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Dauntless Bell Housing Question

Discussion in 'Early CJ5 and CJ6 Tech' started by Fleur_de_lis_82, Feb 25, 2020.

  1. Feb 25, 2020
    Fleur_de_lis_82

    Fleur_de_lis_82 New Member

    Springfield Missouri
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    Both my Dauntless have a T-14 behind them. One is good & the other is a rusty mess. I'm wanting to replace it with a T-176 that's behind whats left of most of a 258 my 83 Abomination.

    I've got 2 different bell housings for the Dauntless. Which bell housing would I be needing to do this?

    I've got the deep one piece housing & the shorter housing with the adapter. Is there a different bell housing I should be looking for?

     
  2. Feb 26, 2020
    Mcruff

    Mcruff Earlycj5 Machinist

    Albertville, AL
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    The bellhousing with the adapter is the bell you need to use.
     
  3. Feb 26, 2020
    Twin2

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  4. Feb 26, 2020
    timgr

    timgr We stand on the shoulders of giants. 2022 Sponsor

    Medford Mass USA
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    The shorter bell is a plain GM BOP bell, just like used in passenger cars. The T-176 uses the Ford butterfly pattern, same as other Ford transmissions. If you look on the Novak page, you will find this page The Novak Guide to the Adapting Ford Style Transmissions to GM Engines which implies you can mate the T-176 to a GM bell without changes. However, I recall something about the length of the T-176 stickout preventing this? That would match with the plate adapter Novak offers. I suspect they don't cover this explicitly on their page because you can somehow make it work without their fancy adapter. Search old posts - I believe that Nick or others have commented on this in the past.
     
  5. Feb 26, 2020
    Fleur_de_lis_82

    Fleur_de_lis_82 New Member

    Springfield Missouri
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    Me thinks I may be better off rebuilding the T14 & going with an overdrive unit. I'm wanting to keep the dana 18 & after the cost of 2 adapters & most likely propeller shaft changes, I wouldn't be cost beneficial. I'm equipped & experienced to rebuild the transmission myselflf. So a bill or so for that & a grand or so for the overdrive.

    Thank y'all for the information. I had missed the front adapter.
     
  6. Feb 26, 2020
    timgr

    timgr We stand on the shoulders of giants. 2022 Sponsor

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    This sounds like a good plan to me. You understand that the T-176 top gear and the T-14 top gear are both 1:1, and you would not gain any top speed from the swap? The Warn/Saturn overdrive is an excellent upgrade, and should increase the resale value of your Jeep nearly as much as the cost of the conversion. I would go through the transfer case too - indeed, unless the T-14 has obvious problems, I'd guess the Dana 18 would need service more. The intermediate shaft in the D18 spins constantly, delivers all the power to the rear axle, and is known for wearing out sooner than everything else in the gear train.

    The T-14 in a Jeep is very pleasant to drive on the street. No need for four gears. You might like it. I would drive mine all over town in 2nd and 3rd and only drop into 1st at a full stop. Easy, relaxed driving.
     
  7. Feb 26, 2020
    Fleur_de_lis_82

    Fleur_de_lis_82 New Member

    Springfield Missouri
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    Yes, I had realized the 1:1 top gear in both. The main desire for this, I rebuilt the T-176 maybe 3 months ago. So a whole lotta life left in it. Such is life at times I reckon. Benefit doesn't outweigh the expense.

    While on the topic of the dana 18 (please forgive my ignorance here), is there a real benefit for going twin stick. Aside from looking cool. The factory linkage for the single looks like a weak link, but I'm not looking to do any serious off roading. I'll will be going through the internals. Better safe than stranded.

    I've only ever used a multi stick setup with an atlas 2 t-case. I'm assuming it's the sameish. But would like to ask before shelling out the coin.
     
  8. Feb 26, 2020
    Twin2

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    leave the pill out . and you get 2WD low . just remember you can blow things up . with a hard foot
     
  9. Feb 27, 2020
    colojeepguy

    colojeepguy Colorado Springs

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    The twin stick is a lot easier to shift, the single stick is in an awkward position under the dash. Shouldn't cost much to change it but it does require full disassembly of the tcase.
    If you don't plan on off roading a lot it may not be worth the effort, but there's a definite cool factor in having 4 shifters (assuming you add O/D) people really are blown away by all those sticks ;)
     
  10. Feb 27, 2020
    Fleur_de_lis_82

    Fleur_de_lis_82 New Member

    Springfield Missouri
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    I do believe that I'll be doing the twin stick. Gots to go through the case anyway and it's not a big expense.
     
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