Hi Folks.
I have finally made some progress on the swap for my '46 IH Metro.
We have the old straight-6 out and are prepping for the 617 to go in.
The plan is to use the 617 as the power for a 4wd scout-based chassis.



my biggest question is on transmission ... and i need some help.
the easiest plan would be to just keep the existing MB transmission ('81 300SD that shift and functions just fine) and use the output with the transfer case.

the second option would be to use a 700R4 with adapter plate.
this would need some sort of adapter for the TV cable as well...

so which one is 'better' for my application
GVW is about the same between the Benz and the Metro
the difference is really in the first gear between the two transmissions.
If I take the 700r4 numbers I have:3.06
1.63
1.01
0.70


Right?


And if I 'normalize' the Benz tranny with the 4th gear to match the 0.7, I get this:


2.58
1.68
1.00
0.70


Right?


So the real difference is first gear.
Because you can set cruising speed and rpm with the final drive.
So it is really the difference of 3.06 v 2.58


Is that jump worth all the effort of a new tranny and tv cables and adapter plates?


Thanks again.

geoff

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'81 300SD ---> '46 IHC Metro (some day)