I've got a 1995 pickup with the W56-E transmission, factory forward shift transfer case. A buddy of mine has a top shift transfer case with 4.70 gears in it that he would sell me. Would the top shift transfer case bolt right in place of the forward shift? Probably have to cut a new hole in the floor, or just lengthen the factory hole but thats not an issue. How would I block off the forward shifter hole thats on the transmission, right behind the 5 speed shifter?

 

Just get a 3 x 4.5" piece of 3/16 aluminum, drill 4 properly spaced holes, and bolt it over the empty forward shift hole. Put some rtv on to keep it from leaking and you're good to go.
Trail Gear and others sell premade cover plates.

 

The W56-E has a shift lever base plate where the transmission and transfer case use one base with 2 holes in it, if that makes sense. Its not two separate plates on the transmission. How would I block off the hole if the two use the same base?

 

Ah, that's a bit different than I thought. You may have to get creative. But, check trail-gear.com or some of the other aftermarket offroad houses. They may already have a solution.

Otherwise, you might be able to fabricate a thin sheet metal plate that would fit under the unused hole in the shifter plate and block it off. That plus some gasket material and some RTV might get the job done.

 

Seems like most of the vendors sell kits to convert forward shift to top shift, which makes sense for dual cases and all. But I dont think anyone makes anything for top shift to forward shift. I'm kind of stumped.