auto tranny to manual?

[Rick]

anyone here ever do the swap? i would love to do this kind of swap. just toying with the idea.

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87 Grand wagoneer (stock, for now)
85 Grand Wagoneer LTD (soon to be parts beast)
NP229/TF727/D44/AMC20/Warn Hubs/
15x8 Black RockCrawlers/
And still piling up parts
my site www.geocities.com/thewagoneerman/ (http://www.geocities.com/thewagoneerman/)

[scotty]

im about to do it.im replacing the 904/dana 300 in my grand wag with a t18/dana 20. the manual came from a 77 j20 from which i have also kept the following: driveshafts,crossmember,shifters,pedal cluster,belcrank and linkage,the pivot bracket that bolts to the frame for the vlutch pivot,trans cover plate,flywheel,disc,pressure plate,throwout bearing,pilot bushing,and i guess thats about it. my situation is alittle hairier since the tranny/t case came from a v8 and my rig is a 258. this pretty much means that the driveshafts will need modified,ill have to fabricate a crossmember,some of the linkage is prolly different,and the shifters are gonna be in different spots.

if you want to retain your driver side front diff,and a new process xfer,your choices for a bolt in swap that are worthwhile are limited.the only ones worth mentioning are the t176 and the t18a. the t18a/208 combo is only available(i think) in the 80 and up j20,and that sucker is long. the gas tank in the j20 is behind the rear axle,so you may or may not have clearance trouble with the xfer case and stock plastic gas tank with a t18a and 208 in a grand wag. since you can only get the t18a in the j20,its not gonna be a bolt in swap.xfer shift linkage,and driveshafts will need to be modified. as far as i know,everything else is pretty much the same between the truck and wag. if you get a t176/208 from a chero or wag,it should be a complete bolt in,if you get the pedal cluster,clutch linkage,cover plate,and both driveshafts.

if youre not deadset on a driveside diff,you can get any pre80 parts truck with a t176,t150,or t18 all of which will have a dana 20. now yore also talking tranny swap,install clutch linkage,and at least swap front axle.since the ratios are prolly different,you may need to go ahead and swap the rear as well.

thas it in a nutshell. tranny swaps are not so tough if you have a whole parts truck to get the right parts from. let us know if youve any other ques...



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scott
85 grand wagoneer
258 with motorcraft 2bbl/904/twin stick dana 300/dana 44/welded amc 20
38x15.5 gumbo mudders
snorkel/dual batteries/onboard air/"custom" convertable
3 inch body lift/mostly stock suspension/"modified" fender openings
custom front/rear bumpers and brushgaurd

T18/dana 20 swap very soon
searching for dana 18 to replace the 20...

[RudyC]

While I didn't do it on my Wagoneer i did do it on my Dodge Ram Charger.
The key is your donor truck. I picked a junker (Rolled) dodge 4x4 truck for $200.00 and just swapped every thing. Other than fitting the pedals it was I was doing a rutine clutch change.

[Mikel2]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Rick:
anyone here ever do the swap? i would love to do this kind of swap. just toying with the idea.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Hi,
I did just that to my '78 Chief. I bought another '78 cherokee for parts that came with the T-18A/Dana20 combo and put them in my truck. Everything is really straight forward. All the holes are pre-drilled, so it's very simple... But a lot of work http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~zeimet/ubb/smile.gif
You will need: Tranny, bellhousing, spacer (if you have a V8), transfer case, both driveshafts, clutch pedal (you don't need the mount), clutch linkages, flywheel, pilot bushing...
As I said, it's not difficult. It just takes some effort. Good luck!
Mikel

1978 Jeep Cherokee Chief 360/T-18A/Dana20/4.56

[Rick]

Thanks for the info guys. i will have to keep my eyes open for the right donor truck to do this in the future.



------------------
87 Grand wagoneer (stock, for now)
85 Grand Wagoneer LTD (soon to be parts beast)
NP229/TF727/D44/AMC20/Warn Hubs/
15x8 Black RockCrawlers/
And still piling up parts
my site www.geocities.com/thewagoneerman/ (http://www.geocities.com/thewagoneerman/)