T 18 swap for the T150 in 'Black Betty'

Turbogus

Turbogus

Active member
Hi gang,
I've been ruminating since I first got BB about getting her more climbing ability. I've seen several posts and I'm thinking about converting a Ford T18 to her. I was at the yard today and by their records what I was looking at (rusty crusty and on the floor) was a 1980 T18 casting no. 13 01 065 007. This seems to be the 2wd version on account of it's long tailshaft. The gearshift was locked so I coudn't detirmine what gear it was in but turning the input shaft 6 time yielded about 110 degrees clocked on the output shaft. Could this be the critter I should be looking for for a bench build?

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Top Cover
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....and another photo that didn't post

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The 13-01 identifies it as a t-18. 2wd version is 6.32 first gear. That is the critter you want, but will need to get a adapter kit as you will have to change the main shaft, NOVAK
 

That's a relief, that it is the 6.32, I'm thinking I should be concerned by the tag on the shifter saying "No Oil" what's more while the in/out put shafts spin okay the shifter is stuck, I'm planning a slow bench rebuild but should I be worried?
 
ckrap I think I see a crack on the right side of the cover...

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Yep, I've heard nothing but praises for this transmission
 
Well went out to the other yard and they had one that was mis shelved. Turned out we looked in the region it was while we were waiting for help, but I didn't recognise it being hooked up to a Ford transfer case. Having arrived just when they took a lunch delivery of pizza my buddie and I scrounged through the yard and found a candidate (2wd) still in the truck. If I find that local transmission indeed has a crack a friend from another forum has one available that he got as a lot.
 
Well I went back to the first yard and with their permission tried to remove the top cover and inspect the gears. I could only get the left side up about an inch and a half but for what seemed a few chips on the reverse gear from what I could see the rest were okay (novice that I am). Asking price was $150 clams last thursday but after I took the guy to the trans. and discussed it with him we agreed at $20 over core for a total of $70. I hope I didn't get burned. Indeed what I thought was a crack turned out to be nothing. Found the date code tag while I was at it;

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I just need to decipher it. Going to drive 'Easy Bake' to work tomorrow so I can pick it up during my break.
 

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The E indicates the decade, c=60,s d=70,s E=80,s. The first number is the year "0", so looks like you have a 1980 t18. This info came straight from Novaks wedsite.
 
That's great, I thought I saw that somewhere. Must've been during my early research into the conversion process.
 
Now I know that this transmission is a 1980. I'm picking it up this morning and as it seems to be stuck in gear I'm going to have to figure out how to remove the top cover. I'm only guessing that I'll have to remove the shifter first.
 

There's been many folks talking about the T18 trans. to the Dana 20 transfer case but my '78 is equipped with the Dana 300 transfer case already. Today, a local shop owner that I'm friends with whom formerly worked at the local Ford dealership was full of info and he did unscrew the shifter boss and removed the locking pin. (That he immediatly put in a plastic bag) and peering down the hole, he said "I'll be right back with a big screwdriver" 5 seconds of prodding the shift rails into alignment and 'wha-la' clear and now I can at last fully remove the Shift Control Housing. :verry-happy:
 
you will need the adapter kit, it comes with a new output shaft which may be the "main shaft" that I mentioned earlier. I looked it up and it was $500 dollars, ouch! you can google, ford t18 to jeep dana 300 and find it.
 
Yep, I knew about that adapter going in. The T 150 in 'Black Betty' is working fine, this is just a project that I can set aside when my budget falls short. Right now I'm more concerned with inspection and repairs.
 

With the help of a friend (and a grunt) we got the trans. up on my workbench and I got a slick plastic tub with a second floor in it that'll help keep the rinsed crud off of the gears and such post disassembly. I'm hoping to start tear down saturday unless life intervenes as the 7 day work week goes on...
 
Planning to straighten out my workbench saturday so there's room to work. Got a double bottom gardening tub at Hab for Human that'll serve as a parts washing/assembly bin.
Also now that the things' in neutral going to have my first look at the gear teeth and the synchronizers. I'm planning on going through the whole thing, learning as I go, these T18's are reputed as being one of the simplest transmissions out there save for all those needle bearings
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Going to be posting pics of progress, once I get going although there's likely to be stalls as I get short parts/tools.

Keep those tips and info comin' thanks to all and a lift of the lynch lid.

To help me along I found this on another site;

http://www.ford-trucks.com/articles/t-18-transmission-rebuild-part-1/
 
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Yesterday with the gearshifter already removed I took my mini mag light and found the 1-2 shifter rail and put 'er in 1st. Revolving the marked input shaft and counting the turns on the output it yielded 6+ turns so I'm in the clear. I removed the Shift Control Housing and rotating the input shaft again I see that the First-Second Clutch Sleeve showed signs of wear on the beveled side while my cursory novice look inside the case I saw no other signs of wear. I took several photos with my phone which promptly were lost, going to drag my work camera home tonight and post photos of what I found so far.

Pics;
The inner sanctum
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Close up of 1st-2nd clutch sleeve
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Shift Control Housing
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The four telflon pads on the shift forks;
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