T-18 trans swap

[Skifu]

Just waiting on a few more small parts,MT starter,bolts,and 2 U-joints,and I can get this thing done,Im  almost tired of thinking about it,and ready to go,but it takes time to find all the RIGHT parts to do a conversion like this,I will update as things progress.

[fordman]

i have heard abotu the nuetral thing before. but since i never had much intrest i ignored most of the post i read. but they did say to put it in neutral and do something this or that afterwards.

[Skifu]

Hey Man,

Its time to get to work,Ive finally gotten all the parts,its go time,Ill get back when its in.This is gonna be fun.

[Skifu]

OK, well its done,the T-18 is in its new home,your gonna s--t when you see how big a e40d is sitting on the ground,its large,and has to weigh at least 200 lbs.The aluminum Drive Shaft from the donor vehicle,, a lwb F150,was to short,and one piece,so I was able to add 6 inches to my e4od DS,and its back in,crossmember had to be trimmed 1/4 inch on both ends,so it would slide forward,it to is back in,the starter will need to be changed for a 92-96 w/man.trans,but it worked long enough for me to take a test ride.speedo is on a sensor in the rear end,so thats no problem,still got to hook up my back up lights,I"ll try to get up some pics, Professor Over drive at Summit racing said it couldnt be done,that it wouldnt work at all,this guy is supposed to be some type of automotive "Zen master Guru"but he didnt have a clue on this custom auto to manual tranny swap. This just might be the only 96 F-150 ex-cab swb 300-six in the world with this exact type of tranny swap,anyone else heard of such???

[Alvin in AZ]

This just might be the only 96 F-150 ex-cab swb 300-six in the world
with this exact type of tranny swap,anyone else heard of such???

Heck, that's prob'ly the only one we're gonna -hear- about. :)
Only farmers or ranchers would pull such a silly stunt as that, you know it? LOL :)

----------------------

Now isn't this a pretty sight tho, Skifu? :)
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/hoist6a.jpg
That big ol' piece of crap is outta there! LOL :)

230 pounds of it.
Only thing good about it is its resale value is higher than chicken****/pound. ;)

The ZF and T18 are only about 150 pounds but when you include the flywheel
and pressure plate etc they weight about as much as an automatic.

A neighbor was over last week and noticed a run-over-looking bathroom scales
outside.  I pointed at the E4OD and said "it mashed the crap out if it, didn't it :)"
An old 50's/60's Health-O-Meter handled the E4OD no sweat. :)

I was saving the mashed 80's sucker so me and a neighbor kid could figure out
how it works etc, but he up and moved on me. :/

------------------------------

Well I got it apart... :)
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/zf1.jpg
Question:
How does it go back together? 8-/

Answer:
Like this...
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/zf4.jpg
... you use an 8 pound single jack and two old Ford9inch axle retainers. LOL :)

Alvin in AZ

[Skifu]

Thanks Alvin in AZ, is that a e4od from a 4x4?,it looks even bigger than the 2 wd e40d,one thing that was real funny during this swap,after I finally got the clutch bled up,I took a test drive,I forgot the auto trans sensor was in park,zip tied to the frame,it took a few yards for the engines computer to pick up on it I guess,wondering what is this truck doing moving,with this thing in park,all the sudden the horn comes on,so I shut it down,and unplugged it,after I set the old transmissions sensor in neutral,by hand,it went back to normal.usually,when Ive done engine/tranny swaps like this,and God knows Ive had my fair share,Ive always ran into some sort of problem,@head stripped off a tranny bolt one time,(s-10 blazer),wrong motor mounts on a 6 to 8 swap,(chev C-10)well,you get the Idea,well,I can honestly say,that this swap went together as smooth as you could expect,especially since Ive got no lift,or air tools,and I did it old school style,laying on a tarp,with only 2 jack stands setting it up,no hold ups,every thing fit,I was baffled,it took me every bit of a weekend to get it back in driveable condition, it does help that theres a machine shop less than 2 miles from where I live,it cost me 25$ to have 6 inches added to the drive shaft,and I kept the stock 2 piece shaft, Oh,I did cut my hand on the edge of the floor where I cut out the space for the trans to stick through.I started pulling it down Fri. afternoon,and was in time to pick up my youngest daughter,and our neighbors girl from school monday afternoon,keep in mind I worked all through the night both days,needless to say,I was a whipped pup when it was all over,theres plenty of room under my truck now,and it has a noticable gain in take off power,before it wouldnt spin a tire unless your in mud,or wet grass,now it will spin pretty decent taking off in 2nd gear,over all,Im very happy with how it turned out,anyone needing info on the details of this swap,feel free to contact me,and it was fun!  

[Alvin in AZ]

Yeah that's an E4OD from my '91 Bronco that I've never driven. LOL :)
Bought it broken for $700. :)

Here it is again...
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/hoist6a.jpg
Here's what I'm putting in and yep, it's gonna be 2wd...
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/hoist6m.jpg

http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/hoist3a.jpg
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/hoist7m.jpg

2wd will give me enough room to add a midship tank from an F150. :)
YMMV on that "need" etc. LOL :)

Thinking about using the front twin I-beams and 10.25 rear axle from
the F250 parts truck. Was going to use the stuff from an F150.

http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/F250brakes.jpg

What do you think about the backing plate looking loose tho...?
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/F250axle.jpg

Alvin in AZ

[Skifu]

Thanks Alvin In AZ.

Thats a good looking trans you got there,what did it come out of? If I didnt have a t-18 and all the trimmings already waiting on me at my uncles shop,I would have liked to find one like that.Theres no way I could ever have beat the price my uncle sold it to me for.looks like you got it under control pretty good,thanks for the pics,your truck looks nice,keep us posted.How loose is the backing plate Alvin? I guess if its not to bad,you could use,but if your like me,you want it right the first time,,If its not to bad I guess it will work ok.,Thanks again for all the wonderful pictures,soon as I can get some pics up I will.

[Alvin in AZ]

The ZF came out of a '90 F250 parts truck.  It was a "company truck" and at one point
used to haul sand, block and bags of cement. Originally it had a hide-away goose neck
ball that I removed and gave away. Took a couple days messing with it to get the ball to
pop out. LOL :) There are only small areas of the body that aren't dented a little! LOL :)

I don't know yet what damage was done by the loose backing plate since I haven't taken
it apart yet.  Just lately got to seriously considering the F250's axles for the '91 Bronco...
when I noticed that business. :) It doesn't have Traction Lok so an aftermarket LSD would
be needed and I will be needing help picking one of those out.

Just for the fun of it, anybody got a guess on the damage by looking at the picture? :)
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/F250axle.jpg

-----------------

IMO, I see only one advantage to the ZF over the T18 and that's its overdrive gear and
that's makes it nice for long trips going 80mph down the freeway ...like my Bronco will
be doing. ;) Other than that, I'd have put a T18 in the Bronco too! :) No kidding. I even
have an extra T18 from the '75 F100 parts truck and the shifter is tight on it so the only
reason I need to tear it apart is because the shifter was out for a couple months before
I got it and it looked dirty down inside. :)

Alvin in AZ

[Skifu]

Man,Alvin,
I wish I was closer to you,just so I could hang out with you and build Ford stuff,these are some good pics,I may just have to start looking for me a ZF 5 speed,It looks tough,especially setting inside your truck,and coming up out of the floor,and the one you have is about the cleanest Ive ever seen.I really got a kick out of your job title "RailRoad signal ape",Im retired to,from the US Army,(21years),you make it sound cool.once again,thanks for the neat pics.Please put up some more pics as things progress., SKEEFOO.  

[Skifu]

T-18 swap up date,

Everythings back to normal,all Ive got to do is hook up my BU lights,and its a sealed deal,This was the best thing I could of done to "re-invent" the way my old 96 drives,Its fun to drive it now.Theres a hill,running next to an overpass,thats not paved,I use it to get on the auto pista,it shaves about 3 miles off of the normal way to get to the same place,In granny gear,with my foot not even touching the gas,the Ford will idle up this hill,effortless,before it took a little stab on the gas to get up this same grade with the E4od that was in my truck,it made a BIG difference in pulling power,and of course it will pull away from a dead stop in 2nd gear no sweat.so far I havent really noticed the fact that I dont have OD anymore,I dont keep up with the hi-speed traffic,everyone passes me by,but what the hell,its a Farm truck,I dont care, and did I mention I got a noticable increase in fuel mileage,I mean its no contest to what I was getting with the E40d,(parasitic drag)You can really tell a difference,its that much,I was getting 16-17 before,now Im quite sure its going to be around 19-20,I figure about 3-4 mpg better,Im still running a full tank down,so Ill know the facts when I crunch the numbers when its empty,with dual tanks,you can run pretty much run out,and flip the button,this should deliver some real solid numbers,well see.I need a memory chip for my digital camera,so I will try to get up some pics,the install is so clean,it looks factory,and it should, I had a good donor truck with all the odds and ends,so no corners were cut.Im even more satisfied I was able to keep my 2 piece Drive shaft,with the carrier bearing holding up the middle,I feel this a better set up than a solid shaft,all new u-joints were used,I went back in with a new 10 inch clutch,since thats what the donor Veh.had in it,11 is still an option,and all new hyd.clutch parts were used,I tack-welded a washer to the inside of my clutch pedal shaft assembly to tighten it up,it had a little up and down play,now its nice and tight again,full pedal.my tranny tunnel plate is bolted in solid,looks factory,I topped it up with Amalie semi-syn.gear oil,Im still looking for Royal Purple,but In Panama,you take what you can get.it shifts really tight,  and it should,the donor truck only had 11,000 showing on the speedo,it was crashed in the front.after X-mas,Ill re up the rubber all the way around,and install my powertrax no-slip locker,and it should ride for a good long time,Overall,its a good swap.  

[Skifu]

Yesterday,I pulled the clutch-brake pedal out,and gave it a good greasing,and installed the 2 upper mount bolts Id left out during the swap,just so I could give it a shake down ride,the clutch was squeaking ,but now,its better than new,no noise when you push down the pedal,and the action through the stroke is smooth as glass,I greased every contact point,and its a real gas to drive,before with the e4od,it was sluggish,now its snappy,and responsive,and it will pull like a "truck" now,It will snap your neck back if you gas it in 1st or 2nd,and actually spin the back wheels if you need to,Im babbling,I know,but we all need our hobbies,this is mine.Im going to FL.in Jan,new year,Im getting a set of old school chrome rims,DUI Ignition,Aluminum radiator,swap to electric fan,ac compressor,bucket seats,and so on,I will post some pics soon.

[Alvin in AZ]

...its a real gas to drive,before with the e4od,it was sluggish,
now its snappy,and responsive

That's really cool news since I'm hoping for that with my '91 Bronco/ZF 351w. :)

My '91 F150 E4OD SuperCab 351w is a dog. (it's got 74k now)
I get tired of waiting on it while it decides what gear it should be in etc.

Wide Open Throttle works fine with the E4OD, if that's what you like to do. :)
It's just that, that's not my thing. :/

I give it -some- gas or let off the gas a little and it thinks about it for a while
before responding. LOL :) Guys that like automatics wouldn't notice?

Was told it was the solenoid pack(?) unlocking and locking it up again and there's
an updated solenoid pack that fixes a '91 E4OD right up, so the story goes.

I shouldn't complain really, it's great for -easy-as-anything- "point A to point B"
travel! :) But that isn't my thing either. LOL :)

Alvin in AZ

[Skifu]

Well hello Alvin in AZ,
Whats up my friend?Please by all means let us know when you got it road worthy,and driving again,Im very interested to know more about the ZF trans,5th gear sounds like a good option,Ive only got a F-150,your doing your swap into a F-250,right? that tranny you were installing was one clean Muh Fuh,dont keep us waiting to long,have a great holiday season Alvin.Ill be in FL. in Jan to Feb.but Ill still keep in touch.
                                        "SKEEFOO"

[Alvin in AZ]

Looked for about 2 years for a -nice- white Bronco with a 5 speed in it and was
willing to pay $3500 for it. :)

Then this Craig's List ad showed up and decided to make my own...
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/BroncoAD

A young mechanic was selling it for his boss and he knew my boys from school.
It was put together July of '90 so it's a '91 really, he explained his mistake over
the phone the first time we talked.

I walked up, looked here, said I'd buy it and laughed 'cause Josh was still trying
to "sell" me. LOL :)
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/BroncoDSfront.jpg
That picture was taken when I got it home, I'd tied up the drive shafts with
what I had on hand, tire chain tensioners.

The ad mentions this and I've only driven it with Vise Grips so far... :)
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/BroncoColumn.jpg

Here's it's only damage other than the clear coat is gone from the heat here
and it's dark paint...
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/BroncoDamage.jpg
The original owner was a gal named Barbara Becker and she bought it from
Jim Click Ford in Tucson AZ. :) (hoping she finds this windy report I'm writing ;)

http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/BroncoDSrear.jpg
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/BroncoTC.jpg

So I bought a '90 F250 parts truck with a 351w+ZF for the transmission, pedal
assembly, computer, wires, left lower rear fender, steering column etc.

Also have the '91 F150 I inherited that's the same color as the Bronco. :)

Was thinking about using the front suspension and axle from the F250 instead
of from the F150.  What do you guys think? :)

------------------------

Might find it cheaper to get a parts truck with a 460+ZF than a 393w stroker
kit for the 351w?

If I someday put a 393w stroker kit in the 351w or get a parts truck with a
460+ZF, how much better off would I be with the 10.25" Ford axle?

What do you guys think? :)
What will a Ford 8.8" handle?

But I might find the 351w plenty after I get it going, especially with a 'Mustang
computer (A9L) and MAF? :) Have to wait and see on that. :)

Tell me what you think and let me decide. :)

Alvin in AZ
ps- Oh yeah, I used -used brake fluid- (I'd saved) for cleaning the ZF and E4OD.
Tried all kinds of stuff but the brake fluid -even tho it's slow- worked best. You
know-ed already ;) brake fluid is water soluble right? So it acts like thick engine
cleaner you brush on one day and begin cleaning it up the next. Don't work hard
at it give the brake fluid time to work. I call it "hick paint remover :)" and that
was the reason I'd saved it to start with. :)
pps- I just rip the label off the brake fluid can.