New member with ponderous T 18 conversion stuff

Greetings all from Oregon, 'Oregon' no, you're saying it wrong :monkeys:

I'm planning on making this my wintertime project although it'll be a long drawn out casual build as the T150/D300 in 'Black Betty' is running just fine. I just like that coveted 6.32 compound low capability.
So it was I got this 1980 T 18 from the local boneyard,it was stuck in hear at the time so I couldn't inspect the gears.







A shop owner that I'm friends with had a look down the shifter hole and in 5 seconds with a screwdriver got the Shift Rails in neutral. It tuns out the Second Sychronizer Assembly has some rounding on the outer gear and comparative rounding on the end of the Coutershaft gear.
Also in pulling the Lock Ring from the input Main Drive Gear it got caught in a bind when I was using my newly purchased Lock Ring Pliers and took a small piece of the dang thing.








Lacking a puller to do the job of removing the Bearings, front and rear I'm thinking of bending the local Aamco's ear for this brief service as I can't justify the puchase of a quality puller if this is the only time it'll be used. Before I outlay largers sums though I wonder if new gears are available for these venerable as Väinämöinen T 18s

Thanks for your insights and responses and a lift of the lynch lid.

Gus

 

PartsMike has your gears.

Somebody liked to grind it into 1st.

 

Reverse idler gear and 1st/2nd ring need replaced. R&P can also get the parts you need and most likely closer as they are between Canby and Oregon City just south of Portland, OR.
Where in Oregon you located? If local to me I may be able to help as I quit counting at 100 T-18's rebuilt or converted. I have all the tools needed. I'm in the Milwaukie/Happy Valley area just off I-205.
Yup, us natives pronounce it Orygun

 

Thanks Timgr and Nickmil for posting so fast. In doing seaches on the web I noticed posts of yours Nick and I'm right impressed (color me novice)
I got a deal on that trans. as I went to my local wrecking yard where I picked the pieces for my radiator e fan and other electrics. Sight unseen their first offer was $150 for this monster, after I tried pulling the Control Housing and finding the stuck Shifter was the issue I brought the guy back to the very end of the tunnel of transmissions and this one was buried behind two others. After seeing the issue I was able to negotiate down to $20 over core ($70) at least I don't think I took a bath on this.
Most recently I got a Tremec Service Manual and man, what a great resource for a neophyte like myself. It's very well written with great explanations and diagrams, much better than my Jeep TSM. I'm down in the Corvallis/Albany area and until a few years ago we had Mac's Jeeparts with a small yard and Mac, a life long Jeeper and knowlege that surpassed any manual or other experts I've met before of since, succumbed to cancer a couple of years back. His mech is now freelancing out of Jefferson and I may be networking with him before this is all over. Nevertheless this is a slow meticulous bench build and not for immediate breakdown repair so I can take my time with it as funds allow. It's fantastic to learn that new gears are available as I'd read conflicting stories online, and local at that!

Thanks you guys!

 

If I had to choose one mod to my heap and one only, it'd be the T18 with deep granny gear.. This was one of the first things I did, and I have never regretted it/.

I also second R&P. Bought a D44 from em and they seem to be on top of things

 

Good to know Zila, went the D44 route shortly after first getting 'BB' the AMC 20 had bent axle tubes. As far as the bearing extraction I think I'm going to just "p" on the fire and call the dog. I met with the new manager at Aamco and he'll pull the bearings for me and they have the gear to do it.
For the new bearings a shop that I'm friends with the owner just got a new press and he'll let me borrow after setting me up.

 

Well they got the bearings pulled and for gratis, if I can make some this season, Phil (at Aamco) is going to get some of my Applejack come Christmas.

 

Good deal. Sometimes people will surprise you ... in a good way!

 

....and during a full moon week too!

 

I just stumbled onto this post as I have a Jeep T-18 and a Jeep I am thinking of going through this winter. Are the Jeep T-18s getting scarce enough that you guys are taking 2wd T-18s and changing out the main shaft. How is it that this transmission fits a Jeep? Is there another conversion I am not aware of? :?

 

You are right - the Ford T-18 must be converted to work with a transfer case, for use in a CJ-5. You can do this with junkyard parts, or with a conversion kit. Jeep T-18s are not plentiful, and most that you find come from V8 J-trucks and Wagoneers, and the input is way too long for a CJ. Jeep T-18s that are ready-to-go for a CJ come from 258 J-trucks (scarce), '77-79 CJs (even more scarce), and '71-76 CJs (also scarce, and with less desirable ratios).

This topic has been covered ad nauseum in earlier posts. I suggest you read what's on the Novak web site about the T-18 conversion, and do a search for old threads that cover this topic over and over. All the truck 4-speeds are popular swaps into Jeeps (T-18, T-19, SM420, SM465, NP435) and the Novak site covers them pretty well. What you start with really depends on your vehicle, your objectives, how much you value your time spent searching, and your personal preferences. The questions you pose are quite broad and a comprehensive reply could go on for many paragraphs.

Here is a link to get you started - https://www.google.com/search?q=site:earlycj5.com+T18+transmission+swap - also read everything on the Novak site - http://www.novak-adapt.com/index.htm

 

Thanks for the info. That is good stuff on the Novak site. I will have to do a little research on exactly which Jeep T-18 I have the next time I am at the shop. The granny gear is appealing but to be honest I really like the little T-15. It is lightweight, durable, and it shifts well between first and reverse when trying to rock yourself out of mud. As for crawling I just reach under the hood and turn the idle up a whisker on the 304. It is not perfect in the crawling department but works. Timgr I see you are up in the Northeast perhaps we will run into each other at some point. I have not run in the four wheeling circles for a while but have been getting the hankering and just bought all the parts to do a disc brake swap on my 73.

 

Yes, I like the T-15 too ... but it's not perfect. In my experience the blocking rings wear out pretty fast, so gear clash if you hurry a shift is common. It is quite strong and durable otherwise. Parts are getting harder to find for them, I hear.

I don't get around in 4x4 circuits a lot, since I let my work dominate my offline life. But I'm around - I'd look forward to meeting you.

 

Turbogus, I'm in Hillsburrito. Check out Novak's Clearance page, they have a couple of used T18 4x4 output shafts for cheep. You'll need one.

 

Hi - I have a couple of T-18s in my 1973 and 1976 CJ's. I do enjoy the low 1st gear for crawling. You mention the rounding on the 1st gear and countergear above. If I understand you correctly, this is designed this way so the slider gears can engage easily. It is not due to any grinding, although these do tend to get some wear and chips from normal usage. The first T-18 I did came from a mid 70's wagoneer with a long input shaft. I replaced the input with the ford shaft and the larger pilot bushing. The rear was already mated to a D20 tcase and mounted right up.

The second T18 was in my factory 1976 CJ7 and had the jeep T18 with a 4:1 first gear. I rebuilt it and found a donor Ford T18 with a 6.32:1 1st. I swapped the input shaft and the countershaft to get the lower gearset. It is important to note the Jeep T18 input gear I have ONLY works with the Jeep Countergear which is fixed at the 4:1 ratio. The actual first gear part is the same for both transmissions. It is the ratio of the input shaft and countershaft gear that change the overall ratio of the trans. Of course, 4th is always 1:1 because it is a direct connection to the input shaft and does not use the countershaft reduction.

 

timgr is absolutely right......Someone liked to grind it into 1st & Reverse and abused this Transmission. Mostly due to trying to engage 1st gear ( non Syncro) or Reverse before coming to a complete stop...........

Obviously needs some parts.

And those gears are not designed that way to allow for easy engagement...........those are just worn out & broken. They will continue to chip away and eventually fail or jump out of gear........ plus whatever damage you have here will also be duplicated on the Reverse Idler and the small rear gear on the cluster.........which makes the abuse allot more expensive to fix rather than just changing one gear.

A few small chips is pretty normal & acceptable.


Below is what they look like new.

 

What Tarry99 said. The first/reverse slider is toast as is the reverse idler. I bet when you get it apart the cluster gear will show damage as well unless it has been replaced.

 

Sorry for the bad advice. I've never seen a new gear before. I don't have a photo of mine, but they certainly have some wear on them. Maybe not as bad as the photos show above. I can tell you that they have worked ok in my jeeps. I would guess that this is a very heavy duty transmission and the Jeep is pretty light so you can get away with a fair amount of wear. But I would prefer to have a new gear if given the choice. John

 

I'm not dead, just sidetracked. Had to attend to re installing a fence and chopping away at the Oregon blackberry bush. Yes Virginia it is one bush that stretches from the Columbia to Ashland.. nelson haha
Found a puzzling thing on another site specializing in International Haybangers and the Second Synchronizer Assy (and it's mating gear) seem to have the same profile as mine that I thought was due to abuse/wear. Was I wrong?

Here's his post rebuild pics;

 

That's marginal, but I think yours are rounded back about twice as far.

I'd listen to Nick about this - he has years of experience with these transmissions and has had his hands on hundreds of them.