T-18a

[CJeff7]

Bought a '79 CJ5 a few years ago for a couple hundred bucks that was trashed except for the 258 engine and T18a tranny. I recently had the tranny professionally rebuilt - including a new gears. Just finished painting it and I'm going to put it in my '78 CJ7 behind the 304. Also had the Dana 20 rebuilt at the same time.

 

[Hedgehog]

Very nice. I don't believe you will be sorry. but its sooooo black!

 

[CJeff7]

Yes, it is. Should I have painted it something else?

 

[hole]

You a Raiders fan Jeff?

 

[CJeff7]

Haha....no, not really. I guess I should have painted it a different color, LOL!

 

[HackFabrication]

Oooooooh..... T18 porn....



'cause ya know ya can't stop....


BTW: Looks Great!

 

[CJeff7]

Wow! I really like that blue! Maybe I should think about changing mine. :-).

 

[gert]

Drool. Sure is a sweet tranny. This is the color my NV4500 will be painted and the color my D300 already is painted I like the natural look with out the rust http://www.eastwood.com/ew-spray-gray-detail-paint-aerosol-12-oz.html


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Lumpy Grits]

You should paint it 'camo'.
Then nodangbody will 'see' what tranny you have.
LG

 

[HackFabrication]

Wow! I really like that blue!

Plain old Rustoleum Royal Blue over POR15:





Had I to do it again (and I won't), I'd have went with a darker blue. More Ford Blue dark.

 

[CJeff7]

Man, that is a great looking chassis. What engine is that?

 

[HackFabrication]

What engine is that?

Ford Racing 5.0L. SVO Aluminum heads, Ford Racing 'B' cam, GT40 intake, Ford Racing F150 headers (SS and JetHot coated), 24# injectors, 65mm TB. Chipped A9L computer. Probably about 350 hp at the rear axle with the tune. 160amp alternator and Saginaw/Delphi PS pump conversion running a serp belt:







Sorry for hijackin' your thread. Your T18a looks great. Now get that buttoned up and tossed in the chassis!

 

[CJeff7]

My gosh! That is one beautiful power plant! You ought to be able to idle up a wall with the and the T-18 and the Dana 300!!

 

[HackFabrication]

My gosh! That is one beautiful power plant! You ought to be able to idle up a wall with that, the T-18 and the Dana 300!!

Thanks! It'll have a healthy thirst for 93 octane.

No D300 (I wish I had gone that route or Atlas). It's got the original Dana 20 with a TeraLow 3.15 kit and twin sticks. 32" tires, 4.56 gears, ARB locked front/rear. I crawl at 90:1 at .8 mph (750 rpm). Downside is it's screaming at highway speed (3350 rpm @ 70mph).

My CJ project is the poster child for MAW's. A really expensive education on how a simple resto/mod can get out of hand before ya know it.

 

[Hedgehog]

Didn't realize my color comment would bring in so much information. I believe the factory color was either black or grey. On my T-15 I used Old Ford Grey. Since then I've fallen in love with "Old Ford Blue". I have a motto, if I work on it, it gets painted "Old Ford Blue". This is not the correct AMC color by a long shot, but you can find it about everywhere and I really like the color. Hacks Royal blue is similar but a little lighter in color. I like'em both with a little preference for what I use. All in all the color really doesn't matter at all. Nobody will be seeing it, besides in a short time it will be covered in mud and oil anyways.

Hacks CJ is pretty (engineering wise that is) and it's a beast. I do so much highway driving here in the west that I simply could not go with the big gearing a lot of the CJ guys like. I actually removed the 3.73 gears and went with 3.31's. The 360 turns at 2400 rpm's @ 65. A very comfortable engine speed. To get decent off road use I'm installing my T-18a and Dana 20 with terra low gears in it. I can't grab the extremely low crawl speeds Hack can, but in compound and low range it should crawl fairly well, while having decent highway manners. Love the T-18 transmission. Had a Ford t-18 conversion back in the '80's. Behind a Buick 231 V6 it was all I could ask for in a desert jeep.

 

[CJ]

CJ's bellhousing, T18 and Dana 20. I stayed withe black.

 

[JimsCJ5]

Bought a '79 CJ5 a few years ago for a couple hundred bucks that was trashed except for the 258 engine and T18a tranny. I recently had the tranny professionally rebuilt - including a new gears. Just finished painting it and I'm going to put it in my '78 CJ7 behind the 304. Also had the Dana 20 rebuilt at the same time.

Looks good. Can I ask what T18 rebuild goes for these days?

 

[HackFabrication]

Can I ask what T18 rebuild goes for these days?

Back in 2001 mine cost $337, which included all the bearings/seals/etc. It was a bench rebuild, I brought the transmission to them. Current pricing for just the rebuild kit is ~ $165 depending on where you get it from and what sort of bearings are supplied. I had a hard time finding any place locally that wanted the job. Lots of places doing automatics, not too many doing manuals. Part of the rebuild was having the mainshaft from my OEM Jeep T18 (close ratio trans that I had gutted) installed into the Ford T18 and having the OEM Jeep shift lever modified.

 

[Hedgehog]

What modifications did you do to your Shift lever. I ask because my stock lever was badly pitted at the ball so a replacement was purchased. Of course it's straight and needs to be bent so if you have a worthwhile modification this would be the time for me to consider it as well.

So, you had your OEM main shaft installed in a Ford T-18. Did you use the factory adaptor plate to make it effectively a t-18a clone? No Novak adaptor required.