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Manual conversion for 5ltr EB

7K views 13 replies 7 participants last post by  SiKEDXR8 
#1 ·
I know there is no thread on it, Could someone tell me how much is involved in doing a Manual conversion from a 4 speed auto on a EBXR8. Also what costs are involved too!:heydude:
 
#2 ·
The short list it
Gearbox (duuuuuuuuuurrrrrr)
Pedal Box
Tail Shaft
Centre Console Cover for shifter.
Fly Wheel
Clutch
Engine Loom
Make sure you get the loom with the gearbox, as that has the reverse light switch, and the speed sender for cruise, if fitted.

I had mine converted for $1000 labour. I was lucky enough to find someone with a manual that wanted an auto.

Also, dont worry about the ECU, the auto part will just send out shift up and down signals, but nobody will be home to listen.
 
#4 ·
For a 6 it's not TOO bad.
I think 8s are a fair bit more tho...
 
#7 ·
NZ said:
They arent pulling my leg.
So you are saying someone has offered you: Flywheel and bolts, PP and bolts, clutch plate, spigot bush, bellhousing and bolts, gearbox bolts, Brand new V8 rated T5 (Remembering a mustang one won't fit), mount and bolts, stick, knob and bolts, floor boot and retainer, console boot, pivot ball, clutch fork, clutch cable, complete pedal assembly, throw out bearing and carrier, for $1400? Do you have the number off the gearbox? (this parts list will suit EB-ELII)
 
#8 ·
Yes thats what im saying. Although he doesnt have the clutch fork (if thats the bit thats inside the bellhousing that works the clutch in and out), and doesnt have the pedel box. I have the pedel box anyway and we're going to modify it to brace against the firewall to stop it tearing. No I dont have the number off the gearbox. If anyones after another he'll sell it.
 
#9 ·
Thanks fellas for ya input. At least I know what I'm in for when the money tree stars growing again!

Can anybody tell me if they have done it or know anybody who has done it and can tell me what they thought after the conversion? (i.e. good & bad points)
 
#10 ·
there was a thread stepping the process of converting an e series 6 cyl to manual from auto... it'd be very close to the steps taken on an eight, so heres a paste of the text-(cant be bothered finding original thread.)

also, as far as feedback goes for upgrading to a manual.. it was the best thing i ever did. car is brilliant to drive now.. auto vs manual e series cars are completely different.. i love it.

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

This is a guide put together by myself (MongrelEB) and Gli 90 on how to change over to a manual transmission.
Although it is designed to be as accurate as possible, there may be some slight differences between models. Although an effort has been made to make it a step-by-step guide, it is assumed by the authors that how to undo most fastenings will be obvious on viewing them.
No responsibility will be accepted for any possible discrepancies.
Just use your common sense and you'll be right! :)


TOOLS
!HAMMER! heh...no surprises hey fellas?
Garage creeper - if you have one.
A decent socket set, ranging from 8mm to 19mm and with a few extensions. Spanners the same.
Adjustable, a.k.a. shifting spanner.
Torque wrench or very strong T-bar.
One *BIG* screwdriver, or other lever.
One medium size flathead and one medium size Phillips screwdriver.
One jeweller's flathead screwdriver or similar for use as small lever.
Gasket Goo (if pulling the motor).
WD40 or similar.
A heat source i.e. blowtorch may or may not be useful for loosening bolts.
You can use a clutch aligning thingy, or if you are good, you can do it by estimate. (Quick Note: Estimate is not that hard, unless you do a lot of clutches I would not recommend buying a tool - and if you do a lot you're probably good at estimate anyway!)
A scraper-type knife and a soldering iron may be needed, if you screw up. Also use the knife for removing old gaskets.
Some plugs to suit the holes where the tranny cooler lines met the radiator will be useful, or Selley's All-Clear works well also.
3/8 Allen (hex) key.



PARTS NEEDED

In the auto you have most things you need.
You will need to get:
Box (duh...)
Clutch assy., and flywheel. This will bolt straight onto your motor.
Clutch cable, spigot bearing, manual boot/surround to suit interior.

If you are changing from a 3 speed, you need to get the manual tailshaft, the 3 speed and 4/5 speeds are different lengths. We found, swapping the EA box into an EB, that the front yoke has a different spline pattern inside also. The EA uni. joints will go into an EB tailshaft, using the EB circlips to hold them in place.
As well, you will need the manual pedal. The auto pedalbox can take the pedal, with the addition of a piece of rod, but for the effort you may as well get the whole manual pedalbox.
Oh yeah, MAKE SURE YOU GET THE WIRING LOOM WITH THE BOX!!!
heheh it happens bro.
The car will run with the old computer, at least the EECIV up to EB serI, but after that apparently it combines engine and gearbox computers - ask NZinAus, 'cos I don't know. We found that even with the earlier EECIV, i.e. mine, the engine will occasionally idle high, as if the box was in Drive. Still it does not affect the car.

Also, at least 3L of dextron II or similar gearbox fluid, and 150ml Lubrizol 7906. I usually find that the old coolant etc. from the radiator is too dirty to reuse, so get your preferred brand of that, or a VERY fine filter. Cheapest seems to be 15L of distilled (demineralised) water and some coolant concentrate. Obviously, this only matters if you're pulling the motor out.

A point to consider: While the car's up, why not do the engine and diff oil? And the fuel filter? Brakes? Change to an EL manifold? Drop in a 8L V12?



INSTALLATION - LEAVING MOTOR IN

The manual box will fit the auto crossmember.
So. Depending on your facilities you may not need to pull the motor out.
This will make life a LOT faster and easier.
If you can raise and support the car safely at about 1/2 a metre from the ground, you can leave the motor in. A trolley jack will help but is not neccessary, however without one I would just pull the motor.
Raise and support the vehicle (unless you are lucky enough to have an inspection pit).
First, get a flat tray, capacity about 15L to avoid spills.
Drain the auto into the tray. Also remove the metal auto coolant pipes from the side of the box (If you can, the ones on the EB were a little bit... stiff... ended up breaking them). Allow to drain.

While the draining is taking place, unscrew the gear knob and snap out the shifter surround from the car interior. As you are currently out from under the car, remove the other end of the cooler lines from the radiator. These will probably drip a bit of tranny fluid.
Back under the car, remove the shifter linkage from the side of the box.
Unbolt the earth wire, commonly found on the passenger side of the box.

Loosen the nut at the adjustment point (drivers side, halfway down the front door) until there is sufficient slack to disconnect the front cable from the rear cable.
NOTE: if the car isnt on stands, ensure the wheels are chocked


Support the auto with the trolley jack.
Unbolt the motor to bellhousing bolts and remove them, noting the ones which are different from the others. Getting at the top ones will be tricky... You have been warned.
Unbolt and remove the starter motor. This does not have to be completely removed, it can be left attached to the wiring.
If you didnt get a crossmember with the manual box, loosen the bolt attaching the gearbox crossmember to the box, but leave it attached to the rear of the box for now.
Unbolt the two gearbox cross member bolts from the chassis.

Undo the tailshaft from the diff. On an EA this will involve the removal of two little U-bolts attaching the uni. joint to the diff, on an EB or later it will involve undoing the four bolts attaching the flange to the diff. Withdraw the tailshaft from the gearbox. Mind the drips.
After removing the nuts from the exhaust/gearbox mounting (where the cat joins the tailpipe), you will be ready to remove the gearbox.
Roll the trolley jack backwards a little until you can remove the lower half of the dust shroud behind the drive plate.
Keep rolling the jack back until you can see the torque convertor clear the spigot, inside the bellhousing.

Lower the trolley jack and pull the box out from under the vehicle.
Remove the top half of the dust shroud.
Remove the torque convertor by unscrewing the four bolts which go through the back of the drive plate into the torque convertor.
Then, using a torque wrench or T-bar, remove the 6 bolts from the drive plate. You will need to chock the drive plate. This is best accomplished with a tent peg (trade secret ), medium screwdriver of good quality, or piece of weldmesh through one of the holes in the drive plate, so as to brace it against the side of the block.

Okay, now the auto is out.
Break for a few beers.....

Now. Installing the manual.
First you need to sort out your wiring, while everything's out the way. Well, as out of the way as it can be with the tiny amount of free space in the engine bay! Bear in mind, though, that this wiring is for EA-EB 4-speed autos. Anything else, I don't know, but it should probably fit O.K. Since the 3-speeds use no computer, their wiring should be similar to the manual's, however it may need adjusting as below.
The manual gearbox loom should terminate in two plugs - one 8-pin and one single-pin. As you noticed when removing the auto gearbox loom, the automatic cars have one 8-pin plug and one round plug. We will not be bothering with the round plug at all, as this carries wires for the gearbox computer. The 8-pin plugs, it will be noticed, will fit together, but the wires are arranged differently. Not to worry, all the wires you need are already present in the plug already on the car, which should only have 7 wires installed in it.
The 3-speed car should only have the 8-pin plug, and possibly the single-pin, on the car. Wiring colours may need to be arranged as below.

*******************************************************************************
At this point I should warn you, when we are finished with the wiring, you will not have any clutch or neutral switches to prevent you starting the car while it's in gear! Personally, I consider this as a safety function - if the car breaks down somewhere I need to move it from in a hurry, i.e. train tracks, I'd rather use the starter to move it!
If you want it to work, you will have to get the wiring diagrams from Ford and remove the motor to get at the wires. The wiring diagrams in the Gregory's manual seem to have little bearing on the wiring colours in the 4 speed gearbox looms....
*******************************************************************************

Okay, so if you are wiring it my way, note where each of the wires is on the carside plug (Plug 1). When you look into the box loom plug (Plug 2) you should see little tabs which hold the metal tongues in place. Use the jeweller's screwdriver to remove the tongues from the plug.
Now, ignoring the two thick red and blue wires, insert the others back into the plug so they match the pattern found on Plug 1. There should be 7 spaces filled in Plug 2, with the little single plug empty. To get rid of the thick wires, put them into the remaining slots. These will play no part in the car's electrics from now on.
At the other end of the loom, you should find 2 pairs of single plugs, and a 3-pin plug.
One of these 2 pairs should be orange and black. This is the plug on top (neutral switch), and it doesn't seem to matter which way round they go.
The next pair should be red and black, these are the reverse switch, near the bottom. as before, order does not seem to matter.
The 3-pin plug is the speed sensor, at the back of the box. Just be sure to align the wire colours correctly when you put it on.

Finally, plug the box loom into the car, then tuck it out of the way for the minute.
With the wiring out of the way, it's time to move on to the flywheel. First, lightly grease the outside of the spigot bearing to aid in installation. Then *carefully!* tap it into the hole in the centre of the engine crankshaft until it is flush with the outside.
Next, put a bolt through one of the six holes and lift the flywheel up to the motor. Use this bolt to hold it up, and pivot the flywheel on it until you can get another one started. Be warned, it appears there is only one way to get the flywheel on, any other way will not quite fit. This means you have a 1/6 chance of getting it right first time. Weird, huh?
After the flywheel is on, and the bolts done up as tight as you can, or torqued up, the next step is the clutch and pressure plate. Look at your clutch plate. On one side, the centre should stick out more than the other. This side goes AWAY from the flywheel. Otherwise, it will grind down both itself and your 6 flywheel bolts!!!!
Position this inside the pressure plate and bolt them loosely to the flywheel. Increase tension until the clutch plate requires an effort to slide it around. At this point, you can use the clutch tool (instructions on the packet), or your sense of touch in order to alignt the clutch plate correctly. If using touch, remember: It needs to be fairly close, but it will pull itself in if not perfect. If it isn't close enough, the box won't go on. Also remember to use all 3 spaces in the pressure plate side wall!

Once the clutch is aligned, tighten the bolts and move on.
Now we can put the box in. Drop the top half of the dust shroud down behind the flywheel and position it on the guide pins.
If necessary, swap the gearbox crossmember off the auto onto the manual.
Position the gearbox on the trolley jack, remove the two bolts holding the gearstick onto the shifter, and roll it under the car. Jack it up until the spigot is level with the hole in the crankshaft. If the clutch is done properly, the gearbox should roll forwards and mate with the motor with a minimum of difficulty. Start in the top bellhousing/motor bolts, but do not do them up fully yet.
Before putting in the bottom bellhousing/motor bolts, hold up the bottom half of the dust shroud. Start in a few bolts to hold it, then get the rest in.
Then tighten up the bellhousing/motor bolts. NEVER put too much pressure on these! If you have to pull the box on any more than the last centimetre or so, something is probably not aligned right! I can't stress this enough - pull it on evenly, and be VERY wary of forcing the box on! Sometimes thats just the way it goes, but always double-check! Try jiggling the box, raising it, etc. as this will probably fix it, but if not, check.
Okay, having tightened the bellhousing/motor bolts, you have got the worst of the under-car job over with. Bring down the box loom, reconnect the starter motor, and plug the loom into the gearbox.

From here, basically redo what you undid before - exhaust/box mount, crossmember/chassis, tailshaft, and handbrake.
While you are under the car, attach the clutch cable to the box, then run it round under the motor by way of the steering rack. Wire or cable-tie it to the rack and feed the free end up to the brake booster. Also undo the gearbox filler plug, halfway up the driver's side - you will need a 3/8 hex key for this.

Now we come to the in-car stuff - installing the clutch pedal. This will require a bit of effort and contortion to do, but it can be achieved without removing the whole dash if you're clever about it.
First, take off the bottom steering column cover. Laying in the footwell looking up, you should be able to remove the nuts holding in the auto computer and the 5 nuts holding the pedal box to the firewall/brake booster. Take out the computer - carefully, it might be worth something, although I doubt you'll ever sell it. Pull out the clip securing the brake pedal to the booster and free the pedal from the booster. Disattach the accelerator cable from the top of the pedal.
Next, unscrew the instrument panel surround. This has a few tricky screws underneath which can be got at by taking off the two little dealies where the boot release etc. are (technical, huh?). Then unscrew and remove the instrument cluster. Mind you dont pull too hard until the wires are disattached....

Now you should be able to get at the 3 bolts holding the top of the pedal box onto the bulkhead. If you cant, remove dash retaining bolts and pull dash out a bit, until you can.
There are two bolts which hold your steering column onto the pedal box. Just trace down both sides of the column until you come to them. Undo them, and drop the steering column onto the seat edge.
Be careful, the column is designed to crumple in an accident. If you put too much pressure on it, you can break it!
Finally, ensure the dash wiring isn't caught up in the pedal box, sort it out if it is, and remove the pedal box. This sounds a lot more simple than it is, but it IS possible. Remember to be careful of the steering column!
While the pedal box is out, you should find a grey 2-pin plug floating around in there which was not attached to anything before. This is for the clutch switch you should have got with the pedal box.
Bore a hole through the insulation for the clutch cable.
Installation of the new pedal box is a reversal of the above.....so few words for so many skinned knuckles! {:-1
Having done this, feed the clutch cable through the protrusion next to the brake booster until the nut hits the rim. Go back inside the car and attach it to the top of the clutch pedal. Make sure the spring is attached to the back of the pedal still.
Measure the clutch pedal travel, it should be 140mm + or - 3mm. If the cable's streched, this means nothing, just adjust it until the gearbox end is not likely to fall out of the box (this happened to me, I couldn't understand for a while why the damn clutch wouldn't work!). Adjustment= screw up the nut which prevents the cable casing going thru the bulkhead.
Now. Bolt the gearstick back on through the interior of the car, run the boot/surround down over it, and press it into place. Put on the gear knob.
All you should need to do now, is to go around to the front where the relays are. Remove whatever you have to, to expose the block of four relays - usually, just the battery. The starter relay is *usually* the one nearest to the passenger compartment - check, though, I dont want to tell you to do this to the wrong relay! heh...wrecked car...no thanks..
So, find the starter relay, then on pin 86 (read the underside of the relay) you should find two orange/black wires (colour and number may vary - PLEASE make sure you know which relay it is!). Cut these wires off an earth the ones on the relay side of the cut. I just soldered a wire to them and ran it round to the negative terminal on the battery, but a screw thru the body somewhere should work just as well.
Now, the car should start!
Oh yeah, don't forget to put gearbox fluid in it....
I used a piece of 1/2 inch line i.e. hosepipe, and a tap fitting may adapt a funnel to fit it... anyway you will have to get creative. Pour fluid slowly down the funnel until it just starts to overflow from the box, at about 2 3/4 or 3 L. Obviously, the faster you go near the limit, the more you will waste when the box fills. Then screw the filler plug back in.
Enjoy!




INSTALLATION - MOTOR OUT

Position the car under the engine crane so that the hook hangs above the junction of No.1 and No.2 cylinders. Raise the car and support it.
Set the gearbox to drain.
Disconnect the battery. Disconnect and note all the wires on the motor. You do not need to disconnect the MAP sensor, aircon, or purge solenoid - these connect to the engine bay loom. You will find that the starter tag, ignition coil, and oil sensor are connected to a central loom which unplugs from the car at the bulkhead, along with the injection loom and gearbox loom.
However, you will need to disconnect the starter main wire (thick red one) from the starter; good luck in an EA multipoint!
Also unplug the dizzy and alternator, and remove the earth wire/s on the side of the block. Unplug and then unscrew the oxygen sensor. Be careful with this, it is delicate. My understanding is, Dont get it wet! Apparently it will kill it pretty quickly.
Disconnect the vacuum lines between the motor and engine bay i.e. vacuum assist for the brake booster, vacuum for the air controls, etc.
Disconnect the fuel lines. Plug them with an old bolt and mark which is which.
Unbolt the aircon compressor - DO NOT remove the gas lines! The gas is poisonous! Just take it off the motor, it will stay in the car. Also unbolt the power steering pump and tie it back to the side of the car.
Unbolt the catalytic convertor from the exhaust manifold. If these bolts will not move, as is common, unbolt the exhaust manifold. This will get in the way.
Undo the two screws on the top of the radiator shroud and pull it back. Undo the transmission cooler lines from the radiator. These will leak, so put a bucket under them. Then undo the radiator hoses - we have found it to be easiest to undo the top hose at the thermostat housing, the bottom at the water pump, and the centre drivers side hose at the radiator. Also remove the two smaller hoses coming from the top of the pressure tank, leaving them connected to the tank. Then just undo the two top bolts on the radiator and pull it upwards.
Next ease the fan shroud past the fan and lift that out, too. Removing the fan is not fun. Get the big adjustable and the big screwdriver. Remove two of the 10mm bolts in the fromt of the fan pulley so that the two left are directly opposite each other. This will leave you room to get the adjustable in. Put the adjustable on, then brace one of the remaining bolts against the fan pulley with the screwdriver, to lock it up. Remember, the fan nut is a lefthand thread for some reason. Once it is cracked loose, it will not be too difficult to remove.
Tie the transmission cooler lines to the front of the block, as high and far back as you can get them without damage. Of course, if you're not keeping them, just cut them off....
Attach chains to the lifting eyes provided by Ford. Take up the slack, but not the weight.
Undo and remove the engine mount bolts, using the crane to help where necessary.
Under the car, support the gearbox with the trolley jack. Loosen the crossmember/gearbox bolt if necessary. Undo the handbrake as described above, the gearbox/exhaust mount, and the crossmember/chassis bolts. Undo and withdraw the tailshaft as above. Undo the shifter mechanism from the box, and the earth wire.
Lift the motor until the engine mounts are free.
Now let the jack down slowly until the weight is off it. Withdraw the jack.
Continue lifting the motor, paying attention to the engine bay around it. Special attention must be paid to the aircon radiator, which is still in the front of the vehicle. Once the motor is out, you can either let the car down again and push it out of the way, or manoeuvre the motor around the bumper. A rolling crane will not experience these problems though.
Then remove the interior section of the shifter as above.
Swap the boxes as described above, then reinstall the manual and motor.
Prior to reinstallation, remove the gearstick from the shifter. Also, sort out the wiring at this point.
Then, reverse the procedure of taking the motor out. Remeber to be careful what it catches on the way down. Also, if you had to remove the exhaust manifold, I would recommend a new gasket. Reusing old ones does not always work reliably.
Once the motor is close to resting on the mounts, put the trolley jack back under the gearbox and use it to help get the motor aligned. Bolt and reconnect everything, then follow the instructions above from installing the clutch cable, onwards.



Well, thats about it! If that didn't put you crazy bastards off, you might just be dumb enough to give it a try!




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P.S. There are 2 known problems about doing this conversion.

1. You may experience a sudden and inexplicable loss of traction upon heavy acceleration

2. Tyre wear may suddenly increase...
 
#12 ·
it is a lot of effort but at the same time the manual eb's are heaaaps better than the autos, i went up against a stock ebxr8 auto, vs my stock edxr8 manual and i killed the eb, manual is the way to go. (second gear chirpies are fun too! probably better now you got those 3.45's in)

Simon
 
#13 ·
yeah SikED, the car is heaps more responsive than before. I'll be looking at getting the EL2 explorer intakes and the heads mildly ported and flow tested and then a Pro-M hi flow MAF followed by a tweecer to program the cpu. I'd love to know what kind of kw improvment that would make! Should be good for at least 200kw's.

Pity you werent at the last cruise mate, it was a pearla!
 
#14 ·
yeah wasn't too happy bout that, was s'posed to get my car back the friday nite before, until they ran it and it was running on 7 cylinders. Then they discovered there was about 25psi compression in the first cylinder, supposed to have 160ish i think, so time for a bottom end rebuild....doh!

Manual def. the way to go though!
 
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