Difficulty Of Rebuilding A T14 And Dana 20

Hi everyone, I have been lurking as a guest for a few months and have already learned a ton form this forum. I purchased a '75 cj5 in may and have decided to do a frame of restoration. I know this project is probably over my head, but how else am i going to learn. The jeep was running great after upgrading to HEI ignition and a motocraft 2100 carb. The clutch needed replacement but the tranny seemed good.
It now has the body off and i was wondering how difficult it would be to rebuild the tranny and transfer case while I have easy access to it. Is it something a home mechanic could tackle or am i setting myself up for problems. I just got a quote for $1000 in labor for a bench build. That is out of my budget for this rebuild. Has anyone tackled this rebuild with good results from a Novak kit? This jeep is not going to be a trail rig, mostly just a summer rig so I don,t need to change to a better transmission.
Any advice would be appreciated.

 

I have not rebuilt a t-14 but I have done a couple t-90s and an Sm420. I have also rebuilt a big hole dana 18 that was pretty easy. For that i needed a dial indicator to set end play. Don't know if that required for the dana 20.

I used the Novak kit for the dana 18. The kit users off the shelf parts and some crown seals. The bearings were Nachi, if i remember right. The real reason you buy the Novak kit is for the intermediate shaft. Theirs are apparently hardened correctly. I only have a couple hundred miles on mine, so the verdict is still out.

If you have the manuals and watch some you tube videos there is no reason you can't tackle it. If you're mechanically inclined you might enjoy it. I did.

 

Why try and fix it if it's not broke ?
Drain the transmission, remove the shift tower and look inside.
Drain the transfer case, remove bottom pan and inspect.
If nothing obvious, and it worked fine prior, let sleeping dogs lie.

 

Thanks for the replys. I would like to rebuild since I don't know the history of it, but I'm am finding lots of other things that need attention. The parts list keeps growing. I will likely leave them for now and keep the search going for a t15 for later.

 

To add to what jpflat2a said above, the replacement parts in many kits today just plain suck. A good working original transmission in many cases operates better then some "rebuilt" units. A 20 transfer case doesn't have all the wear in the intermediate gear like a 18 does so there is little upside in tearing one down.

 

When I swapped in my T18 I had to do a full rebuild, which I had never done before. Like you, while everything was out, I decided to tackle the Dana 20 transfer case as well. And as long as I was rebuilding the transfer case anyway, I decided to do the twin stick conversion. It was a scary project at the time, and I wouldn't look forward to doing it again, so I would agree with the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" sentiment. All parts were ordered through Novak. I found Novak to have good parts and good directions. I found the transfer case to be much easier to rebuild than the transmission, but both can be done at home as long as you read the directions thoroughly, study the diagrams, take lots of pictures, be patient, and keep all the parts organized as you disassemble them. The T18 has heavy duty lock rings which require a quality set of lock ring pliers; not sure if these are required for the T14. If you're searching for a T15, I have one for sale if you're ever in the Southern California area. Good luck.

 

I think Jim is right, don't buy trouble. If the transmission or transfer case were noisy, or if the T-14 popped out of gear, or if the T-14 gears clash when you shift, then you might consider it.

If you inspect and see broken gears, then everything changes. But that seems unlikely from your description.

That said, the Borg-Warner 3-speeds are not difficult to rebuild. Nor is the Dana 20. You might consider new blocking rings in the T-14 if it clashed a little, but I see no reason to take a Dana 20 apart unless it's noisy. BTW the 20s are a lot more durable than the 18s due to their design, and if it's not noisy it has a lot of miles left.

 

The T-14 is more durable then some folks on other forums give them credit for. A T-18 is certainly the ultimate CJ oem tranny, but if you don't have the funds and/or want to enjoy the jeeps sooner as other pressing issues will always come up, drain the fluids, fill with new and run the current trans and transfer case. FWIW, I have deystoyed aT-150 behind a modified 304 in a 77 CJ7 years ago. Just my opinion, but swapping to a T15 just doesn't have a good ROI if there is nothing wrong with your existing trans.

 

Thanks. That is good news. I opened up everything today and it all looks solid. Some fine metal on the magnet of the tranny but not chipped or worn gears. I guess I have extra funds for the wiring harness