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How to do an Automatic to Manual Transmission Swap


kev
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The following thread contains step by step instructions on how to perform an auto to manual transmission swap on a starquest.   This is for replacing the factory automatic with a standard starquest KM132 manual transmission.   This process was performed on an 88 conquest tsi, although it is compatible for all years. 

Unfortunately, the starquest doesn’t share the same floorpan and firewall between its auto and manual variants.  Therefore, this swap isn’t as straightforward as removing the auto parts and bolting in the manual components!  It will require modifications to the body, some fabrication, and some welding.   In this thread, I tried to be as specific as possible to detail how I went about this on this particular vehicle.   But I will say, there are many ways to skin a cat.  If you have different materials and ideas, go for it.   That is the good part about fabrication.   

I posted dimensions throughout this thread but please use these at your own risk!  Although they worked for me, there may be slight differences in measurement technique, etc. that could lead you astray.   I’d highly suggest verifying these as you conduct your swap.    Also, all of my dimensions were taken from actual cars and not from documented sources.  Some were from this particular vehicle and others from the donor cars which I obtained the required parts from. 

I can’t really give an accurate time estimate to perform this swap.  For this particular project, I found out that I had oil in my coolant system and that lead to pulling the engine for a rebuild.  I would ‘guestimate’ that the disassembly was a single day and assembly occurred over a period of a few days working about 3-4 hours each, although I did lose track resulting from the combination of projects.  

I apologize that these photos are cloudy, blurred, and dark.   I used an old digital camera that I keep in my garage.  Although that camera works well when taking photos on the brightly lit bench, it is pretty poor for current standards while under and inside the dark car.   Sorry, but this job is a bit messy/greasy and I wasn’t going to use my phone. 

Tools required:

I typically like to list out the tools needed but there are so many hand tools required, that it is too extensive to list.  But I will say that it takes just normal hand-tooling with exception to the following:

·         Welder (for attaching the clutch pedal bracket to the underside of the cowl and trans tunnel modifications)

·         Pneumatic cutting and grinding bits/wheels (for drilling the holes in the firewall and trans tunnel modification)

·         Steering wheel puller (for dash removal)

·         Size H and T drill bits and M8-1.25 tap

·         Transmission jack

·         Tall and sturdy jackstands to raise the car at least 20” off the ground

Please follow along with the write-up for the necessary tools.

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Parts Required:

The following is a list of the factory starquest parts required to perform this swap.  These are mostly obtained from donor vehicles but some of the parts are purchased aftermarket (ex. clutch components).  I am very specific here.   If I don’t show it, you don’t need it!   See the parts list under each photo set.

 

Transmission:

Let us start with the obvious, the manual transmission.   Any starquest KM132 manual trans will work for this swap.  The trans in the photo below is an 88 unit with the strongest internal components and waffle pan. 

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Parts shown in above photos:

·         1988 transmission assembly – complete

       ·         I would recommend new input and output seals, as a minimum.   See the link below for the information on how to prepare the transmission for assembly

      ·           Shift fork with two springs and a functional clip to mate to the ball on the front retainer plate and bell housing dust boot

      ·         Speedo gear housing

·         Two M8-1.25 hex bolts that hold the slave cylinder to the trans bell housing

·         Four M6-1.25 bolts to hold the shifter lever assembly to the transmission

·         Shift lever to transmission gasket

·         Reverse switch WITH pigtail from donor car

 

 

Clutch components:

Next to show are the clutch and rotating assembly components.   I used a factory 225mm flywheel from an 87 (it is all that I had) which was resurfaced with three new dowel pins.   Use the proper clutch disk, pressure plate, and throw-out bearing for the flywheel you are using, for they are different!   And yes, a 225mm flywheel with 87 and earlier style clutch will work on an 88/89 transmission as well as a 240mm flywheel and 88/89 style clutch on an 87 or earlier transmission…just make sure you have the correct throw-out bearing for the clutch you are using 

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Parts shown in the above photos:

·         Flywheel – highly recommend having resurfaced with new pressure plate locating dowel pins if you are using a used flywheel

·         Clutch pressure plate – NEW

·         Clutch disk – NEW

·         Pilot Bearing – NEW

·         Throw-out Bearing – NEW

·         Clutch Alignment Tool

·         Six M6-1.25 hex head bolts to secure pressure plate to flywheel

·         Six Starquest manual flywheel bolts – THE AUTOMATIC FLYWHEEL BOLTS ARE DIFFERENT, THEY MUST BE FACTORY BOLTS FOR A MANUAL TRANSMISSION!!!!

·         Factory Crank dowel pin - NOT SHOWN ABOVE  Only needed if using a 240 mm flywheel.  

 

 

Pedal Assemblies:

The following contains the items needed to install the clutch pedal to the interior of the car

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Parts shown in the above photos:

·         Clutch pedal assembly which includes:

     ·         Frame and spring

     ·         Nut for threaded rod for slave cylinder

     ·         U shaped plate with threaded rod for slave cylinder

     ·         Clutch deactivation switch WITH pigtail

·         Manual brake pedal

     ·         You only need the pedal itself.  Shown is the bolt/nut but that can be reused from the automatic brake pedal

·         Clutch pedal assembly mounting bracket

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     ·         This is the factory bracket located on the underside of the cowl of the car equipped with a factory manual transmission.  There are six spot welds that need to be drilled out to remove this bracket from the donor vehicle.  

     ·         You don’t have to worry too much about recording measurements on the bracket’s position, the clutch pedal frame will dictate its location in your car. 

    ·         Two M8-1.25 bolts to secure clutch pedal assembly to the mounting bracket (shown in the mounting bracket photo above)

The next part is optional, the gas pedal.  Yes, it is different.   You can leave the auto pedal in but you will have to manipulate it some and, honestly, I used the manual pedal but still did manipulate it a bit in the end.   By manipulate, I mean bend it to your desired final position.  It’s round bar so it is very easy to bend.   I show photos later on in this thread on the differences between the auto to manual pedals. 

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Clutch Hydraulics:

The next photo shows the items needed for the clutch hydraulics.  I’d highly recommend running through some of the other FAQs to amend the known wearing issues in the clutch pedal on our cars.  Example:

 

 

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Parts shown in the above photo:

·         Clutch master cylinder with clevis – NEW

·         Clutch slave cylinder – NEW

      ·         With applicable rod for the clutch you are using

·         Factory M10 clutch clevis pin, washer, and cotter pin

·         Factory clutch master cylinder reservoir, cap, hose, hose clamps, bracket with two M6-1.25 bolts

·         Factory clutch hardline with restraint bracket

·         Clutch soft-line with mounting bracket and clip (recommend a new soft-line but I had a used one in very good condition)

·         Factory banjo bolt for clutch soft-line to slave cylinder

·         Two M10X14.1.0 copper seals - NEW

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Trans Tunnel Parts:

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Parts shown in the above photo:

·         Factory insulation – not exactly required but good to have

·         Factory center console boot surround trim

·         Shift boot – I used an 87 and earlier type but that is up to you and what you have available

·         Factory shifter boot hold down frame

     ·         The four bolts shown in the bag in the frame are not really required, you can re-use the four that held the automatic shifter to the trans tunnel on your car

·         Trans tunnel section

     ·         This will need to be cut off of the donor car.   Cut as much as you think you will use.   As seen in this thread, I actually only ended up using the metal bolt plate on the underside.

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Shifter:

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Parts shown in the above photo:

·         Factory shifter assembly

     ·         Recommend a rebuild per the following thread:

·         Shift knob – I used an 87 style

 

Other misc. items:

Here are the few remaining items necessary for the swap that didn’t fit well in the above categories:

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Parts shown in the above photos:

·         Manual driveshaft

      ·         Recommend rebuilding it with new U-joints

·         Speedo gear mount with electrical line/connector

      ·         YES, believe it or not, it is different from the one on the automatic.  I show the difference later in the thread.   You need to pull this from the donor vehicle. 

·         Transmission inspection plate

      ·         Transmission inspection plate lower M6-1.25 hex head bolts and hex nuts – They are different than the lower automatic inspection plate hardware.  The automatic bell housing has tapped holes where-as the manual bell housing has through holes.    Note:  The upper hardware that goes into the engine block can be re-used

·         Transmission adapter plate - NOT NEEDED

      ·         It is the same adapter plate for both the autos and manuals.   I didn’t realize this until after this swap

 

 

Optional items:

These parts aren’t required.  I could have included the gas pedal here but it fit better in the pedals section but it isn’t a bad idea to have the crossmember components.  The transmission crossmember and mount itself are identical between the autos and manuals.  But if you have access to them, the spare parts may be helpful, especially if you choose to go a different route than I on the cross member mounting fabrication.  I ended up using that set of keeper plates on my setup to further limit the possibility of bolts loosening up down the road.

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Fabricated Items:

Ok, we have been through all of the donor parts needed.  It’s a good time to list out two items that you will need to fabricate. 

Firewall Modification Template:

This is pretty simple.   Just need to make up a template via cardstock, thin cardboard, or even paper.   This is to locate the holes we need to add to the firewall for the clutch pedal to clutch master cylinder connection. 

I’m not sure how this will print out.  I made them 1:1 scale but with the photo images, they may be different.   I’d recommend trying to print it and measure it via a ruler to see if it is to the proper scale.   Worst case, here are the dimensions for you to simply create your own template.

Note that the numbers look odd but if you converted them to metric, they make sense.  I personally am so use to standard measurements and that is what I used to take the measurements from the donor car in the first place.   

Again, if you have access to the donor car…prove these to yourself if at all possible!

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Cross-Member Modification:

Let’s start with the issue;  the floor pan of the auto car has the transmission cross member about 6.25” behind where it needs to be on a manual transmission.  Yes, it uses the exact same cross member but it doesn’t bolt to the correct position in the chassis (both in for/aft  and vertical positions).   So we need a way to address this.   There are many ways to skin a cat on this one.    I decided to go very simple and go with a cantilevered beam approach.   You may want to elaborate on this a bit to further secure the trans, especially if you are increasing the horsepower dramatically but, in my case, this is a stock conquest and will be more than adequate.   The floorboards in this area are very sturdy and are a multi-layered steel construction.  I’m not concerned with deforming the floor.   So that means we just need to make a robust cantilevered bar.

Again, check your dimensions before you just rely on this, but they should be pretty close.   I do explain later on how I derived at these.  

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Here is the drawing for the bars.   I used some 1018 carbon steel flat bar that I had laying around.  3/8” thick x 1” wide.   Cut into two 10” long pieces.    The 3/8” thickness makes them pretty sturdy and adjusts the transmission vertical alignment perfectly.   

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In addition to the two bars, you will need the following:

·         Four M8-1.25 x 35mm long bolts (give or take on length, there is plenty of room)  

      ·         Use Class 10.9 or higher grade hardware.  What are shown in the photo above are actually 18-8 SST.  Although they would have probably worked fine, I switched to Class 10.9 for added assurance

·         Two factory lock plates – I used these from my ‘optional list’ of parts from the donor vehicle in the last post.  Just for added assurance so that the bolts do not loosen up and start to unthread.   This isn’t absolutely necessary.  Loctite and some lockwashers will do the job too.    

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Transmission Removal:

I think it makes sense to start with removing the automatic transmission from the vehicle.  You could start either with this or tearing down the interior but removing the trans. will give us the most room to work with the pedals, which are the hardest part of the ordeal.  

This is where the photos start getting pretty poor.  Here is an overview:

Prep

·         Disconnect Battery

·         Drain coolant and unhook heater core lines

·         Raise and support vehicle

·         Remove exhaust

Removal

·         Disconnect electrical connectors

·         Undo vacuum line

·         Remove inspection cover

·         Decouple transmission from engine

·         Remove transmission cooler/disconnect lines

·         Undo driveshaft

·         Undo speedo cable, electrical connection and ground

·         Remove shifter assembly

·         Unbolt crossmember

·         Unbolt transmission

·         Remove flex-plate

·         Remove flex-plate spacer

Steps:

To start, you have to get the car up on all fours, pretty high.  You want it at 20” or higher above the ground.  I used some large 6 ton jack-stands.   Take your time here and make sure it is sturdy.  You are going to be under this thing as well as climbing all around the inside of it. 

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Next important step is to remove your negative cable from the battery, at a minimum.   We are going to be pulling the starter and unhooking so many electrical connections.   Don’t want anything in the energized state

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Next is to drain the coolant.   Two reasons for this.  The first is to unhook the heater core lines to prevent pulling on them when removing the transmission but, also, later on we will have to remove the heater core to do our trans tunnel work.  Might as well drop the coolant now and unhook the lines.

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Next up is to pull the heat shields around the exhaust downpipe to gain us some room.   If you have the factory downpipe with sec air cooler pipe, it is good to remove it

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This gives us access to the two upper trans bolts.   Keep those bolts handy, they will be reused for the manual transmission.

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Further below on the passenger side is a bolt holding the bell housing to the trans adapter plate.  You can see it in this photo.  Remove it while you are here.  Again, keep this bolt/nut handy. 

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Going to the other side of the car.   Disconnect the heater core lines

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And the brake booster vacuum line, for good measure

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While here, disconnect the vacuum hose on the back of the intake that goes to the trans.

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Just above the heater core lines, you will see two electrical connectors.  Disconnect these.  They run down to the auto trans.

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Next up is the starter.   You have to reach down and disconnect the single wire at the solenoid and remove the battery cable to the solenoid.   Sorry…this photo is horrible.

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Then remove the two bolts holding the starter to the bell housing

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Pull the starter and keep track of the bolts, they are the same for the manual bell housing

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Now you can pull down the trans wiring harness.  There was a constraint that was held in by the upper trans bolt.

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While under the car, remove the 10mm head hex bolts on the auto trans inspection cover.  Keep the two upper bolts, they will be re-used.  The lower bolts aren’t needed.

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Now it is time to decouple the torque convertor.   Using a ratchet on the crank pulley, rotate the engine clockwise until you see one of the bolts securing the flex-plate to the torq. conv.

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Remove it, 17mm head.  Rotate the engine 90 degrees, remove the next bolt, and repeat for the remaining bolts.   There are four total.

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After looking things over a bit, I made the decision to pull the exhaust.  Although you can probably work around it, I wanted it out of the way.   

Remove the bolts on the downpipe

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And start removing the doughnuts

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The ground/support strap at the muffler

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And the final two doughnuts to drop the full exhaust.  If you still have the skid plate over the cat support, it will have to come off first…mine is missing.

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That didn’t take much time but freed up a lot of room.

Next is to remove the driveshaft bolts.  I left the driveshaft in the trans for removal, for I was too lazy to drain the fluid.

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Keep the driveshaft bolts.  It’s a different driveshaft but the bolts are the same.

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Next up is the shifter linkage…follow along in the photos

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From here, it hangs down.

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Remove the last clip on the linkage arm into the tranny, and the assembly can be removed.

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Undo the nuts holding the trans to the mount and remove the ground wire.  Keep those nuts and lockwashers, they will be reused for the manual transmission.

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Undo the speedo cable and the speed gear electrical connector.  I let this hang for now but it will have to be removed completely later on and replaced with the one for the manual transmission.

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Now to undo the trans cooler lines

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I tried to remove the hoses but they were stubborn and ended up just cutting them.   Remove the bolt securing the lines to the side of the block

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Might as well remove the cooler while we are here.  There are two bolts up under the frame support

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Next is the bracket for the trans cooler

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And the cooler itself…sorry, photo is so dark

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Cooler now comes out…and it stays out

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Ok, the trans still has the lower two bolts in it to the block and the crossmember is still connected.  Time to put your jack in place

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Take out the four bolts for the crossmember and remove it.   Keep the bolts and all hardware….all of it will be reused including the crossmember itself.

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Remove the last two bolts, the lower bolts to the engine.  Again keep these handy, they will be reused on the manual trans.

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And lower her down

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And drag it out

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Next up is the flex-plate.  Remove the six bolts.  I used an air impact for efficiency.

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Outer ring comes off

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Flex-plate comes off

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I removed the trans adapter plate…but this is not needed.  It is the same as the automatic plate.  I didn’t realize this at the time.

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And the inner ring 

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Last is the spacer.   There are many ways to go about this.  Pack it with grease and use a bolt to smack it free, use the bread trick, etc. etc.   I have the proper puller, so I used it.   But it is barely on there.

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Interior Removal:

We have to do work on the transmission tunnel as well as the firewall and underside of the cowl.  Unfortunately, that means a lot of the interior has to come out.  This includes:

·         Dashboard

·         Seats

·         Carpet

·         Heater Core

·         Firewall insulation – it needs to be pulled away from the firewall and cowl to permit installing the clutch pedal.  I ended up unbolting the steering column and a few other items in order for me to pull this back away far enough for my liking.  The good thing is that it is the same firewall insulation as a manual.  Thus, once complete, it will simply go back in position without cutting or modification

The steps are as follows:

Dashboard Removal:

Pull the dashboard per the steps of the following thread

 

Carpet Removal:

I’ll try to run through this quick, for it is straight-forward and my photos aren’t the best anyways.

Let’s start with the dead-pedal.  There is a single bolt on the bottom with a 10mm head.  Use an extension on your ratchet to remove.    And, yes, this is a photo taken during assembly and not removal…the dead giveaway is there are three pedals in the photo.  This is consistent with most of the photos in the carpet removal section.

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Removing the seats.   Popping off the plastic covers and removing the two nuts up front and the two bolts in the back of each seat. 

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Once the two front nuts and two rear bolts are out, carefully lift the seat out.  The driver’s seat will have one plug for the seatbelt light that needs to be undone.

Next is the rear seat.   Pop off these plastic covers and remove the single bolt on each side.  Then the seat pops out

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Pull the ETACS.  Two 10mm head hex bolts, as shown.  That blue connector is the seatbelt light from the driver’s seat that we removed earlier

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And unplug

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Pop out the trim around the trunk/gas cap levers

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Next is the lap belts on 87-89 cars.   More fuzzy photos…just follow along

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The carpet part pulls away after those two philips head screws are removed

Then remove the two bolts.  14mm head

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And lift it out

Pop the sill plates out on each side using a vinyl pry tool.   Be careful not to break the tabs.   Sorry, I think I missed the photo on this.

The drivers side kick-panel will be in our way, so let’s remove it now. 

Remove the philips head screws out of the relay panel

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and work it out

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The opposite side, just have to remove the cover over the ECU.  Two screws

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Next, remove the clips on the carpet

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And carefully pull the carpet out.  Obviously these are photos of it going back in because you can see the manual shift lever..but they show the story

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Heater Core Removal:

OK, back to the dash area.   Yes, I’m writing this up a little backwards compared to how I actually did it.   In these photos, the carpet is still in when I pulled the core.   It’s up to you on the order of operations. 

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Pop off the top duct

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Remove the steel dash supports

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Undo the harness on the side and take the left one out

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Similar on the right but requires some disconnection

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And finally take it out

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Remove the defroster vents, two screws on each side

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And pop off the plenum

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Disconnect these two electrical connectors at the heater core

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And these

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Other defroster and plenum

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Remove the strap around the heater core assembly and the evaporator box

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And remove the three bolts securing the heater core assembly to the firewall. 14mm head.  Extra-long extensions on your ratchet help

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And pull it out

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Remove the seatbelt control unit on 87 on up cars

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And the bracket

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Next is the shifter. 

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Take these four screws out and retain them…they will be used later for the manual shifter.

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And the center console bracket.   Keep this one near-by

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Now lift out the transmission tunnel insulation.  Put that center console bracket back in position.  We will use it as a baseline for cutting the hole in the trans tunnel later.   Note that I try to put all fasteners back in their locations to prevent loss.

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Brake Pedal:

Almost done with the tear-down.   Let’s get that brake pedal out of the way first.

Look up and locate the connection of the brake pedal to the power booster.  Undo the cotter pin and remove the clevis pin.

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Look up and locate the pivot bolt for the brake lever.  Remove the nut and bolt and pull out the pedal.  There is a spring there to undo as well, shown in the last photo.

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Firewall Pad:

We need to get that firewall pad away from the area where the clutch pedal goes.   This is up to you how much you want to remove.  I ended up pulling the brake lever restraint bracket free which actually dropped the steering column in the end.   They remained in the car but just were loose.  I used a strap to pull them away from the area and then slide out the pad as far from the working area as I could.    It really sucks getting up to where this clutch pedal bracket is to go but keep in mind that we are going to be drilling holes, grinding, and welding in this area.   The more room you make for yourself, the better, even if it means pulling a few more things out. 

Pop off the thick cardboard around the column and the rubber behind it

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Pad pulled back

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If you can get away with just this, then so be it.  As said earlier, I pulled the brake bracket and four bolts on the steering column down eventually to get myself up in there when it came to cutting and welding. 

Remove the four bolts holding the steering column to the steering support bracket.  The brake bracket is sandwiched in between….I think I forgot a photo here.

The four nuts in the back that secure the bracket

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One vertical bolt in the bracket

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Loosen up the main wire harness.  There are a few places where it is constrained.  It runs close to where the clutch bracket will be. 

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And finally pull everything away from the area.  Yes, it is a mess but we finally have everything torn down.

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Pedal Installation:

We finally made it to the enjoyable part, in my opinion.   Everything prior to this was simply to access the locations to modify in order to start installing the manual transmission components.  

A high-level overview of what will be covered in this section is:

·         Firewall modification – 3 holes for clutch master cylinder

·         Cowl modification – attachment of the clutch pedal mounting bracket to the underside of the cowl

·         Clutch pedal assembly installation

·         Brake pedal installation

·         Gas pedal installation and/or ‘modification’

Firewall Modification:

Picking up where we left off from the previous section;

Look up and see the grommet running through the firewall.  This is the index for the holes we need to install to the left of it. 

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I popped the grommet out but keep in mind that it is a pain to put back in later on.  It’s up to you.  If you can index the hole via the template with it in, leave it in.

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We have one last item to partially remove before we start getting into the template and drilling holes.  This would be the brake master cylinder reservoir.  

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Remove the two bolts securing it to the body. 12mm head.  And simply move it out of the way.  Make sure your cap is on secure so that brake fluid doesn’t leak out.   I manipulated it a bit more since this photo so it laid horizontal.

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So, if you notice, you can see that the three holes exist there on the outer layer of the firewall but have been seam sealed over from the factory.   The firewall is two layers in this location, of which the outer layer has the clutch master cylinder mounting holes but the inner does not.   

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I guess if you had a very small right angle drill or even die grinder, you could potentially drill it from the engine compartment side and match these holes….although I couldn’t get even my small 90 degree pneumatic die grinder in there.   This means we have to drill from the interior side.  The challenge is to mark these holes from the interior side, blind side, and hopefully they match the holes on the engine compartment side…or be fairly close.

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From here, you want to make a template as shown in the beginning of this thread.   I actually made two templates, the first one with the three holes not cut out but a small hole in the hole centerlines and the second with the holes cut out.   The first one is simply to mark the hole centerlines for initial drilling.    Take your time here, you want to get it in place with the index hole (that being the hole in the firewall with the harness running through it) centered well.   Also, this index hole doesn’t control angular orientation.   Use a small level to verify that the clutch master cylinder hole pattern is plumb to the car (assuming your car is in a level condition on its jack-stands). 

I used tape to hold the template in place.   This photo makes it look like the index hole is out of position but that is the optical illusion of the harness.   It actually is spot on.

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I didn’t photo the next part due to the tight area and not enough hands to handle the camera and drill but I first used a small pilot bit to drill the three holes at the centerline.   Something like an 1/8” or even less is perfect.   Drill right through the centerlines scribed in your template.   From there you can remove the template and we might as well drill the holes for the mounting bolts.   These are essentially 9mm holes for the 8mm fasteners.  A ‘T’ size drill bit (.356”) is perfect but a step up or down would work as well.  They are clearance holes, they don’t need to be super high precision.  

Go ahead and drill these two holes with the T size drill.   Here is what you should have now

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Now let’s look back on the engine compartment side and see how well we did….not bad!  Very close to being spot on!

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Ok, so now we have to drill the larger hole.   If you have some good hole saws, you may be able to drill it out in one shot but I doubt you would have the proper size for this metric hole.   What I did was use the largest drill bit I had and then grind it out to size.  Starting with opening that center hole up with a large drill bit.

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Here it is on the eng comp. side…still looking good.

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Now I taped on my second template.  As seen, this one is pretty crude and doesn’t need the index hole.  It is just to give me a reference on how much I need to open the hole up to.

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Backing the camera up shows what you have to be working through.   It’s tight but fully doable.  I used a standard cordless drill up to this point.

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Now I used my right angle pneumatic die grinder with a grinding bit on it and ground it to the diameter I wanted per the template.   This makes a mess but grinds it like butter.

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Again, taking a look on the engine compartment side.   Also, I put some touch up on the exposed steel

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This method worked very well but the negative is that I had grinding dust everywhere.   So this is where I stopped and grabbed the shop vacuum and cleaned everything up.

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Clutch Pedal Mounting Bracket:

So now, take your clutch pedal assembly and bolt on the mounting bracket that was drilled out from the donor car.   There is an orientation to it, note the photo in the beginning of this thread where I had ‘firewall’ marked to indicate the orientation.   Mount it to the clutch pedal assembly in the correct position.  Leave the bolts just snug enough in the slots that you can manipulate it around for final position. 

Now take the assembly and get it up into place.  The threaded stud will run through the top hole that we drilled in the firewall.   And run a nut on this stud to hole it in place

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Looking from the engine compartment side, make sure the clutch bracket holes line up well with the drilled holes in the firewall and tighten that nut good to hold it in position

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Now go back to the interior and look at where your bracket lies.  As seen, it matches the contour of the underside of the cowl pretty well.   You have some wiggle room for adjustment with the slotted holes and there is a little bit of flex in the bracket.   Get it to about where you think it will go and use a sharpie to mark the size drilled holes in the bracket.   It doesn’t have to be perfect at this stage, we are just marking the locations to prep for welding.

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Now, remove the nut and pull the whole assembly back out.   Looking up at the cowl, you should clearly see your marks.   Take these areas down to bare metal in preparation for welding and clean up your drilled holes in the bracket.   You can use weld through primer if you want, I didn’t think that was too necessary in this location though.

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Now bolt the bracket back up to the clutch pedal and reinstall it.   Put your nut back on the stud and take your time to get everything lined up.   Get the bracket right where you want it.  It needs to be in good contact with the cowl for welding.  I used a scissors jack to put some upward pressure on the pedal assembly.

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The back side of the bracket was nice and tight but as seen here, the front side was still hanging down just a tad.   I used a welding clamp to squeeze it a bit which pulling it tight to the cowl

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So now it is time to weld.   This isn’t my best weld job but I purposely had the welder dialed down a bit.  I wanted the welds to be a bit on the cold side because I didn’t want to blow a hole through the cowl.  I don’t want to open up any water leaks to the interior of the car. 

So wrestle yourself in there and tack up each hole.  Don’t have to weld it fully at this point.  Tack it and then pull out the clutch pedal to gain more room for final welding.

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Now weld it up….yes, my welds are ugly…I know. 

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Clean them up with a wire brush and spraying a little primer/paint up there.

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You can see the bracket in this panned back photo

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Pedal Installation:

Now it is time to start putting things together.   First off, I noticed just with handling the clutch pedal assembly that the plastic bumper that is used for the clutch disengagement switch disintegrated.  These leaves a hole in the pedal and renders the switch useless.   I’ll talk about it later but this switch is very important in an auto-manual swap.   We will be using this switch to replace the neutral safety switch from the automatic.   So I simply installed a bolt/nut in place of the plastic bumper that disintegrated. 

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To start the installation process, lay back your firewall pad

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It’s hard to see here but it goes over the clutch pedal bracket and firewall holes nicely

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Now, install the new brake pedal to the brake pedal bracket.   Note that we are doing this prior to putting the clutch pedal back in, for space reasons.  It goes on the same way the automatic brake pedal came off.   If you do this before bolting up the brake pedal bracket, it gives you more room

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Now reassemble your brake mounting bracket.  The hardest bolt to install is the one that goes up vertically.  Start there.

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And then put the washers/nuts on the power booster studs. Make sure the clevis goes around the pedal

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And re-pin your brake pedal.  Clevis pin, washer, and cotter pin.

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If you disconnected the brake light switch, like I did, connect it back in

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And bolt back up your steering column….wow, I really have very poor photos of removing and installing that steering column!

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Restore the restraints on your main wiring harness

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And now, bolt in your clutch pedal assembly.  Oh, if you popped out the grommet for the index hole when you drilled the holes in the firewall, don't forget to put it back in....yes, it is a pain to get those grommets back on!

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There is a wire clamp on the clutch assembly (you can see it in my photos in the beginning of this thread).  This goes around the harness.   Put this is place.

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So now, backing up to look at what we got.   Note that the gas pedal is so close to the brake pedal.  This is why I chose to use the gas pedal out of the manual car.

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To remove the gas pedal, you unfortunately have to pull the pedal from the bracket because you can’t get a socket on the lower bolt with it on.

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And now unbolt the bracket.  I had a photo of this but it is so fuzzy.   Not really needed, two 12mm head bolts and it comes out.

Unhook the cables and pull it out.  There are a few wire connections that need to be unplugged, these will not be needed anymore.  

Replace it with the manual pedal.  

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That looks a lot better!   But you could always just bend the automatic gas pedal a bit to give you clearance.  I later did bend this pedal a little farther away from the trans tunnel once I had the interior back together.   The one is too close to the brake and the other is too close to the tunnel.

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Clutch Hydraulics Installation:

There still are a few items to button up under the dash area but let’s hop to the clutch hydraulics.   This is fairly simply once you route the clutch hardline in position.   But here is where we want to install the clutch master cylinder, clutch hardline with bracket, and clutch soft-line with bracket.   We won’t yet install the slave cylinder, it is best to wait until the transmission is in for that. 

The first priority is to fish the hardline down in position.  You have to start at the top and get it under the brake booster and go from there.   This is very hard to describe via photos.  It just takes some thought and careful motion of fishing it down in place.   Don’t bend the line inadvertently.

Fish it down from the top.  That other line you see there is actually a abs bypass line a former owner put in that was very much in the way but I didn’t want to have to undo it, so I worked around it.   The red wire looks like it is in the way but it wasn’t, again that was something I added for an ignition switch modification.  You won’t have to deal with those two items.

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Fuzzy photo but it shows a little better

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For me, the hardest part was getting it behind this fuel vent line near the bottom. 

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Once you get it about in position, there are a few things to do.   First is to install the soft-line bracket.   There are two bolts on the frame rail that hold on an electrical cable running back to the trans area.  Remove these and put the bracket underneath the cable bracket. Keep the bolts loose for now to aide in coupling the hardline to the soft-line in a few minutes

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Now remove the bolt holding the proportioning valve for the brakes

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Wrap the hardline support bracket around the hardline and secure it to the bolt hole in the proportioning valve. 

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Sorry, another fuzzy pic

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Now install the hardline into the softline and snug it a little.  

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Now, back to the top.  Install the clutch master cylinder.   Note the original gasket I reused.  

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Put it in position and use the C style bracket to slide over the stud and go through the lower firewall hole.  Thread the nut on loosely.   The hardline should be in the position you expect it to be, if you didn’t bend the line all up fishing it into position. 

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Now go to the inside of the car and install the nut on that lower stud. 

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There is a slot in the clutch bracket that gives clearance to it.   Use a bunch of extensions on your ratchet to make it easy on you.

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Once that nut is tight, go back to the engine compartment and tighten the top one

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Now start the threads on the hardline into the cylinder.

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and tighten in.  

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Go back to the one below and tighten it up too

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And tighten the bolts on the bracket

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Last thing to do in this section is the reservoir.  I quickly figured out that my aftermarket slave cylinder had the wrong cap on it for our cars.  The outlet was too large.  Luckily I had a spare used cylinder assembly that I stole the cap from.  But regardless, you may have to ‘clock’ the cap accordingly. 

So I loosened the clamp, installed the proper cap and rotated it a bit.  Leave the clamp loose so you can turn it accordingly.  

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Next, bring the brake reservoir back over into position and mount the clutch reservoir to it.  Leave your bolts loose and just set everything in position.   Clock the cap on the master cylinder and the clutch reservoir so they are aligned.

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Now pull away the brake reservoir and tighten the clamp on your cap.   Next, I installed the hose and its clamps to the clutch reservoir.

 

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And now bring the brake reservoir back over and install the bolts into the body and install the bolt for the reservoir.   If you are happy with the positioning, tighten everything up. 

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Put the clutch reservoir cap on for now to prevent any debris from entering

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That’s it for now.  We will put on the slave cylinder, fill it with fluid, and bleed  after the trans is in.

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Transmission Tunnel Modification:

Be glad the pedal work is pretty much done.  There are still a few things to button up under the dash but those will be done after the transmission tunnel is modified.   This here isn’t rocket science, we are simply opening up the hole in the tunnel for the shifter.   I even read that some have left the hole as-is and bolted the shifter in from underneath.   I personally like to try my best to make it fit the original design, as much as possible.  Thus, I open up the hole to be just like a stock manual car would be.  

Unfortunately, the tunnel is a bit different shape and it isn’t as easy as cutting out and welding in the section we cut from the donor car.   There is some shaping we will have to do to the metal to get it right. 

Let’s get to it.  Here is our starting point.  Note that I have that bracket of which the center console screws to.   If you remember earlier, I mentioned to install it back in after pulling away the trans. tunnel insulation.   We will use that as our index to cut the hole.

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Tape it up so we can draw our new hole.

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We want to draw a line 2-13/16” from the edge of the console bracket.  This is a measurement that I have taken from a donor car.   And, I’ll be quite honest, you could be off probably as much as a ½” and it still will work fine…maybe even more.  

Here I have the donor piece laying overtop.  Measure up 2-13/16” from the bracket and make your line.  Trace out the pattern from the donor piece onto the tape. 

Note:  I do remember jotting down the measurements of the trans hole (length, width, and corner radius) but I can't seem to locate these notes.  If and when I find them, I'll add them to this write-up.  

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To make it easier, flip over the donor section and it is easy to trace out

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And simply cut it out using a grinding wheel.   Take note of the top edge, there are two layers of steel there that are separated by about ½”.  You will have to cut through both.

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Remove the tape. 

Now, back to the donor section.   I decided that all I will use is the bolt plate that is tack welded to the body via the four spots.   I ground these and drilled them out using a spot-weld cutter.

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Your hole is cut but we have to deal with that top area with the separation.  I used a hammer and dolly to massage this flat and then clamp the bolt plate to the underside of the tunnel

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Mark the bolt holes from the clamp plate from the underside.  Remove the clamp plate and drill the holes, that siize T bit you used earlier on the firewall works good for this.   Then I added a few 1/4” holes around the perimeter just to weld up the clamp plate.   Once the holes are in, clamp it back up

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And then weld up the 1/4” holes to secure the plate to the tunnel.   I should have noted earlier that the bolt holes with the narrower pattern go towards the front of the vehicle (take note to the window and mirror seen through the hole)

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Grinding my welds smooth and doing a little more work with the hammer/dolly to get it to look better.   Note the hole pattern.  The front of the car is to the right.

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Test fitting the clamp plate…SAT

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With a little further cleaning up and hammer work, it looks pretty good.

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I think I forgot to take a few good photos of the final look after painting but you’ll see them some down the line in other photos in the thread but I ran seam sealer around the lip of the bolt plate that I welded on underneath and then primed/painted all the bare metal.  

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Cross-member Modification:

This section could potentially be skipped if you just choose to make the bars that I provided a drawing for in the beginning of this thread, but I’ll show you how I went about this and made them. 

What I did first is temporarily installed the manual trans to the block.   I’m not putting the clutch on at this point, just getting it in place to design the cross-member setup.  

First off is to put back on the trans adapter plate, if you removed it earlier.  Use Loctite on the bolts and torque to spec…9 ft-lbs.

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Now, I first sealed off the open parts of the transmission to prevent debris, etc.   At this time, I wasn’t sure if I would be welding or cutting near the transmission or not.  

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Now install the transmission to the block.   And yes, I now have a true transmission jack.  I picked up one in the middle of this project for I had to replace a clutch on a Jeep.  I wasn’t willing to use my regular pole jack on a heavier trans with a transfer case on it, so in came this baby.  And let me tell you, it was so worth it!!!   It makes installing the transmission so much easier. 

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Put it into position and install the lower two bolts – snug them up.   Very easy here because the clutch isn’t on, so not too much to line up besides the flanges.

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Keep the jack under it to take your vertical measurements.   I took two key measurements from the donor car.  The first from the windshield lip to the top of the tranny and the second from the trans tunnel to the top of the tranny.  The reason being is that I wanted to make sure the trans tunnel was not at a different elevation on an automatic vs a manual.   I assumed they weren’t based on the dash/console, etc. but wanted to prove it.   In reality, they are the same. 

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Sorry this photo is so blurry but you want to grab from the sheet-metal on the pinch joint for the window and go to the transmission.

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You want 33-5/8”.  

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The second measurement I took was from the top of the tunnel to the top of the trans; ½”.  Which was a match. 

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So leave your jack in that position and climb under.  Install the factory trans mount and cross-member

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Now you can clearly see the different between the cross-member mounting on a manual vs automatic vehicle.  It appears that the mounting flanges aren’t inline but they really are, just approximately 6-1/2” away.   And the elevation difference is about 3/8”. 

So onto the creation of my cantilevered arms.  

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With a tape measure, I decided on the 10” overall length.  Cutting two bars to length with the 3/8” x 1” flat bar material

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Using one of the plates from the factory mount, I marked the center of the holes at one end of each bar

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Tossed them on my drill press using the same size T drill bit. 

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Back to the car, bolting them up to the factory holes from the auto trans mount.  And marking the holes from the installed cross-member

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For the forward holes, I wanted them tapped so I don’t have to mess with nuts on the opposite side.   The proper size tap drill for a M8-1.25 bolt (factory size) is size H

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Back to the drill press using the size H and then to the vise for tapping to M8-1.25

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Bolting it all back up

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Back to the top side to check my vertical measurement – SAT

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Here is a view showing the protrusion using the factory cross-member bolts into the cantilevered flat bar

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Now to tear it back down.  I primed/painted the bars as shown earlier in the thread. 

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Now, pull the trans back out so we can put the clutch back in.   If I knew it would have been this easy, I would have put the clutch in first and left it all mounted up.   But at this stage, I still needed to coat the trans tunnel work, etc. 

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Wiring – Part 1:

There are two items that we have to address as far as wiring:

1.       The reverse light switch

2.       The neutral safety/starter inhibiter switch

The reverse light switch is mandatory but the neutral safety switch is not.   If you want the car to run, just connect the BR and BY wires together in the harness I discuss next.  Although, if you do this, your cruise control will not work!   See the same circuit is used for starter inhibitor as the cruise control.   We will be feeding these wires to the switch on the clutch pedal.   To start the car, the clutch will have to be depressed….which is standard on most manual cars but surprisingly not on ours.  However, when using the cruise control, if you depress the clutch, the cruise control stops.   So if you just wire the BR and BY wires together, the cruise control will think the clutch pedal is depressed and won’t work.   So it is in your best interest to run the wires to the clutch pedal as described, unless you stripped out your cruise control system.  In that case, connecting them together up at the plug is all you need. 

I’m a big fan of reusing as much OEM items as I can, so back to the original automatic transmission.   You want the larger connector, 6 prong.   I undid the insulation and clipped off the wires relatively long.  The wires you want are; RL, R, BR, BY …That is red-blue, red, black-red, and black-yellow for those not as familiar with the notations in the FSM.   

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Tape up starting at the connector

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Now go to the engine compartment and plug it back in to the original connector.  This is near the brake vacuum booster connection on the firewall

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Run it down the firewall and tape up the harness.   Note, my engine was out making this a little easier but you will have the room. 

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I took advantage of the firewall plug with the cruise control cable coming through.  There is a nub there that is easy to clip off and pass a harness through.

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You want to run the BR and BY wires into the car.  I used the factory loom from the auto tranny on the remaining two running to the reverse light switch.

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Feed the RL and R wires down to the transmission area

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And that’s it for now.   We will come back to these later once the transmission is in.  The reason why is that we don’t want the lines too long or short.

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Transmission Installation:

It’s time to install the manual.   Make sure you clean everything up good and all of your metal work is properly coated, etc.  

The first thing is to install the flywheel.   MAKE SURE YOU ARE USING THE PROPER MANUAL TRANSMISSION FLYWHEEL BOLTS.   DO NOT USE THE AUTOMATIC FLEX-PLATE BOLTS!!!!

There are actually two types of manual flywheel bolts as well.  Not sure if this was a change in later years, but I have both types laying around.  Ones that have a nylon patch in the threads and ones that do not.    I used the ones that do but I still heavily employ the use of blue Loctite

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With your new pilot bearing installed in the flywheel, mount the flywheel onto the engine.

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Note, if you are using a 240mm flywheel, insert your dowel pin into the crank in that seventh hole that is slightly smaller than the others.   I’m using a 225mm, so this isn’t an option.

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Hand thread in the bolts as much as you can.

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Snug tight with a normal ratchet

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Secure the flywheel for torqueing.   This double-ended wrench works well with one of the trans bolts in the hole and one of the clutch bolts in place.   Tip taken from Dad on here in the engine build thread that I have used consistently for years since learning it. 

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And torque to spec using a star pattern - 94-101 ft-lbs.   (I like to go in three steps)

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Once torqued, remove your wrench and bolts

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Wipe down the flywheel with brake cleaner, as well as the p/pl

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Loctite the six clutch bolts.

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Set the disk in place with the clutch alignment tool, then the p/pl and thread in the six bolts.

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Before you tighten them up, check your alignment tool, it should go in and out with ease.  Then torque your bolts to spec and remove the alignment tool  11-15 ft-lbs

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Now install the transmission with your throw-out bearing in place, everything lubricated, etc. 

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Start with the bottom two trans bolts…yes they are the same bolts used from the auto trans

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Reach up and get the top two bolts installed

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Loctiting all eight bolts for our new cross-member mount

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Bolt it on the cross member side with the locking plates in place

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and jack it up to final position

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And install the other bolts with locking plates in place

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Tighten them good and bend the locking plates to capture the hex heads of the bolts.

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Loctite the bolts for the inspection cover and that last bolt/nut between the trans and adapter plate

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Now, removing the tape and rag from the outlet cover that I put on earlier

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Hopping to the starter.  Loctite those bolts too

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Hooking the battery cable to the starter and single wire to the solenoid

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Drag back your exhaust and rehang it

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I think I forgot to snap a photo or two of the driveshaft installation.    Lubricate the yoke, couple it to the tranny and bolt it to the rear.   Re-use the bolts from the auto driveshaft.   Use Loctite and torque to spec. 

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Slave Cylinder Installation:

 

Grab your parts for the slave cylinder.

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Temporary bolt it to the trans just to install the soft-line at the right position.  Use your new crush washers on the banjo bolt.

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For bleeding, I like to unbolt it from the trans and use a C-clamp to hold the piston.

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Open the bleeder and put a hose on to a container.  I like to let gravity do most of the work

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Fill her up with DOT-3

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and let gravity do its work for a bit

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While that is going on, let’s get back in the car and connect the clutch master cylinder to the clutch pedal.  Notice how I left the jam nut loose on the master cylinder clevis.  That is so I can do a final adjustment later on. 

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Now you can pump the pedal a few times to further bleed the system but the gravity trick did most of the work for us.   Once you are happy with the bleeding, undo the c-clamp, install the boot and rod and put the slave cylinder onto the trans.

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Wiring – Part 2:

Now that the transmission is installed, we can finish the wiring.   Let’s start with the most important wires, the reverse light switch.   Plug the pigtail you got from the donor car onto the harness of the switch and run it along the frame-rail similar to stock configuration.  Cut either your pigtail or the wire harness you made earlier to the desired length and solder/heat shrink it appropriately. 

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Now, unplug that speedometer connection cable and remove the one that has been hanging there.

Comparing the auto (left) to manual (right), now you can see the physical difference

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Here is the manual one ready to go

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Connect your speedometer

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And route the lines through the original clamps on the framerail.  I did add one zip tie to keep everything neat

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Next up is the neutral safety switch wires that we will connect to our clutch switch. 

Locate the lines you ran through the firewall and connect them to the pigtail you got from the donor car that goes to the clutch switch.   Route the lines how you desire and solder/heat shrink them together. 

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Tuck them away

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While we are here, let’s put that insulation back on around the steering column

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While we are on the wiring subject, you will have these two wires that use to run to the console at the automatic shifter.  These aren’t needed anymore.  You can coil them up and zip tie them under the dash.  If you used the manual pedal, you will also have the connectors that went to the auto pedal that can be tied back too.

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And install the spring on the brake lever while here.

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Heater Core and Shifter Installation:

Lay the original insulation back over the tunnel

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You will have to remove that console bracket and place it back on over the insulation

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Set the trim ring in position, mark and cut the insulation

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Now follow that line with about a ½” greater

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Cut it out

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Let’s install the heater core.  I’m just going to show photos.  It’s the same process as removal but in reverse.

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And now back to the shifter.  

 

Removing my tape. 

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Put your transmission fluid in now.

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Loctite you bolts and install your gasket

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And install

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Use the same bolts that held down the automatic shifter to install the shifter ring

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Final Touches:

Almost done.  There are a few more items to address and the interior has to go back together of course.

Going back to the engine compartment, hook up your heater core lines and vac booster

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And definitely don’t forget to plug the vacuum line in your manifold.   The manual cars had a plug here that you could install but this would be the perfect place to connect a BOV.   But for my car, I capped it for now.

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So now all that is left is the interior.   I’ll post a few photos here but most of it is obvious and just a repeat of the disassembly. 

I’d recommend putting in the carpet first, then the kick-panels and dead pedal before the dash.  It is just easier. 

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Driver’s kick-panel

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Passenger kick-panel

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Dead pedal

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Next up is the dashboard installation which is covered by the following thread:

 

 

And from here on out, you have the ETACS, lap belts on 87-89s, sill panels, and the seats.   I think those are pretty obvious, so I will skip the photos.  

 

The last item is to swap the trim in the console.

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Remove the six screws

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And the radio side plates

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And the six screws on the radio trim plate

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Pop out the radio trim plate and then the shifter trim plate

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Set in the manual trim plate

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And put it all back together

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Pop in your shift boot

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It’s ready to go in

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Installing the shifter insulation first

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And follow along with the dash installation to install the console and shift knob

You now have a manual transmission!

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There are a few items you may want to look into.   Take a look at your pedals good.   You may need to manipulate them a bit.   I tweaked my gas pedal a bit but also bent the brake pedal a little over to the left because my foot kept clipping the brake when I was on the gas.    They are pretty easy to bend.  For the brake pedal, just connect vise grips to it and use a bar over them as a lever arm to bend it a bit (I'll try to put my setup back together, snap a picture, and add it here later).   The gas pedal is bendable by hand. 

Other things you will need to do is to adjust your clutch engagement once you fire up the car and tighten your locknut on the clutch master cylinder clevis. 

Verify your reverse lights worth and your cruise control works.  Obviously if the car started, your inhibitor switch is wired correctly. 

Well that is about it.    Enjoy shifting gears!

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OK, well that took me a lot longer than I expected to put this together.   Sorry that my photos are so bad, I think it is time to retire that old digital camera.   But I think the write-up is very complete and all inclusive even with dark and fuzzy pictures.   

I'd like to add a few other minor things to this in the future such as the dimensions for the trans tunnel cutout (I know I have them and just misplaced them) and the 'manipulation' of the pedals to get them spaced where you would like in the end.  But, as I said, I put enough time into making this thread for now and need a break haha.  

One thing I realized on this new site is that there is no longer a photo limit for a single post.  This let me break the process out evenly in sections.  Each post is a section.   Read the title of each section and determine if you want to follow it or skip to the next.  

I'll open up the thread now and let others comment.  Hopefully others will add photos on how they addressed the cross-member and other items of fabrication.   I think areas could have been simplified even further but my goal was to make it as stock looking as possible.  I'm not a fan of hacking things up just enough to make them work.

Hope this helps others who go down this path.

Kevin

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