Willys Jeep 4 Speed Swap: Introduction! 

Thank you for following along!

I really appreciate it!

👍

Haha I know it’s a rollercoaster 😂

Thank you for watching!

Very cool, glad to hear!

Never done, thank you for watching!

You’ve got an awesome setup! Haha yeah it’s easy to get sucked into a bunch of upgrades and swaps! I appreciate it!

I swapped ford toploaders behind Buick V6s back in the 1980s--- super-strong transmissions that shift smoothly. Back in the day a Pacific Northwest machinist at now gone Hoosier Machine Works in Pendelton Oregon created main shafts and adapters for Ford Toploaders to D18/-20 Jeep Transfer cases.

Awesome!

That’s awesome! Sounds like you’ve tried a bunch of different options and had a lot of fun! Thank you for sharing!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Dang that’s a awesome setup! You’re right half the fun is piecing things together!

The sm465 is an awesome 4 speed especially with that v6! Thank you for following!

You can still find an SM420---they often work for a million miles. There is a bellhousing used in Jeepsters especially for a T18. You likely have to modify your driveshafts too. And there were a few Jeepsters that had the Bell housing/T-18 and Dana18 from the factory. These can still be salvaged, but very rare at this point in history.

@@SevenBarSalvage Yep-- on the SM420 or 465, the shifter is so far forward it comes out under the dash. On the SM420 I would bend the shifter and hold the shifter with a large soft spring so it would not bang around-. This is not a new problem when doing tranny swaps-- for example, when swapping to a Ford top loader, the shifter emerged behind the driver's heal in the Jeep conversion--so the shifter bar would need to be long and modified. A T-18 shifter further back on the transmission is not so problematic. Those with GM engines in their Jeeps used to go with an SM420-- and more recently 465--- Ford V8 folks a T-18. Again it is possible to find a bell housing for a Buick V6 for a T-98 or T-18

Excellent information thank you!

@@stevenredinger9972 Thanks for the info. I waited 6 months for a bellhousing from Advanced Adapter. I finally had my original V6 bellhousing and the 465 input shaft retainer machined to fit. The 465 plus d18 Aadapter added 2 1/2" so both drive shafts had to be changed.

Awesome thank you for the suggestion!

Also "Red Eye Cafe Garage" is a jeep guy who adapted a sm420 to a stock cj2a bellhousing. Good channel too.

I did and they are a great option and a lower first gear. The T18 was produced more recently than the 420 and I was concerned about part availability. Thanks!

I think mine came out of an F series 74-79!

Thank you.@@SevenBarSalvage

Man… 5 speed is a whole other ball game 😅

2nd and 3rd are actually geared lower than the stock gears and 4th is still 1:1 like stock 👍 Plus I’m gonna have a bolt on overdrive if I need to split the gears!

@@SevenBarSalvage that's what I meant the jump into top is bloody enormous

No there’s a couple modifications, the next video (part 2) is gonna cover all the adapters and mods!

@@SevenBarSalvage ok, thanks, when is part 2 coming out?

@@bmstowell1 Should be this Thursday or next Thursday!

@@SevenBarSalvage Great, does the 4 speed and additional top speed?

@@bmstowell1 4th gear is the same as 3rd in a stock T90 1:1 but keeping the Dana 18 I can use a bolt on overdrive and gain some top speed!

32x11.5x15 BFG MT’s!

I think I have a better chance of winning the lottery than finding one of those unfortunately 😅

There is another good you tuber guys called the notrodgarage they just pulled one out of an early cj5 fhead. I posted I would like to buy it. But got no response.

In the early 2000s in the Large wreaking and scrap yards in Denver Colorado, I would come across SM420s and divorced T-cases often. I also came across a number of Jeepsters with T-98s and one or two with T-18s factory equipt. I used to buy old T-98 or T-18s for 50 dollars--- and from salvage yards that dealt in scap-- SM420s for the price of scrap. That was twenty years ago, however. Any Granny Tranny is a wonderful addition to an early Flat Fender Jeep---the crawl ratio is fantastic-- make a Jeep into a tractor, Great for navigation among large rocks and very rutty trails.

Crazy how things change!

I’ll check that out!

That’s insane…

@@SevenBarSalvage yes greens and EU are going nuts here

No they are OK, but a Jeep needs a granny gear. A T-90 really just has one gear--- and that is second gear. In third or high the main shaft just locks up and it is straight through. Second gear shifts on synchros. Then the main shaft disengages and a flat cut star gear can engage for first and reverse. They are super simple gear boxes-- and cheap to manufacture and maintain. The next generation of transmissions that had three actual ratios are far more complex and much more expensive to manufacture. A farmer with feeler gauges can disassemble a T-90 and repair it--and reassemble it on a barn workbench. Even old Willys cars and Ramblers used versions of the T-90 that were cheap to manufacture but worked to drive a car on a roadway. A 4x4 with low gears is still another matter-- or a heavy truck that needs more gear ratios.