T-18 / T-90 Swap (l-134) Aka Tdi

Progress!

 

The front retainer adapter design my buddy came up with really saved me a lot of work. It look awhile to make... I was very picky with the dimensions and I wanted it to be perfect. It paid off....I ended up with a nice "snap" fit.

One issue I had was the jeep input shaft has the "small cone" synchro and the ford trans was a large cone. So i bought a new 3rd gear and I have the synchro hub and shift dogs from the scout that will work. so I that is all sorted now but its something to consider when ordering parts and mixing things. When ordering a rebuild kits and mixing input shafts.

New small cone 3rd.



This pic shows the subtle differences....







The whole assembly together.



Is it wrong if this turns me on?



I really took my time clamping locating and drilling the retainer and bushing... the center of the hole lands right were the parts join.



I milled the t90 retainer flat to allow the bolt and washer....





I also started boring a test hole on a spare bellhousing.

I will be removing a total of roughly .500 from the hole.

 

Did you mill a slot in the retainer adaptor to match the hole in the case where the oil drains back from the retainer?

 

Yup

 

Im having fun! Its like a giant heavy puzzle. haha!

Here are some shots of this weekends progress.

My dana18 adapter is mounted on the rear now. I was glad to have a chance to use my little drill press that collects dust... I use my mill for almost everything but the big trans case was too tall. The drop table on the drill press was a blessing!


I really took my time to make sure everything was lined up perfectly!



All holes drilled and chamfered.



I hand tapped all the holes... this material was very easy to work with... I had it done in no time at all
4 of the holes are 3/8-16, the other 2 are 7/16-14



It came out beautifully! No issues!






Fits like a glove








Just the empty cases weigh about as much as a complete t90! haha.... this is a beefy hunk of iron!





Im aware the scout adapter cants the t-case downward more than the jeep adapter so I cheated it upward as much as I could but your limited.... the front bearing cap shifter assembly will hit the case. I went as far as I could I needed to grind a tiny bit of material off the case.





Most of my parts for the rebuild arrived yesterday.... I have to drill/Tap the front of the case for the bell housing mounts before I assemble the transmission. In order to do that I must bore the bell housing and make sure its perfectly centered/indexed on the front bearing/input shaft. Theoretically as long as the hole on the bellhousing is centered and fits the retainer perfectly it will all be true once it slips over the retainer.....but since im enlarging the hole there is room for error.....so I will be taking a lot of measurements and indicating everything before I drill the case for the mounting bolts.

 

Beautiful work, your a Craftsman. Patience is something I lack...

 

I would be real tempted to drill the case for a GM bell as well if they don't interfere. It's looking great!

 

Then I would need to make a new engine adapter and modify my throwout setup. Haha! That’s not happening! I’ve already made enough work for myself. Lol!

 

Ive made lots of progress in the past few days!

Parts arrived!


I also got some OD parts for when I switch it over.



Main shaft assembled.



I made a handy dandy tool to get a rough center for the t90 bellhousing. The bore of the bell will index it to the input shaft but I needed to get the holes drilled so I can assemble the case. So I made this setup that presses into the input bearing and presses into the t90 bearing retainer. then the bell housing can slip over that and then I was able to mark the holes.







If that doesnt make sense I did make a video on it... if anyone wants to borrow this they are welcome to use it. It worked really well...

Back to the assembly.




1-1/8" dowel worked perfectly!





Heating the bearings.



At 300 degress... I slid them on and sent the home with a brass drift and an old bearing.


Done! We now have a t18 with a 15/16" 7" stickout and the t90 bell will bolt right up (with an enlarged bore)

 

Yea, but look at all those spare parts!! Gears and bearings everywhere!!

 

As if that's a bad thing?

 

I call all those extra parts "weight reduction"

 

Great work and attention to detail.

 

Nice work! Thanks for taking time to show us what you did.

 

Sure thing! Thanks for taking the time to read my non-sense! haha!

I started pulling my transfer case today to do the the dana 20 case swap..... I also picked up a jeep t18 adapter for a really good price! I will be using that one instead of the scout adapter.

 

I think I finally finished all the machining... I had to mill down the front bearing retainer for the D18 because it was hitting the case once I switched to the jeep style adapter. Then I had to Bore out the bell housing for the larger bearing retainer. I also had to mill the inside of the bell flat since the bolts are on the inside now. I used my little alignment tool help center the bellhousing to bore the hole... That got me close then I finished it with in dial indicator. everything fit together perfectly! I must have gotten lucky! haha! Now Im mocking up the shifters and everything and taking some measurements on how everything is going to fit in the jeep. Next up is to assemble the transfer case.

I dont have much else to say.... so these pictures will say it for me.. lol!

 

Looks great!

My internet is horrible; I can't wait for this thread to start a new page! It takes a solid 5 minutes for all the pics to load.

When is install?

 

I want to see all of that in the jeep, and some drive shafts in the lathe!

 

Thanks guys! Yes I want to see it in the jeep too! I will be happy when all I have to do is make some driveshafts! This project
Is dragging on at this point!

 

I’ll hep ya out and add a post to switch pages.