I have a 1978 F-150 2wd with a straight 6, 300. It has about 400k miles on it. Lately it has developed some problems with shifting in to gear. the transmission is a T-18, once I have it into gear it seems to run okay until the next shift. The shift lever seems to have a bit of play in it even when it's in gear. How much is normal?

 

The T 18 has four plastic tips on the ends of the shifting forks. I would bet that one or more has worn and fallen off.

 

make sure your clutch linkage adjustment is set correctly. I believe there should be about 3/4 inc of free travel at the pedal. If it is not adjusted correctly the clutch will not disengage all the way and it will be difficult to shift.

 

That was my initial thought, so I adjusted the clutch yesterday.

Thanks 4x4 Bart, I'll give that a look and see. Part of me thinks I should just rebuild the thing, but I don't have all the tools and I have never done a transmission rebuild. So, I'm on the fence rebuild or replace.

 

There are a few things that can cause slop in the shifter...

The shifter cane itself has the ball end with pin.

The top cover which accepts the cane and ball can get sloppy.

The FORDification.com Forums • View topic - Making a T18 top end nice and tight: canes and top covers.

Good pictures and documentation on the process in that link...

Josh