T-18 rebuild

I have finished up my T-18 rebuild and getting ready to button it up until the install. I don't have a real good feel for just how hard it should be to turn the input shaft in 4th but it seems to required a little more torque than I would expect (it's sitting on the bench, full of lube, no transfer case attached) I don't think its binding as in neutral it's fairly easy to turn and the input shaft has a small amount of end play.

What does everyone think?

And one more thing. The shift forks had some type of plastic coating on them where they slide on the shift collars. Then plastic/nylon? "shoes" I got in the rebuild kit don't fit on the forks. Is there a solution to this or should I just put the top on and not worry about it.

 

It takes some effort to turn the input of a rebuilt tranny by hand. If you run the tranny without the shoes you'll wipe out the forks in short order. The solution is to figure out how to install the shoes from the kit or to find the correct ones. They're a wear item, someone has them.

 

x2!

 

I know what you mean about the shoes but the problem is the original wear coating is a clear tough painted or dipped substance coating the entire end of the fork. There isn't enough clearance between the fork tip and the shift collar to install a nylon shoe on the tip of the fork. I wonder if I mixed up some epoxy resin and dipped the forks in that if it would be tough enough.

 

There were two versions of the T-18 (well, actually more but you'll get the idea shortly) early and late. The early version had cast steel shift forks and many had a clear plastic type coating on the forks. As long as the metal on the forks where they slide into the synchronizer sleeves is in good shape, not a problem. Can't have a step or anything worn into them. There was a late model that used a different case and top (reverse shifted to the far right and back) that used aluminum forks. The nylon "shoes" included in the kit are for this model of transmission. If you have the early version (reverse to the far right and towards the dash) then you will not use these. The late models with the aluminum forks had grooves and round notches the "shoes" snapped in to.

 

Yep this is an old one, reverse over and up. Close ratio.

 

PartsMike out here in CA. is my local expert on all things t-18. Go to www.partmike.com or call him at 530 885-0673. He probably would know.

Peter

 

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