T-18a ?

Hey guys, My dads friend has a totaled 75 cj. He said I can have the engine and transmission. The engine is a 258 and he said the trany is a 4 speed with a granny gear. From what Ive read Im pretty sure its a T18a. How much of a difference will this granny gear make? I have stock gears now, and was thinking about upgrading to 4.11s. If i put this trany in would it be as good as 4.11s:?

 

If it's the factory transmission this is a close-ratio T-18, so the first gear is 4.02:1. I'd say go for it - the owners that had these in their CJs really liked them. The transmission is bulletproof, and the ratios work well. Excellent upgrade! Not the 'granny gear' transmission, but still a big improvement over the T14.

If you have 3.73s now, and went to 4.11s, that's 4.11/3.73 -1 * 100% = 10.2% reduction. From the T14 to the T18A would be 4.02/3.1 -1 * 100% = 29.7% reduction, almost 3x the improvement.

Be sure to get everything from the donor - driveshafts, floor panels, transfer case shifter, transmission, plate adapter, clutch linkage (that's all I can think of) ... if you can swing it, don't scrap the donor till the swap is completely done.

Unless I really needed the 258, or had a place to store it, I would skip the engine. 258s aren't worth very much and are easy to find on the used market.

 

Thanks for the advise, Ill have to ask him if its the stock trany or not. Im happy either wayR) He said if I want the trany I have to take the engine and TC as well. The TC is cracked though, maybe Ill keep the engine for a spare