Tranny swap.

[wdwrlw]

Would a swap form a Ford Scout (2) a 1980 model that had a T-19 and a Dana 300 be a good combo. I have a AMC bellhousing for V8, T-176, Dana 300 as of now. I want a Low ratio for the first gear. This tranny was mated to a 4 cylinder, but that seems odd I thought this would be a heavy duty tranny.

[diddycj5]

You mentioned a "Ford Scout" T-19/dana300... Internation made Scouts not Ford. However this is not really a big deal since all Ford/Jeep/Scout trannies at this time were made by Borg-Warner. Based upon the description I am assuming that you really mean Scout T-19/dana 300 and not Ford.

The scout dana300 is a rare find. (if you have one and dont use it let me know - I am always looking for a scout dana300). The scout dana 300 was only available in 1980 and is the only dana300 to have the Texas bolt pattern. (similar to the dana20). The jeep dana 300 has a circular bolt pattern. Therefore the scout dana300 is a bolt-in swap for a dana300. The dana300 has a low 2.62:1 ratio where the dana20 was only 2.03:1.

As far as the T-19, is is not as desirable as the T-18. The T-19 has a synco 1st gear where the T-18 does not. As a result, the T-18 has the desirable 6.32:1 granny low where the T-19 is only about 4:1. Since the T-19 has a syncro 1st gear,Borg-Warner couldn't give it the granny 1st gear. Since the T-19 has a high first gear it is also know as a close-ratio tranny.

Both T18/T19 are very heavy duty trannies. T-19s were available in fords & scouts, while T18s came in jeeps, scouts, fords. The T18s were very common in fords and you can pick one up in a junk yard for $50-150. The jeep T18 had a longer input shaft (pilot bearing) than the ford T18s . However, Advance Adapters sells a pilot bearing to use with the ford T18. In reality the ford T18 is probably the best/easiest to use.

There are also many other considerations when doing this swap depending upon tranny/xfercase options. There are many different adapters to mate different trannies to different t-cases. Many of the adapters are about 4in thick and will lengthen the running gear which can be a headache for short wheelbase (esp cj5s).

I did a T-18 swap into my 74 cj5 about a year ago and absolutely love it. It was the best thing I have ever done for my jeep. I still have my dana20 and would love to find a scout dana300. Let me know if you have any specific questions or how-to. This is a great swap.

I really should do a detailed writup in the HOW-TO section. There are a few really bad writeups out there that have wrong information.

[wdwrlw]

Yeah your right it is a International. I have found many tranny s that have the 4 to 1 first gear but can,t seem to find one. who are the best donor vehicles?

And I may look at a NV 4500 swap. Just trying to determine $$$. I think with the NV 4500 I will have to shorten or lengthen driveshafts.

Thanks

[wdwrlw]

FYI http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2444701567

[diddycj5]

Yah, I saw the ebay auction. Unfortunately, I don't want the T-19 and I would only want the dana300. Plus shipping both units would cost a fortune. I am hoping to find one more locally.

I honestly don't know too much about the NV4500. Anybody else out there? I think they are ~5.5:1 1st gear but have the 5th gear overdrive.

I went with a T18 since it is one of the shortest trannies and I could get a 1" thick adapter to mate the T18 to the dana20. Most other adapters were 4-5in thick which would have left me with a 8in long rear drive shaft. Thus for all the tranny-tcase options out there the T18-dana20 was about the shortest overall length. Since you have a cj7 you have 10 more inches of wheelbase to play with. Lucky-you.

The Ford T-18 came in many of the trucks from 1967-84 so there are many of them out there. The easiest way I have found to determine if a T-18 is close ratio or the desirable wide ratio is the direction the shifter moves to get into reverse. If it is to the right and back toward the seat - 6.32:1 ratio. if it moves right and toward the dash to get into reverse it is the 4:1 ratio. The definite way to tell if the tranny is out of the vehicle is to count the revolutions input-output when in first gear. All T-18s either have a T-18 or 13-01 in the casting.

Jeep actually had two different T18's over the years. '69-71 they had a T18 that was 4:1 ratio. Jeep also had a T98 tranny during '69-71 that is the same as the early T-18 with 4:1 ratio but the internal gears & shafts are not as strong - dont waste you $$ on a T98.
Then in '77-78 they had a T-18 with the 6.32:1 1st gear. Many jeepers have dubbed the wide ratio tranny T-18A, but this is just so people can differentiate, but there there really isnt a "A" anywhere in the part number. I would acutually recommend going with a Ford T18. They are way more available and cheaper. A Jeep T18 will be 2-3 times the cost of a Ford. The only issue with a Ford T-18 is getting the right adapter to bolt to whatever t-case. Since they are typcially $400-500, the adapters become more expesive than the tranny.

Since I needed the short 1in adapter, I needed either the stock jeep adapter than came with the jeep T-18 or shell out for an Advance Adapter kit. I found a guy local that rebuilds T-18s for swaps and got everything I needed from him - bellhousing, rebuilt Ford T-18, adapter, clutch, throwout bearing.

Also remember, nearly every tranny swap will have a different total length (tranny/adapter/t-case) and you will be looking at driveshaft length modifications. Depending upon local rates, you are looking at $150-250 to lengthen/shorten your driveshafts. Many of the online writeups neglect this and as a result, and people dont realize that their project will get a couple hundred $$ more expensive.

Also, make sure that you have patience and a tranny jack. I had to put the tranny in and out 6 times to get everything lined up, the crossmember relocated, floorboard modifications,clutch linkage hooked up. The big surprise for me was that the T18 is physcially taller than my old tranny. After installing the T18, the tranny was hitting the floorboard. I ended up doing a 1" body lift to get the body up off the tranny.

Some decent tranny info I found when doing my swap:
http://www.trailhed.com/T18page.html
http://www.off-road.com/jeep/tech/convtrans/ford/fordt18id.html
http://www.off-road.com/jeep/tech/convtrans/convt18.html
http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/t18_t19.htm
http://www.advanceadapters.com

[diddycj5]

Here is some NV4500 info. No idea of the quality of info.
http://www.off-road.com/jeep/tech/convtrans/convnv4500.html

[78304CJ-7]

Some scout T-19 are wide ratio with syncro first. :t:
]

-RJ

[diddycj5]

Some scout T-19 are wide ratio with syncro first.
-RJ]

RJ, You are right. I stand corrected. I looked up some more info about the T-19 and found that there were seveal 1st gear ratios available: Ford 500-800 series trucks had a 6.32:1 T-19, 1983-84 Ford T-19s had 5.1:1 and the majority of the T-19s had 4:1 1st gear. Scouts also had the close & wide ratio vairiations of the T-19, but the wide ratio is also very rare. Thanks for pointing this out. I don't want to be giving out wrong info.