T90 Madness...

Hey guys/gals

Towed my '55 CJ5 home from my friends house where it sat for the last year under a tarp. It didn't have a drivetrain when I bought it, but it had a pile of tranny and transfer case parts with it. I never really got a chance to dig through them and see what I had, but I figured it should be enough to build at least one working set if I bought a couple of rebuild kits. Sorted through all the parts when I unloaded them last night. Have several T90 transmission cases...one has input shaft and counter gear, one has counter gear and nothing else, etc. One complete Spicer 18 I can rebuild, and with most of the parts in it. A cardboard box with a new input shaft, a brand new second gear (second or third...), some new bearings and a bunch of misc. parts. BUT NOT ENOUGH TO BUILD A COMPLETE T90!! AAAARRRRGGG. . Rats.
Now, the guy that was storing my Jeep has a really old Forward Control, and the tranny and t-case are sitting on the bed and he said I could have them. It's got the funny side shifting tranny, like a column shift CJ...I would assume the internals are the same as any other T90 and I could take the other gears/sliders, etc out and put a tranny together, correct?
My other option is a junkyard tranny. Before I got my Jeep we went to our favorite salvage yard and they have a couple more Scout 800s since the last time I was there. There are probably 6 of them with tranny/t-cases still in them. Was there a difference in input shafts or anything on their T90s? It frustrating because this is a "you pull it" yard, and I'm not going to have time to pull that stuff for a *long* time since it's an hour drive from here and it's really hard to get away. Although I would think the demand for thoes old things is pretty low, you never know. With my luck I'd show up with all my tools to find them all missing their drivetrains.

Thoughts?

 

some of the IH versions of the T90 have reverse angling of the teeth on the gears, so you can't just mix and match
eyeball and you should be okay

 

Any idea if they use the same length input shafts/spline count as the Jeep? I could always snag a complete tranny/t-case from a scout and just stab that in the jeep...

 

sorry
my memory fails me
been too long

 

I am running a scout tranny and t-case in my 5. these came out of a 60's scout 800. you will need to change the input shaft and front bearing retainer to run this behind the f head. only other major difference is no e-brake on the back of the scout dana 18 t-case. good point is it would be a t90 with the lower 1st gear.

 

I could have my choice of any of the scout tranny & t-cases for about $50...if I could ever get up there to yank them out. Also found one of the 800s with a decal on the dash saying it was equiped with a track lock or some other sort of posi (I forget the name). Again, I could probably have the whole axle pretty cheap if I could get it out. I'm friends with the guy who runs the place, so I usually get a pretty good deal on parts.
I'll probably start by telling my friend with the T90 from the jeep FC150 not to get rid of it. I was a dumb#*#$(. I was loading all my other parts and he asked if I wanted that one too...I said "No, that's ok. I've probably got more than enough here". If that won't work, I'll probably just have to find a way to get one out of one of the scouts...they don't have a CJ in the place, and all the old Willys trucks are missing their drivetrains.

 

Sounds like a T90J. I just read about this on Novak's site:

The T90J was used with the six-cylinder trucks from 1952 to 1965. These were either column or floor shift models. They had an 11" input shaft (stick-out length) with a 10 x 1-1/8" splines and a neoprene-sealed front bearing retainer assembly. The T90J has an 18 tooth, helically cut input gear. The cluster gear has a 33 tooth driven gear, resulting in a 2.98:1 first gear and a 1.66:1 second gear.

The column shift T90J can be easily converted from column (or "transmission side shift") to floor shift ("top shift") by installing a floor shift top cover assembly.

http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/t90.htm

 

That looks like it! Although I don't remember the input shaft being quite that long, but I didn't look at it all that close. The FC originally had a Super Hurricane 6 in it. So, it looks like the tooth count is the same for both the J and A models so it could donate the parts I need. I could empty it out and sell the J case bare if it's worth anything (it's probably not). It would be nice if this would work rather than pulling a scout setup...the J tranny is just sitting on the flatbed of the FC so I could just throw it in my trunk.

 

I have a new 32 tooth driven gear and no imput shaft to match up with it. What the heck is that out of? Scout? Doug

 

What are you building this Jeep for? Offroad or Restoration or some where in between. I would go with a 4 speed for offroad. If you are going to restore go to Quadratec and just get the replacement parts you need either way tell Novak what you have and what you need and they will get you set up. These guys are the sh!t.

 

Restoration, but I'll take it up in sticks. It'll get used, but not abused. The T90 should be find for whatever I'm going to do with it. I guess I could go and just order the extra gears...thing is I'm on a really limited budget, so cheap=good. . I'll check the price of what it would cost to just get the parts I need. I can get a whole tranny out of a scout for probably $50 + my time to remove it. The T90J my friend has would be even less...
But, it might be worth it to just buy the missing parts and save myself a lot of time (that I don't have much of already!)

 

You still looking for one of these? Shipping would probably cost more than the replacement parts for yours. Anyone coming through Michigan, or does anyone want to do a parts relay to Montana?

If you are interested in it I'll pull the top off and make sure the gears are good.

 

I'd love to take it off your hands, but yea...shipping would probably be killer. After looking at an exploded view of a T-90 and looking at what I have, it looks like I'm missing a bunch of the top end gear parts. I do have a case with the counter shaft and reverse idler in it. I've also got at least one complete top cover with shifter & forks. I don't get it...this guy had 3 T90 cases and a big box of parts...but not enough to put even one together . Must have lost a box or two of extra parts. Or maybe they were all bad and he tossed them, who knows.
I'm pretty sure I have a complete spicer 18 t-case. At least it looked complete through the plastic shrink wrap it's in . Felt complete when I picked it up and carried it into the garage too.
If anybody plans on headding this way even later on this year I'm in no big hurry...I've got plenty to do with this thing in the mean time R) . I definetly appreciate the generous offer though!

 

If I get a minute or two in the next few days I'll pull the top off and see if it's all intact inside, it looks like it's never been apart. I collect 18 T-cases from junkers and a lot of times people give me the trans with them. If it's worth sending we'll figure out a way to get it to you.

My only regret is that for years I was taking all these light duty transmissions to the scrap metal yard for $ because no one wanted them.....then came the internet R)

 

Yea, if you get a chance open it up and take a look. And don't feel too bad about tossing thoes things...I'm sure most of us have a story of "I used to have a (insert item now worth big dollars here)...". My dad had a '55 Chevy in high school...back then it was just another used car.