T18 Question

My CJ7 has a Jeep T18 in it. I am thinking about putting a D300 behind it, which involves a new adapter and main shaft. I am wondering if the old adapter and main shaft will work in a 2wd Ford T18 that I want to put in my 66 cj5 with a 225?

 

Pretty sure it will.

 

On Novak's site, they list two different rear bolt patterns. I am not sure what year the CJ7's transmission is since it was swapped into the jeep. The Ford transmission came out of a late 60's truck.

https://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/transmissions/manual/t18-t19/

 

Ah, wasn't even thinking about that...Let us know how it turns out!

 

I called Novak. The T18 guy is on vacation and wont be back until Wednesday. I'll see what he says.

 

I remember something about having to drill and tap the Ford case, and plugging the old holes? I dunno I used a Jeep T18 in mine.
Where is Nickmil when you need him??

 

Maybe the thing to do will be to buy a D300 adapter for the Ford case and swap the input shafts between the two.

 

Jeep D 300?

 

Nate I think I have 2 bare Ford cases and one Ford main shaft, if you need them. I did just the opposite.

 

The D300 is the transfercase Jeep used from 81 to 86. It replaced the D20. The D300 is without doubt, the stoutest transfercase ever used in a Jeep, including the present offerings and has a stock low range of 2.62:1. The Jeep versions use a round mounting surface and can be clocked. The odd ball was the one year only (1980) Scout version that used the D18/D20 Texas mounting pattern. Those are bolt-in replacements for D18/D20's but are rare and hard to find.

 

Nah, not hard to find at all, c'mon over to my house. There's a big ol' piece of cardboard next to the trash can; grab it and slide under the peacock blue Wagon and look up. See? There's one right behind that fugly SM465.

Yep, sure can clock 'em. In fact if you go behind the shed, take a look at the one sitting on my work bench. It's got the factory orange plastic plugs and covers cause it never found a home. But it's got a shiny new clocking ring installed, just waiting to get bolted up.On your way out, be careful you don't snag your shin on the output shaft of that AX-15. And grab yourself, and me, a double IPA out of the little fridge in the shed so we can conjur up a way to get @Norcal69 to do the swap.

 

Apologies to @garage gnome for the above snark^ . Not trying to hijack this thread but it caught my eye due to a sitch where I had taken my Wagon to a shop to get a quote on doing the above mentioned drivetrain swap. The guy came recommended from another Willys owner who had something similar done by him. Whilst there, said guy slides under my Wagon, then comes out and proclaims that I have a T-18. I didn't want to argue but thought the previous owner was correct in his specs about what he had installed (SM465). I went home and did a little research, using this as as a starting point:
https://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/transmissions/manual/t18-t19
Not sure if anyone has looked at this as well, but I do notice Novak's reco of using the Ford version, especially with a Jeep D-300. I also noticed that the T-18 was used by IH, the purveyors of the infamous "texas" D300 (of which I'm the not so proud owner). That brings my twisted mind to "OK, what version is @garage gnome using? If it's an IH; could it bolt right up to Scout D300? But the other end might be a problem..." So me being the weird guy who owns both versions of the D300 I'm curious as to how this is going as in my mind there are all sorts of possibilities.
(Needless to say I've done a lot of reading on the Scout D300 wondering what it will bolt up to and if there are adapters for other transmissions.)
Looking forward to seeing how the OP will approach this.

 

I have no 1st hand experience, but it's my understanding that the Scout 300 will bolt up in place of a Dana 20 or a large hole Dana 18.

 

My research tells me the proper "bull" (?) gear and output shaft can be hard to find. I lucked out finding a NOS Jeep 300, for which adapters for a myriad of trans are plentiful. Adapters for the Scout are out there but they're expensive and made to order. Could be a different sitch if you have a trans that originally mated to your above mentioned t-cases; I don't.

 

I have a jeep D300.

 

I talked to Novak today. Best option is to swap input shafts and buy a Ford T18 to D300 adapter. Just bolting the Jeep T18 case to the Buick bell housing is the tricky part since it doesn't have the extra boss that the Ford T18 has. I'll have to cross that bridge when I get there. I did learn one very interesting fact: the Ford T18 uses the same "butterfly" bell housing bolt pattern as a T150. My CJ7 had a T150 in it originally, so my bell housing is compatible.


I seem to remember @Fireball building some nice brackets to mount a T18 to the Buick bell housing. I don't remember which T18 he used though.

 

Yeah, I didn't like that Novak's solution puts that bellhousing bolt outside belhousings reinforced bolt area. I made a bridge to span the ears on the Ford T-18 and pick up the proper bellhousing bolt location:


The process is documented start on this post: 71 Wheeling Rig

I think you could do similar with yours. Mine is nice because the ears on the transmission span the bellhousing bolt, but with a thick piece of metal, it could pick up both transmission ears and overhang if needed. I'll probably do something similar to adapt a T-98 to a Buick bellhousing for my CJ2.

 

I'm kicking myself for getting rid of my Texas dana 300, my lack of knowledge sent it off as partial trade for T18 swap parts. I don't think I got the good end of that deal.

 

I used an AA adapter to mate the Jeep T18 to the Dauntless bellhousing. Basically it's a 1/2" thick chunk of aluminum with the appropriate holes in it.

 

That looks familiar...