Cancerman

Started a conversion last week and it is tantalisingly close to completion, just waiting to get my prop shaft unis pressed by a mechanic... Damn this long weekend!!! Just seeing that clutch and shifter is getting the blood pumping!

Few things I've noticed that I thought I should share that will hopefully make it easier for anyone else trying this. These are things I know for sure, not speculation.

If ur going EA T5 -> EF, u will need:
- Prop-shaft and flange bolts, auto shaft is shorter than the manual one and flange bolts can't be reused, EA one will fit
[correction: reuse the old propshaft]
- Manual flywheel, EA flywheel will fit
- Pedal box, try find 1 at the wreckers cause it's $170 from Ford
- Clutch pedal, shifter, clutch cable, plate, pressure plate and bolts; EA ones will fit
- obviously a gearbox
- exhaust manifold -> cat and cat -> middle pipe gaskets
- 13, 15 and 18mm spanners if u don't have them

As was mentioned in some other thread, the pedalbox is bolted th the steering column, floor through to the brake booster and firewall behind the dash. If ur using a Gregory's shop manual to get the dash out, don't forget to unbolt the shiny 10mm bolts behind the kick panels and centre console! The stupid manual tells u to remove the panels but not to unbolt the bolts... I sat there for hours trying to figure out why the dash wasn't moving and in frustration started ripping all the surrounds and instrument cluster out. ;(

I think the rest is all in teh shop manual. I'm still not sure about the wiring side although I've figured out which 2 wires to short to bypass the inhibitor switch. Should prolly hook that up to the neutral switch on the T5. Anyone know how to get reverse lights?

Still unsure if I'll end up needing a new ECU. I'll let u guys know how that turns out. Prolly should also mention the auto brake pedal is bigger than the manual one and just about contacts the clutch pedal. I'm just going to drive it like that cause I can't be stuffed changing it, but it IS instant yellow sticker stuff if a cop sees it.

If anyone else has anything to add to the process could u please post it so it's in the forum and people can just search for it in the future. Just wanted to save someone some pain in the future.

svo347

Good work mate... Enjoy the drive when its completed

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honer

Good work mate... You have supplied some good information. Is your EF a 6 or 8 ?

SilverEA

What is the total cost of the conversion, well, assuming u used s/hand parts etc. ? I was wondering whether it would be worth doing away with the old 3 speed slushbox and go the 5 speed. That way i could change the diff as top gear is less than 1:1 isn't it?

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ebxr8240

Asked at pick and payless here in Sydney. With all gear required they said $800.00 for parts.

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xespack

What are the pros of going manual conversion over auto apart from race track driving? Ive noticed alot of people talk about converting.

NZ

You might run into trouble with the PCM throwing codes since the 4 speed wont be there. I had the same trouble when i used a PCM with the auto intergrated into it on my ea. It had a mind of its own wit the timing and the idle would be fromanywhere between 700 - 3000rpm.

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WBT56

Buy a manual brake pedal pad and mark on the pedal the required shape. (not the outline). Cut the pedal in the car carefully with a hacksaw. From memory you offset it to the right as far as possible.

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FalKeen

you just talking about the gaskets??
as in you mean you need to replace them cos you need to take the exhaust off?


$800 doesnt sound too bad ebxr8240, how many k's would the gearbox have done? reconditioned? how would you tell what sort of condition it is in? does that include the ECU (if needed)??

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Cancerman

Thanks, I intend to! That flywheel's in for a hell of a belting for falling on my fingers! Only got 6 pots here. The V8 would have a different bellhousing and clutch I'd imagine.

Hmm, should have mentioned cost. For me:
EA box, prop shaft, shifter, flywheel, clutch and pres. plate: $400
Pedal box: $170
New clutch and pressure plate: $140
I think that's about $710 so far...
Costs I've incurred myself: $60 in unis and $30 for rear flange on the propshaft and maybe $40 to get a mechanic to press the unis in. So that + gearbox oil, bolts and nuts etc would be about $900. Hopefully I can recover some of that for selling off my old gearbox. Anyone want an auto+converter for $500?

I'm not sure about the EA box but the manual for the EF says 5th is 0.72:1. It's definitely an overdrive. What's the diff on the EA? On the EF it's 3.08. I reckon it would be worth u doing a conversion, but I can't tell u how much better it is until I drive mine tomorrow (hopefully). U might not get teh gearbox as cheap as I did but u'd definitely be able to get the pedal box cheaper if u can find one 2nd hand. I'm hoping the PCM will work out for me, but if it doesn't then that's prolly another $200. Not sure what u'd get for ur old 3spd, but when u total up the costs and consider that u can shift ur own cogs and maybe get the same RWKW increase as fitting a set of headers, I reckon it's just about the best value for money mod u can do. That and a 3.45 LSD.