[feldpausch354]

I recently bought a 76 chevy truck. Its 4 wheel drive with a 355 motor, a 400 transmission and a 203 transfer case and lockouts on the front. When i bought it the guy told me 4 wheel drive worked but i never tested it. I went to use it one night and i realized i could only get the transfer case into 2 different gears. My buddy has an extra shifter so we decided to switch mine out to see if that was the problem. When we pulled the old shifter out I realized that it had steel spacers welded to the back of the shifter bracket plate so the shifter sat away from the transfer case about 3 inches. I got to looking around under the truck and the transfer case bracket that mounts to the frame has new holes drilled and has been moved back about 3 inches as well.

My only thought is that the truck is set up for a 350 transmission and the guy put a longer 400 transmission in it. This would move the transfer case back a few inches and in turn he had to weld spacers onto the shifter otherwise the shifter would come up through the floor underneath the seat. And since the shifter has spacers mounted on it the linkage is messed up now and it wont shift through all the gears. I was wondering if they made a special shifter for a 400 turbo transmission with a 203 transfer case.

Any advise or insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[OneMoreTime]

First place the transfer case only has 2 gears...low range and high range as well as a neutral position.. I am not too clear here as my truck has two shifters..one for the trans and one for the transfer case..What do you have??

Sam

[feldpausch354]

I have a shifter for the transmission on the column and that works fine. My transfer case shifter is on the floor and that's the one I'm having trouble with. The shifter will only move into 2 positions not 2 gears I guess. I have a hi and low but I believe there should be a hi lock, hi, neutral, lo and lo lock.

[OneMoreTime]

Your lockouts are on the front axle and you have to get out of the truck and go to each axle end to manually lock the hubs..Get under the truck disconnect the shifter and see if you can move the shift lever on the transfer case to low hi and neutral...

Sam

[TexasT]

Going by what you are saying and my experience with a '73 Blazer my dad put together and I tore up as a youth, you are correct in the hi lock - hi - n - low - low lock positions though the hi lock and low lock weren't really positions as I remember. It was just a bit more movement in the shifter. Our truck had a th400 swapped in after the original th350 lost rev and was rebuilt. My dad made a stop at an auto parts place with the new rebuild in the back of a pickup and when he came out the trans was gone. So a used th400 was picked up and redone with a custom output shaft that mated up with the th400.

Are you sure the t-case in your truck is a an np203?
If you are sure has the 203 been retrofitted with a part time kit that changed the way it worked?

[prostreet6t9]

Your 203 shifter assy has a adjustment hole like the muncie trans..

Put the T/C N
Disconnect the shifter rods from the shifter
Put the lever in the N position. The shifter assy has a 1/4 hole in the side.
Take a 1/4 Drill bit and push it thru the shifter assy and the rods and adjust as needed until the rods will line up with the shifter linkage on the T/C.

If the truck has a body lift you might double check to make sure the shifter handle is not hitting the body when you you try and push the handle all the way forward and pull it all the way back.

Your high lock will be all the way back towards the seat and L lock will be all the way forward.

[feldpausch354]

Thanks for the info. I know it's a 203 transfer case because it doesn't have the 3 bolt cover on the back where the fill bolt is. And the truck has a 3 inch body lift so ill have to check that too. Also the cab is a 2 wheel drive cab but I don't think that makes a difference except you have to cut a hole in the floorpan rather than having an access cover.

[feldpausch354]

And is there a way to tell if the part time kit was installed in your transfer case?

[prostreet6t9]

Originally Posted by feldpausch354

And is there a way to tell if the part time kit was installed in your transfer case?

If the truck will move with the front locking hubs in the free position and the T/C is 2H or 4H the T/C has had a kit installed.

[prostreet6t9]

Originally Posted by feldpausch354

Thanks for the info. I know it's a 203 transfer case because it doesn't have the 3 bolt cover on the back where the fill bolt is. And the truck has a 3 inch body lift so ill have to check that too. Also the cab is a 2 wheel drive cab but I don't think that makes a difference except you have to cut a hole in the floorpan rather than having an access cover.

Check to make sure the shifter is not hitting the floor board when your trying to go all the way forward or back.

Most of the time I will have to make the shifter hole a little larger so the shifter will get all of the gears.