Hey everyone,

This past weekend I installed a Ford NP435 in between my AMC 360 and Dana 300 using the novak adaptor. The installation was very smooth, with one exception. There is one bolt between the Novak and Dana 300 that does not line up.

I talked to Erik at Novak about this, and he said that in all of their experience, there has only been one other customer that reported the same problem, but could offer no explaination. Was there a period in time where Jeep used a different clocking pattern on the Dana 300?

The Jeep is an '81 CJ-7, originally with the 258 and the T4 transmission. Thanks for any information you can offer.

So, can you drill a hole in the adapter to get it to work?

No, The holes in the adapter and transfer case are only misaligned by about an eighth of an inch, so if it were drilled the hole wouldn't be tight anyway.

Also, the Novak adapter provides holes so that you can mount the transfer case in 4 different positions. Each hole has about 1/4" to 1/2" of aluminum between them. So I may be sacrificing just as much space by drilling an eighth of an inch out of it.

Can you fill one hole with weld material, then re-drill?

It's an option, but it is an aluminum adapter, so I'd need to buy the MIG kit for my weld-pak. Plus, after spending over $500 on an adapter it's not the most appealing option to me.

Novak offered to machine a custom adapter for the transfer case at no additional cost, so I was really hoping that I would be able to find some little known information on a variation that may have been made to some Dana 300's in the early 80's.

I am not familiar with the adaptor or the kit or the issue specifically, but I am just curious here. You mention you can rotate the adaptor to different positions, but can the adaptor be flipped over fore and aft, instead of just rotating the adaptor around the shaft?

Sean

No, the NP435 transmission has a square pattern 4 bolt tail housing and the Dana 300 has a circular 6 bolt pattern at the input shaft. Plus the bolts at the transmission are 1/2" dia. and the bolts at the T-Case are 3/8" dia.

Dan you are assuming a top to bottom turn... I think Sean meant a side to side 180* turn.. Would that work? Have you tried that?
Big JIm <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

Ouch. Still, I might be looking around town for someone who does a lot of welding repairs - boat fab and/or custom stuff. I'd bet if you brought it in to the right place someone would fill it in for free or tops $20. For someone that works with aluminum on a regular basis they'd prolly be happy to do it in hopes that you'd bring more real business. I would.

If that's the case, then I'd take Novak up on the offer. That would be better than filling/redrilling the adapter, because if anything happenend later in that area, and it is a all-Novak piece, then Novak will stand behind it. I'm not sure they'd stand behind one of their products that had been welded and re-drilled.