SM 465 History

[David A Young]

Ok guys. I've been out of work for a while and the internet bill was one that had to get cut to reduce costs lol. But I'm back to work again. Glad to be back on the forum again. I need a bit of insight. My SM465 has 80 million miles on it and its starting to act up in third gear (a tell tale sign that it needs to be rebuilt). I have only ever rebuilt one of these transmissions. I ordered my parts from Novak. FedEx dropped the box off this morning. So like usual I pulled the stuff out of the box to make sure everything was included and not broken. I started to read the rebuild instructions included in the kit and it says that the later 32 spline output shaft used in 80-87 trucks are not compatible with their kits. So I called them up and they are saying that the trans should have an aluminum top cover but I didn't think they put those on till around 86 or so. My trans is an 81 model with a cast top cover. So now I'm really confused. Any history on these transmissions would be great. Thanks guys.

[1967KaiserM715]

I was curious, so I looked at their website-they list a kit for up to '87, 88(first year the the next body style) was as I know, the first year of aluminum top 465's because the shifter was moved to the rear of the case so it would fit the truck better. These transmissions also had bigger main input bearings.

Typically they state why a kit can't be used-like bearing "x" doesn't fit shaft "y" or something like that.


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[Irish_Alley]

does this help?
https://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/transmissions/manual/sm465/

[David A Young]

The guy from Novak is trying to tell me that in 1981, my SM465 should have an aluminum top cover. I do know that the cast top cover was changed to an aluminum one sometime in the 80s but I am not sure on the year that it happened. I'm pretty sure that it didn't occur that early.

[roundhouse]

The guy from Novak is trying to tell me that in 1981, my SM465 should have an aluminum top cover. I do know that the cast top cover was changed to an aluminum one sometime in the 80s but I am not sure on the year that it happened. I'm pretty sure that it didn't occur that early.

I think the aluminum cover was started in 87
But it shouldn't matter. The cover is the only difference , they are interchangeable with the cast iron cover

The spline count changed around 81-82.  But who knows what's been swapped or changed since then


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[Engineer]

AFAIK, the aluminum cover was only installed in the early GMT-400s prior GM switching to the NVG-4500.

I'm not sure what the guy at Novak is trying to say. I have never seen a 465 with an aluminum top in our square body trucks

[1967KaiserM715]

AFAIK, the aluminum cover was only installed in the early GMT-400s prior GM switching to the NVG-4500.

I'm not sure what the guy at Novak is trying to say. I have never seen a 465 with an aluminum top in our square body trucks

This is right, got to talking with a friend at the local dealership. Sm465 in the obs(our style trucks) used the cast iron cover up to end of production in '91, the gmt400(nbs' 88 and up) used the aluminum cover because the shifter would hit the dash, so the cover was remade so the stick would sit farther back-also the 465 was an option in the gmt400 up to 98, a rare option, but I have seen 2 trucks that came with the 465, a 95 and a 97.
80 should be the first year with a 32 output spline for when the np2p8 transfer case was getting phased in. There are some minor bearing changes after 88, and some thrust washer differences after 79, so may be this is we're Novak is saying the kit won't work?

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[VileZambonie]

I rarely trust the "technical assistance" guy and you should have a cast iron top plate.

[1967KaiserM715]

I rarely trust the "technical assistance" guy and you should have a cast iron top plate.

I typically don't trust the stealerships, but my friend there is a pretty avid gmt400 guy, he likes the 88-93 the best, knows a lot of the ins and outs, he's one of the few guys I trust when I need help on any of my trucks, or any other trucks I may have been coerced into fixing. He's also the only guy willing to go through parts books to get that one part that was only used for 1 year or whatever the reason is.

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[Irish_Alley]

I rarely trust the "technical assistance" guy and you should have a cast iron top plate.

I typically don't trust the stealerships, but my friend there is a pretty avid gmt400 guy, he likes the 88-93 the best, knows a lot of the ins and outs, he's one of the few guys I trust when I need help on any of my trucks, or any other trucks I may have been coerced into fixing. He's also the only guy willing to go through parts books to get that one part that was only used for 1 year or whatever the reason is.

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dont think vile was talking bout that guy but the guy from novak

[Irish_Alley]

ive never seen or heard of an alum top cover for the 465. but thats doesnt mean it never happened but with these others guys speaking up im sure there never was

[1967KaiserM715]

I rarely trust the "technical assistance" guy and you should have a cast iron top plate.

I typically don't trust the stealerships, but my friend there is a pretty avid gmt400 guy, he likes the 88-93 the best, knows a lot of the ins and outs, he's one of the few guys I trust when I need help on any of my trucks, or any other trucks I may have been coerced into fixing. He's also the only guy willing to go through parts books to get that one part that was only used for 1 year or whatever the reason is.

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dont think vile was talking bout that guy but the guy from novak

Yeah it was a long day at work, realized he was probably talking about Novak, not my post.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi78.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fj82%2Fslindsley%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2F1259012547.jpg&hash=26bda7f4556b86648a98312fc5f3f31a

Don't know if that will work, but it's one of the better pictures I found off of google, showing the aluminum top and the relocated shifter(back about 4" from our style transmissions)


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[roundhouse]

The aluminum top was also used in the potato chip delivery vans

I've installed the alum cover in a square body just to move the shifter back where it's more comfortable

The alum cover is interchangeable and worth some money , they are rare




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[big_al273]

This is right, got to talking with a friend at the local dealership. Sm465 in the obs(our style trucks) used the cast iron cover up to end of production in '91, the gmt400(nbs' 88 and up) used the aluminum cover because the shifter would hit the dash, so the cover was remade so the stick would sit farther back-also the 465 was an option in the gmt400 up to 98, a rare option, but I have seen 2 trucks that came with the 465, a 95 and a 97.
80 should be the first year with a 32 output spline for when the np2p8 transfer case was getting phased in. There are some minor bearing changes after 88, and some thrust washer differences after 79, so may be this is we're Novak is saying the kit won't work?

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I can confirm that the sm465 in the 91 squares had the cast cover, my 91 parts truck had an sm465 pictured here just before i sold it

[David A Young]

I do have a cast top cover which was standard for 1981. The guy was trying to tell me that I have an aluminum one. I also heard that the ones with the aluminum top cover have a wider front bearing which was the issue when trying to order parts.