T15 to T18 Swap-What am I in for...

Santa allowed me to "stumble" across a T18 Wide-Ratio/Dana 20 Combo with a bell housing for $350. It is out of a post 76 Jeep and was behind a AMC 304. I am going to replace my stock T15 and put it behind my 360 in my 75 CJ5. I have the following questions and or need for confirmation after searching.
1) The bell housing is a T150 bell housing and will bolt up to my AMC 360??
2) I believe my fresh clutch will be usable with the T18?
3) The throw-out bearing is different. It has some clips on it. Assuming this was the type used in the late 70's Jeep CJ's?
4) The shifter should come through the floor in about the same spot?
5) Crossmember - I figure I will have to relocate and redrill the cross member?
6) Drive Shafts - Front - Lengthen/Shorten/OK? Rear - Shorten?

Any tips/advice appreciated. **Pictures Below**

 

Clutch disk may be different. I know they are different between the t-14 and t-18.

rear shaft will need to be shorter and front shaft will need to be longer.

Holes should already be in the frame to relocate the cross member.

I don't know if the floor pan will work without modification. It would not on my '72.

Shifter should be roughly in the same spot. You may have to trim for the t-case and tranny shifter.

the bell housing should bolt up to the 360. I don't know about the clutch linkage though.

You will probably have to replace the pilot bearing on the engine to match the input shaft of the tranny.

 

Sorry for any echo...

Yep, the floors will require a lot of work. The factory T-18 floor panels are way different from the 3-speed floor panels. You'll both have to make the removable part taller and cut away some of the welded-in floor, IIRC.

The '77-79 T-18 combo in the CJ is shorter than the close-ratio T-18 that was used by the factory in '75, so I'm not certain that the holes for the crossmember will be in the right place. Measure the distance between your driveshaft yokes now, install the transmission, remeasure, and shorten/lengthen the driveshafts accordingly.

The bell will bolt up to the engine. Pretty sure the existing clutch linkage will work - all the length change is behind the bellhousing. You may have to change the length of the release fork pushrod a bit.

Re the clutch, IIRC you'll need a new (Ford or Jeep) disk to match the transmission input splines, but you can probably reuse the cover. You'll need a different pilot bushing, again IIRC. Not sure about the release bearing - I'd use everything inside the bell that matches the 4-speed donor.

 

I'm somewhat in the proces of doing this with a t-150 to t-18. But I'd doing it in the process of a complete build.

Parts Mike (partsmike.com) has all the info on this. he can sell you all the parts you need. For a t-150 to t-18, only the pilot bushing is needed and one new hole drilled in the bellhousing.

Fairly eaisy.

 

$350 was a steal for that combonation!

 

That is about what mine cost. I had to do a bit more work on it. Like rebuild it and do a short shaft conversion on it.

For a bolt in ready tranny and t-case that is a steal.

 

Thanks guys....Sounds like fabbing up a floor plate will be the biggest fabrication challenge. Would the stock bolt-in tunnel cover be found on an intermediate that came with the close-ratio T-18...or is the tub "stamped" or "formed differently around the trans. HudsonHawk - Have any tips for forming up the cover Pictures maybe Thanks

 

Considering I still have a big hole in the floor-board around the tranny, I won't be much help. R)

Mine is mostly a trail rig and I just have not taken the time to build a new cover for the tranny.

 

I didn't think the floor cover was that big a deal. I fabbed a piece out of sheelt metal and it looks great.

 

Yeah, that would work, but they might be a little hard to find. Not impossible, but might take a while. The factory T-18 covers just bolt on - they have a row of sheet metal screws along the drivers side IIRC, and you'll need to cut the existing floor some (which is covered by the T-18 panels), but otherwise they just bolt on.

The factory covers have quite a few bends, but I'd think you could duplicate them if you have access to a sheet-metal brake. Various other solutions have also been used, pieced together from cake pans, engine oil pans, and such.

 

I did a T-15 to t-18 swap last summer. You'll find that the most difficult part of the swap is dealing with the crossmember. The holes match ok, but you might have to cut and grind away part of the crossmember to get the d-20 to fit. You will also need some spacers to drop the cross member, since the t-18 sits a little lower. Tom wood driveshafts were very helpful and in my opinion very reasonably priced. If you find a floor covere that works please let me know, mine is still an open whole and you get a lot of road noise and heat from the opening.

 

I just finished a T-15 to T-18 swap with the dana 20. I ended up with two T-18s. One I bought for 150 out of a ford the other was mated to a dana 20 out of a Comanche that I got for 200. (I needed that one for the adapter plate. 200 bucks was cheaper than buying an adapter.)

I know on my 258 the old clutch works. I had to shorten the adjustable part of the clutch linkage and re-thread it.

I had to redrill holes for the cross member. Not that hard if you have the cross member already attached and everything held up with a jack. I had to trim the floor pan to get everything to fit and used the original floor pan cover over the tranny as a template to bend the new one. Then just measure and cut holes.

Hope the swap goes well.

 

Just a nit.

Comanche? No Comanche (MJ) ever had a Dana 20. Maybe a Commando? Or a Cherokee?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Comanche

 

Yeah, it had a 'C' in it.

 

I fabbed a new piece for the cover out of sheet metal.. If my Digital camera hadn't a crapped the bed I'd post a pic.

Oops! I already said that

 

Well, I have to give a "Hey - me too, me too!" bump to this thread. Zila - go borrow a camera and post pics of the floor!
We're counting on you.