Nope, the T18 is a wide ratio, "truck transmission," while the "Top Loader" is a relatively close ratio "car transmission." The "Top Loader" has a regular first gear while the T18 has a granny first.
Dustin told me about the "Top Loader" as an option for folks putting hot FE engines in their trucks; that's why I know a little bit about them.
Looks very good. It's normal for non-synchro reverse gears to look like those. Believe it or not it doesn't cause any issue to continue using them like that, but replacement isn't a bad idea.
Dustin, thanks for that info. I had no idea that the gears normally (or often) look like that! The rebuilder did mention that if I were trying to save money, he could just use a machine tool to smooth out the edges and use the gears like that. But I went the replacement route since I wasn't particularly trying to save cash and wanted the ultimate, fresh T18 experience.
Is that Ron Gates on El Camino in Sunnyvale. They do great work. I towed many cars there when I was still down there.
Troy
Why is it that the trucks are always the best running vehicles in the family?
Ford means "found on road daily"
70 F100 Custom-352 w/68 Highboy 4x4 frame. My play/project truck
70 F250 Explorer-390/C6 auto. My work truck
04 Mitsubishi montero-family car
I hadn't heard of them at all before taking my T18 there, and I found them just by looking at Google Maps for shops in the area. It did indeed seem like a great place! They were unusually personable and seemed to know a lot about transmissions and machine work. They even had me stop by after pulling it apart so they could go over the guts with me and explain their evaluation of what needed to be replaced. It was a great place for a hobbyist like myself to go!
Haha i used to drive by that place all the time from 99-01 before i moved out to the midwest.
I was trying to place te guy and the shop. Figured since he was in Palo Alto this shop had to be there to. but the guy looked slighgtly familiar.
"It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt." - Mark Twain
'70 f250 4x4 Crew cab 460/C6 '72 F100 390/C6 9.8 MPG AVG. '89 Mercury Cougar LS Dual Exh. V6 . 18.9 MPG AVG. In Town.
I don't want to give em a heart-attack. That is what would happen if I answered the door in the buff. Heck it almost scares me to death when I step out of the shower and look in the mirror.~Mancar1~
fuelly.com
Yes he is. I stopped by to see about a leaky front seal on a 77 nova's TH375, He liked to talk for ever about the old days.Asked if i planned any mods. I think he quoted me 1300 for a complete rebuild including a cooler and shift kit.
I think he has a cousin or brother who runs one of the local junk yards. I could be wrong but i'm almost positive.
"It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt." - Mark Twain
'70 f250 4x4 Crew cab 460/C6 '72 F100 390/C6 9.8 MPG AVG. '89 Mercury Cougar LS Dual Exh. V6 . 18.9 MPG AVG. In Town.
I don't want to give em a heart-attack. That is what would happen if I answered the door in the buff. Heck it almost scares me to death when I step out of the shower and look in the mirror.~Mancar1~
fuelly.com
Glad you've talked with Alan before! He is indeed a fantastic guy. That sounds like a very Down to Earth offer her gave on the transmission rebuild. I thought they gave me a very fair deal on the T18, and they explained in great detail exactly what parts they were replacing any way they were replacing them. It was really fun having my transmission rebuilt there.
It's the kind of shop where they take you back to their work bench and show you what's really going on. It's not the type of shop where they want you to stand at some customer service counter and talk to somebody who knows more about Microsoft Outlook than transmissions! Both Alan and the guy who rebuilt my transmission are classics. When they threw in the hard-to-fine bronze bushing I was convinced that I'd take all future transmissions there for rebuilds.
Yeah thats the way i felt, I think everyone else was 1800+ just for the basic stuff.
"It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt." - Mark Twain
'70 f250 4x4 Crew cab 460/C6 '72 F100 390/C6 9.8 MPG AVG. '89 Mercury Cougar LS Dual Exh. V6 . 18.9 MPG AVG. In Town.
I don't want to give em a heart-attack. That is what would happen if I answered the door in the buff. Heck it almost scares me to death when I step out of the shower and look in the mirror.~Mancar1~
fuelly.com
