Found this interesting.

[Vikingone]

So working on pulling the T-18 Transmission and Dana 20 Transfer Case . Noticed that the bellhousing is only bolted to the motor with four bolts. Two up top, one at three o’clock and one at nine o’clock. Is this normal after a tranny swap? Also how heavy is the Dana 20 . I’ll be separating them myself and just wondering how heavy hat sucker is

 

[Vikingone]

Scratch how heavy the Transfer Case is. She’s out

 

[mriplaybass]

Pretty sure, if memory serves me correctly, there are 6 bolts holding the bell housing on a AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l

 

[Vikingone]

Ok. Even if the Transmission has been swapped?

 

[gert]

Maybe they forgot to put the other bolts in, it would be good to bolt it back in with all the bolts it’s supposed to have


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mriplaybass]

Changing the Transmission won't change the number of holes in the engine block. Most Transmission swaps are achieved by installing an adapter between the Transmission and the bell housing, not between the engine and the bell housing.

 

[Vikingone]

Kinda wondering if two bolts missing is part of my starter/flywheel grinding issue. If two bolts are plain missing then I won’t be surprised if the dowel pins are missing as well. PO’s work is shoddy at best.

 

[mriplaybass]

Ah Yes! but as we all know PO is always followed by an " 's" . As in: PO's. Previous owners. PO's automatically means, P= Previous O= Owners

's= "Shoddy" work!

 

[Torxhead]

I think you should check if the bellhousing/engine block bolts are loose. Replacing those missing bolts would be a good idea.

 

[Vikingone]

Is there an inspection procedure for the Transmission and tcase? I’ll rebuild them if I have to but if everything is ok and all I’d really need to do is new seals and gaskets I’d prefer to save the money and just reseal them.

 

[mriplaybass]

Pretty much open them up and make sure everything looks good. Check all bearings for slop or looseness. Check gears for excessive wear. Inspect synchros for wear. Check output shaft end play with a dial indicator for spec compliance. Clean out the bottom of both units and look for metal shavings in the oil, or more likely, sludge if the oil has not been changed in a long time. Make sure that the gears in the Transmission slide freely on the main shaft, and that the gears in the Transfer Case also move freely back and forth.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

On the tranny-Set input shaft play to min spec.
While tranny is out-Check pilot bearing in the f'wheel.
These 4 bolts on the b'housing. Was that after you removed the starter motor?
LG

 

[Vikingone]

Thanks everyone. As it looks right now I'm gonna do rebuilds. Lets be honest its more money and will slow the build a bit but I'd rather do it right the first time. after 30 plus years I'm sure things can be freshend up a bit.

 

[Vikingone]

Limpygritz. Yeah that was after the starter

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Limpygritz.

'Limpygritz-is only after a night of jump'n off those bar stools.

FWIW: Have more than a fair amount of Viking history in my family(Dad's side).

LG

 

[JeffP]

Pretty much open them up and make sure everything looks good. Check all bearings for slop or looseness. Check gears for excessive wear. Inspect synchros for wear. Check output shaft end play with a dial indicator for spec compliance. Clean out the bottom of both units and look for metal shavings in the oil, or more likely, sludge if the oil has not been changed in a long time. Make sure that the gears in the Transmission slide freely on the main shaft, and that the gears in the Transfer Case also move freely back and forth.

Yeah... what he said.
If it’s not broke don’t fix it! It would be a waste not to clean & reseal it while it’s out but the T-18 is an incredibly rugged Transmission . It takes a lot of miles and some serious abuse to tear one up.