A while back, a guy had what he called a New Process 4-speed manual tranny for sale on EBay. He said that 4th gear was actually a 0.8 ratio making it an overdrive in 4th. He said these were used in some GM trucks in the late 70s and mid 80s. I was worried that 1st might be a granny gear and wrote him back as to what the 1-3 ratios were and he said he didn't know. This tranny looks for the most part like an old Muncie or T-10 except that there is a shifting lever below the sidecover (maybe the reverse lever) and none on the tailshaft extension like you'd normally see on Muncies or T-10s. The shifter mounts to the side and uses exposed rods. This isn't like an old truck tranny where the shifter mounts to the top and used a ball and socket arrangement.

Well, it sold on EBay and I'd forgot about it. Lo and behold, I'm at the local boneyard about a week or two later and there one of these "New Process" trannys is sitting on the rack of trannys.

So anybody know any more about these and what those mysterious ratios are?

[This message has been edited by Greg Waner (edited 12-08-2001).]

A friend bought a new chevy 1/2 ton SWB in '81 or so. It had a 250 straight 6, 3 sp. w/OD that sounds like the one you're talking about. Don't know anything about the 1-3 gear spread but I'm pretty sure it didn't have a low first gear. It got really good gas mileage but he had a terrible time pulling his small boat so he didn't keep it long.

Maybe you could look at the Chrysler A833 overdrive trans stuff in a repair manual and see if it is the same. Chrysler owned New Process ( we at Chrysler called it "No Progress"). The A833 was a pretty good (but heavy) box with a 0.69 od ratio.

I just bought one of these because the OD ratio sure sounded good for freeway driving.

It's still a 4 speed and supposed to be very strong since it's out of a truck.

I haven't opened it yet, but bought it for a very reasonable price so if it doesn't work out for some reason I'll go with something else later.

This may be unusual, but should be interesting and educational. Hopefully it will work out like I want.

Anyone rebuild one of these? Any tips?

Anyone else try one yet?

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My opinions are usually worth what they cost you. But once in a while I know what I am talking about. Humor, fun, a few new friends, and good ole knowledge of these classics are why I am here. Your mileage may vary. ACES # 04981

I have a '70 velle with a 350. A guy traded me this manual tranny which he told me was a Muncie. Turned out not to be the case! Took me a long time to figure out what it was, but it turned out to be the aluminum case A833 OD, a chrysler transmission, but having a GM bellhousing and input and output shafts. Apparently from (as others have said) a late 70's/early 80's pickup.
I had a hell of a time finding out anything about this tranny, but finally found this website to be very helpful in getting started: http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Shop/3978/tranny.html
The gear ratios are:
1st: 3.09
2nd: 1.67
3rd: .73
4th: 1.00
Nope, not a typo!
Anyway, I didn't have too much trouble getting this tranny into my velle. Being an automatic car originally, I had to cut the floor of course. A rather large cutout, mostly on the driver's side to accomodate the shifter linkage.
The original crossmember worked just fine.
No driveshaft mods.
Being originally for a truck, the shifter mount leans the shifter way forwards, so that when I put it in the car, the shifter actually hit the dashboard. I fixed this by bending the shaft of the shifter into an arc.
First time out with it, it was LOUD. Turned out the bearings were bad in it, so I bought a rebuild kit (about $150.00) and spent a day rebuilding it. That was my first time rebuilding any kind of tranny, and I had absolutely no problem.
Rebuilt and reinstalled, it workes like a dream.
As for performance, I just LOVE it as opposed to the automatic tranny. I'm not crazy about the clutch setup, it's very long and hard to push... still trying to figure out how to both shorten the pedal travel AND make it easier to push. (any ideas anybody??)
Mind you, I'm not putting a ton of power to it, probably around 275hp, I don't know how it would hold up to more. But to me, it's the PERFECT street/strip combo: With the 2.73 rear end, I get 15.5 seconds in the 1/4, yet almost 25 MPG on the highway... rumbling along at about 2100 RPM at 70 MPH in overdrive.

I'd love to hear from anyone else who has put one of these trannys in their chevy, and what sort of clutch setup they use.
Anyways, hopefully this was helpful!