Tranny/T-case question

Ok, so my brother and I have a 1973 that we're working on. It has the 232 and a T14 tranny and a D20 t-case. The t-case is leaking from the seal behind the forward yoke so we're thinking that we are going to swap the t-case. We got a T15 with a D20 on it (from a 1975 CJ5 V8 ) and figure we could switch them. The newer one we got doesn't leak either.

The two transfer cases have slightly different designs on the backside of their housing but the codes on each start out as "C-18...." The one that is currently installed has the fill plug on the passenger side while the one sitting has it facing the rear. I feel pretty confident that they are both D20s, but would like a second opinion

And I realize this is a newbie question, but will a D20 from a T15 swap without any conversion parts to a T14 and vice versa?

Thanks!

PS, this site and forum are awesome. I've learned a ton and feel much more confident about tackling this project just from browsing through

 

I'm not familiar with the T15, so I can't answer your question.
However, would it be easier to remove the front yoke, replace the seal and install the yoke while the transfer case remains in place?

 

Quite possibly, yes. But we have the body off so it wouldn't be very difficult to remove it from above (assuming its possible to swap), put the good one in and clean the old tcase up then install it on the T15 that's sitting in the garage. The kicker here is that inside the transmission we found water and some gears with surface rust, indicating the transfer case suffered from the same fate (courtesy of the PO). The plan would be to remove the old tcase, clean the transmission good, then put the newer tcase on. This way the crud that comes out of the transmission doesn't contaminate the newer tcase.

 

If the body is off, I would swap the tranny too.

 

jinpdx: That was the plan, and we tried that but the T15 is slightly longer than the T14 so new holes would have to be drilled in the frame and crossmember. That's not too bad, but we'd have to shorten the rear driveshaft to make the T15 fit right.

 

The 20's will swap. Make sure the input gear on the back of the transmission has the same # stamped on it or they will need to be swapped as well.

Inline 6 T-14's only used the 20 as did the T-15 in CJ's so no issue there. They used the same linkage as well.

Make sure when you pull the transfer case off the transmission you don't let the output shaft of the transmission slide back or you will be tearing apart the transmission to reassemble the pocket bearings between the input and output shafts.

 

Sweet! Thanks for the info and tips nickmil

 

Glad to help!
I just thought of something else, the T-14 used a 10 spline output shaft and gear and the T-15 used a 6 spline unit so the #'s will be different. If your T-14 has the 18-8-49 gear and the T-15 has the 18-8-55 gear they will interchange just fine.
Here's a chart at Novak's site that may be helpful.

http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/transfer_case_gears_grid.htm