OK so this is on my 1974 F350 Wrecker. My truck has the BW T18 4-speed (with PTO) and I have never owned one before, so I have some questions for you guys:

1) In shopping for a shift ****, which my truck lacks, every one I see for a Ford has reverse to the right and down. Mine is to the right and up. What determines which way is which? Does this mean my trans is not original to the truck? Why would one T18 be up and another be down? I see shift ***** for T18s with reverse up, but they are usually specified for Chevys or Jeeps.

2) My shift lever is shaped to where it goes all the way up against the dash when in reverse. Most pics of Fords I have seen show the shifter way down near the seat when in 4th, but mine is nowhere near that. Does this mean mine has bent over the many years of use? Or is mine, again, perhaps a tranplant from a Chevy (perish the thought)?

3) My shift lever swings back and forth freely about 45 degrees - makes it hard to find the gears. What is broken or worn that I need to replace?

Hoping there are many on here with this trans that can comment - TIA for any help.

 

First, I just want to point out that I wasn't signed in and when I saw your post it had **** for ****. That's kinda funny.

My T-18 has reverse to the right and down. And its close to touching the seat in R - probably moves down twice as far as when its in 2nd or 4th.

Take a look at this site www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/t18_t19.htm
"There are two different versions of shift control housings. The 1966-1978 versions hung two cast iron shift forks into the case, with the reverse fork itself pivoting on the side of the case. These earlier T18’s have reverse gear over to the right and up by third gear. In 1979, the reverse shifter fork was moved from the side of the case into the top cover instead and all three forks were changed and made with die-cast aluminum. This later T18 has reverse gear shift pattern over to the right and down by fourth gear."

Interesting since my truck is a 1977 but a PO changed the engine so could have changed the trans too...

When in the neutral area or the horizontal part of the "H" it just moves around freely, doesn't center like in every other vehicle I've owned. Is this what you are talking about in #3 above? The shift from 3 to 4 isn't a straight shot, its off just slightly.

Back to your first question, I don't know why the shift pattern would matter when shopping for a ****. I think the only thing that matters is the thread count/size on the lever.

 

The NP435 ***** with reverse towards the seat are pretty ubiquitous at junkyards, ebay, etc.

The T-18 ***** with reverse towards the dash are a little more difficult to come by...

I found two NOS, part number C8TZ-7213-A

Nos Parts Source in KS. has (1)
Antique Auto Supply in TX. has (1)

 

No, it moves around from side to side in any gear. You are right, 4th gear is the hardest to find. I have hit 2nd a couple of times.

The shift pattern on the **** is important to me so I can remember where reverse is. My ZF, which I drive much more often, is to the right and down.

After reading the Novak site as linked above, I guess you are right. The 66-78 T18 has reverse towards the dash, the **** for that is just harder to find, and those that are saying their **** is for T18 are either taking it off of a 79-up truck, or it's an NP435 and they don't know the difference.

 

If you unscrew the cap that holds the shifter in place, you will see a small (1/4" I think) pin that goes through a hole in the drivers side of the shifter tower, & into a slot in the side of the shifter ball, to stop it from turning in your hand.

The hole in the tower wears, allowing the pin to rock around & the shifter to wobble. The pin itself is hardened, so it doesn't wear.
Also, the slot in the ball becomes worn, making the movement worse.

I've fixed a few of these by drilling the hole in the tower slightly oversize, then replacing the original pin with two tension pins, one inside the other, to suit the enlarged hole.
It's best to radius the end of the pins slightly (like the original) so that the corners don't catch in the bottom of the slot.

You also need to carefully grind the slot in the ball out, keeping it parallel, to match the new pin size.
If the slot is so badly worn that even the oversize pin is loose in it, I've built up the excess wear with a stainless steel welding rod before grinding it clean - the surface of these welds will work-harden & last well.

This all takes a bit of time but gives an 'as new' feel to the shifter again.

Be careful not to let the pin drop into the trans as you remove the shifter. If this does happen, you can retrieve it through the PTO cover.

 

Wow, ok so I totally missed that you wanted the shift pattern on the ****. I thought you just wanted a **** because you didn't have one. My truck came with an aftermarket St. Guadalupe **** and on my previous car the pattern was worn off so I guess I forgot about all that...

If you want to go aftermarket here's one for $25
Jeep / Ford T-18 T-98 4 Speed | Jeep / Misc | WFOConcepts.com

 

Yep, 1/4". ...measured it with my wife's .0001" mike = ~.2495. :)

Wow, cool post! :)

x2 all that and I've found 'em loose where all they just needed was the
screw-on-"lid" turned down tight. :)

Tools for that are any of the following in preferred order...
large Channel Locks
large Crescent wrench
or large monkey wrench, if you got one of those old odd ball suckers. ;)

I've also come up with a scheme that snugs up the spring etc so the lever
isn't so floppy. I need to take a picture of my crazy idea and post it. :)

Cool. :)

I've never let that happen yet, I have a magnet ready to pull it and it's
also used to store the pin on.

Alvin in AZ

 

8MTH-7220 .. Warner T-18 Shift Lever Retainer Cab threads on/off. Reverse is up-towards the dash.

D2TZ-7B125-A .. Transmission Gear Shift Lever Trunnion (roll pin) / 1/4" O.D. x 5/8" long.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B8T-7220-D .. New Process 435 Shift Lever Retainer Cap has two notches, is retained to the shift tower with two visible pins. Reverse is down, towards the seat.

 

And it's a case harden slickaz sucker too! :)

Cool post I plumb forgot to measure the length. :)

Thinking a guy could cut a hunk out of a drill bit any size he wanted to
go up to. :) Trick is to use that part of the drill-bit right-after-the-flutes
(where it's still hard). They soften up the butt-end of drill bits, so don't
use that part. I suggest you "file test" the part you want because some
are soft pretty-high-up.

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

Novak's site and service -appears- to be excellent. :)

But they got those T18 dates messed up and I've seen that same -exact-
mistake copied into (or from?) other websites.

"don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see ;)"
-old guys when I was a kid

Now with digital "images"? ...heck.

Funny how they always left out "don't believe anything you read" huh? ;)
Knew to follow that one without being told to. :/

All three of my '75 pickups and my buddy's '76 Stripped Chassis all have
T18's that are "to the right and back" (beside 4th) for reverse.

All four of those trucks are original equipment, and no doubt about it.

Alvin in AZ

 

D2TZ-7B125-A = Don Sanderson Ford in Glendale Gasden Purchase has 8 = 623-842-8643.

I wouldn't think that would be too far away for a former signal ape to whiz over there and buy a couple, saving your drill bits for their intended purpose.

How are you doing Alvin, don't see you too much around these parts any more, as you're over there in 'dennisville.'

At some point, FoMoCo changed the reverse shift pattern for T-18's, don't recall when. 1965/72 for sure, reverse was up.

 

x2 on all that because it's a slick-hard-shiny-quality-piece-of-work those! :)

The drill bit idea is for when the system needs modifying. But me, I'd try
really hard to fiNgure out a way to keep that-slick-1/4"-original-part by
fixing the cast iron lid and/or lever.

"one in a million" is mad at me, not sure why. xD No, I really don't.

I mostly hang out on FSB, it's got a raunchy-semi-newsgroup feel to it. ;)

Was only searching for *ZF* but added *T18* here on FTE. :)

Yeah and wouldn't surprise me any that one assembly line switched at a
different time than another assembly line.

On a Bump-website (that can't be spelled out here!) :/
...they have the timing figured out pretty close. :)
A transmission rebuilder hangs out there too that's helped.

The speedometer case on my Michigan truck is fine, the one in the Kansas
truck is white dust, and both trucks built last-week-January '75. :)

Bolts were different too, the ones used in Kansas I don't like as well. ;)

Alvin in AZ

 

One in a million is very apropos. I found this out when I had him here as a house guest for 9 days. Was supposed to be 3 weeks, but I threw him out. Told him to catch the first available flight back to the frozen north.

"She who must be obeyed" and I had had enough of his slovenly habits, his cheapskate ways and his overbearing bossy in-your-face additude to last a million years!

 

I got my **** for my T19 here.

https://www.speeddawg.com/shift-*****/classic-series



My T19 also had a somewhat "wobbly" shifter stick. I welded up the shift lever and dremeled the slot back open, and it fixed it for the most part. I suspect these all had a little bit of wobble even when new.

 

what way does the 1/4" pin go? can it go either way , i cant find mine and i think it might have fell in when i turned mmy trans sideways with the shifter out....

if it can fall into the whole then thats probably where it is, i been looking on ground all over

 

T-18: 1965/73, 1974 before serial number U00,001: Reverse is up, towards the dash.

1974 from serial number U00,001, 1975 and later: Reverse is down, towards the seat.

2) D2TZ-7B125-A .. Trunnion (Roll Pin) Transmission Gear Shift Lever / 1/4" O.D. x 5/8" long / Available from Ford ~ MSRP each: $4.16.

KARLSON MOTORS in Ketchikan AK has 5 = 907-225-9022.

GREEN SALES CO. in Cincinnati has 45 = 800-543-4959.

Once the shift lever retainer cap is removed, the roll pins that locks the shift lever in place, are visible within the threads.

There are two of these pins, one on either side, parts catalog pic shows only one, see 7B125 (close up pic from 1964/72 catalog).