Thanks all , its on / need help getting dana 18 overdrive on

Hello all , I'm in the middle of doing my sm\420 conversion but I cant seem to get the overdrive back on. Is there a special way or tool or something to get it back on? I already put the main gear up and torqued to specs , put the lock washer in , put the lock washer retainer ring in . But now I can not get the over drive to go back on. Any help or instuctions on how to get it back on from here would be greatly appreciated.

Just wanted to say thanks to all for the help . I finally got it with alot of assembly lube and a 2lb mallet. I guess during this whole evalution I just never got it straight and wacked it right all at the same time. Again thanks to all for the info and experience. Now I'm on to getting all the shifters and plates back in.

 

According to the Advance adapters instructions for the saturn overdrive, try elevating both rear wheels and make sure the xfer case and gear rotates freely. Then, align gasket, guide oil tube, shift link and overdrive case into positon. a slight rotation of the unit may be necessary to mesh gears. install bolts with lockwashers and tighten to 30 ft/lbs. The 3 steel keys mus interlock with brass syncro rings. If keys do not line up properly, you will find a 1/4 inch gap tween the xfer case and overdrive housing. hope this helps

 

There is a bearing at the end of the sun gear that is sometimes a bear to press into the planetary gears. That was the source of my swearing. Everything looked good, the planetary gears were in the D18 case, lock washer and cazy circlip in place but it just wouldn't go together. I finally measured the bearing and saw there was a compression of that weird looking cup around the bearing. So, I slathered assembly lub, aligned things, and pressed as hard as I could (cut out that laughing!). I was finally able to get the long bolts to start threading and I carefully tightened them, moving the overdrive in as parallel to the D18 as I could measure. It worked!

 

Jim is right. That bearing that presses into the planetary is a bear to get started. I get mine started and aligned the best I can by hand and then beat on the OD with a rubber mallet. This may not be recommended but I have had no problems

 

Thanks guys ill give it try again in the morning.

 

Well i got it on this morning . What a pain. Just need to hook up linkage and cut down my driveshafts and ill be ready for a test run with new sm420...

 

Man, I'm jealous!! Gonna wait until the winter when I pull the body off to put mine in :twisted:

 

Okay Billy, I know Muncie is a brand but what are talking bout Isn't a muncie a car tranny??

 

Sparky comes to the rescue once again

 

Np 435, New Process (Chrysler), NV New Venture (Chrysler/GM)
This should clarify all American made now.