.=
=

I've looked at the automatic trans and that doesn't seem to be the case. =
=

I'd be a bit concerned about the transfer case holding up to the the lar=
ge
torque increase of the 454 especially if the driver was really into using=

all of the available power of the 454. =

With the stock 6.17 gears in the 211's diffs, the name plates I've seen s=
ay
3400 rpm is acheived at about 53-55 mph and that corresponds to what the
other guys on this list have experienced. Running a well built small
block chevy at those revs or even higher reliably shouldn't be a problem,=

however I think running a 454 at those speeds and higher might result in
much shorter engine life with stock parts. I believe the stock 302 ci
engine in the 211 has about 135 hp and as you probably know you can easil=
y
build a 350 chevy to 300+ hp and still keep it quite docile. That 2 1/2
times the original power! Why bother with a much more expensive 454? =

Just my opinion. Also you might want to scan the MV list archives as the=
re
has been quite a bit of discussion on engine swaps into the 211 before.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

Dave

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