time dimension to time variable in ncfiles

I have a script that requires a 'time' variable within the ncfiles I am analyzing. My ncfiles did not include a time dimension at first, and I have successfully added one (the time dimension was created by reading a timestamp from the nc filename). Now I am trying to create a variable 'time' in my ncfile, taking information from the time dimension that is already there.

This timeVar_inFile.nc includes time as a variable, and shows here:

$cdo showname timeVar_inFile.nc
  time albedo

But this needTime_asVar.nc does not show time as a variable (how do I do this?), it only has it as a dimension.

$cdo showname needTime_asVar
albedo

More information from ncdump which shows time as a dimension:

File that has time as variable:

ncdump -h timeVar_inFile.nc 
netcdf timeVar_inFile {
dimensions:
    t = 217 ;
variables:
double time(t) ;

File I want to create time as variable from its time dimension:

ncdump -h needTime_asVar.nc 
netcdf needTime_asVar {
dimensions:
x = 83 ;
y = 94 ;
time = UNLIMITED ; // (4 currently)
variables:
           double time(time) ;
           time:standard_name = "time" ;
           time:long_name = "Time" ;
           time:units = "hours since 1979-1-2 00:00:00" ;
           time:calendar = "standard" ;
           time:axis = "T" ;