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Harbinger's Automatic to Manual transmission swap.


Harbinger
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That means I'd have to start drinking canned beer! I think I am just going to cut it out though. I'll be launching into it tomorrow assuming I can get some homework done tonight!

 

I did pick up some parts from a different scrap yard the other day. Pulled the interior shifter plate/gasket/shifter arm and a grey boot out of an 88 Pathfinder. Hoping all the parts will jive with me pulling parts from 87's and 88's to combine with a 98 transmission all for a 1995 truck!

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Figure out if you are going to reuse any of the exhaust and then just cut it off. I drove my Pathy to the exhaust shop 3 miles away with just the headers on. It was loud, but not as obnoxious as some idiotic straight piped Hardly Ableson.

 

You seem to have a lot of issues with rust and siezed bolts, so check out some of these options...

https://www.go2socket.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Gator-Grip-ETC-200MO-Universal-Socket/dp/B000065CJ8

http://community.craftsman.com/Craftsman-10-pc-Damaged-Bolt-Nut-Remover-Set-Low-Profile-Bolt-Out-reviews

 

B

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I just ordered one of those 2 Go socket things. Will see if it's worth it!

 

Well got some time to work on her today. Two cuts to the exhaust took a section out, so should be able to drop the tranny out now. Alsso got the tranny cooler lines out.

 

Now it is time for dinner and beer, I'll pull the starter and start unbolting the trans from the motor tomorrow.

 

 

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Ran to the j/y again today. Got kicked out (forgot they close earlier on Saturdays!) but managed to grab a grey manual r50 console, black leather shift boot and both shifter knobs. Turns out I am getting a 5 speed swap + cupholders! mwa ha ha ha ha.

 

Got home and had enough time to pull the starter out. Man was that thing greasy! I'm hoping that if I clean it up the oil filter relocation I did a few months ago will keep it that way!

 

So on my t-bars. The right one is slightly bent, and has a wobble to it if you roll it on a level surface. Budget was dictating that I re-use my old ones but now I'm not so sure I should.

 

Silly question, but what's the best way to rotate the crankshaft?

Edited by Harbinger
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Those torque converter bolts are a pain in the ass, and they are on there REALLY tight!

 

FYI the crankshaft bolt socket size is a 27mm or 1 1/16" I believe. Good luck. There is also a plate that bolts to the engine block that kinda centers the starter. If you take that off it gives you a bigger area to access the TC bolts.

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I just ordered one of those 2 Go socket things. Will see if it's worth it!

 

Well got some time to work on her today. Two cuts to the exhaust took a section out, so should be able to drop the tranny out now. Alsso got the tranny cooler lines out.

It should help a lot, the only weak part I can see is the thin wall section. Still if it only works 10 times, it's still probably worth it. I believe there is a wrench that uses the same idea with the handle as leverage.

Nope, not made any more apparently.

I have the gator grip socket and the craftsman sockets, they have turned bad scenarios into minor inconveniences several times.

 

B

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Ran to the j/y again today. Got kicked out (forgot they close earlier on Saturdays!) but managed to grab a grey manual r50 console, black leather shift boot and both shifter knobs. Turns out I am getting a 5 speed swap + cupholders! mwa ha ha ha ha.

 

Got home and had enough time to pull the starter out. Man was that thing greasy! I'm hoping that if I clean it up the oil filter relocation I did a few months ago will keep it that way!

 

So on my t-bars. The right one is slightly bent, and has a wobble to it if you roll it on a level surface. Budget was dictating that I re-use my old ones but now I'm not so sure I should.

Nice!!

 

I used 2 cans of brake cleaner on mine (hint: Use a pan catching drips and overspray, then soak the starter in that, basting regularly. use the second can to flush and clean). It lasted another 4 years after that, and it looked like a refinery sump pump before I cleaned it.

 

Are there any obvious impact marks or flaws around the bend? How high is the bend at it's apex and how far down the bar?

 

B

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Today I ran back to the jy, grabbed a taures 3.8L e-fan for later and a few bits I meant to pick up yesterday, like a slave cylinder. Much like beastpath I cant get any of the lower hydraulic hardlines/rubber hose off the yard trucks. I'll be giving Rob a call anyway, but the parts list just keeps getting longer!

 

Got the starter gusset out today, and also got the 4 bolts out of the torque converter. I've now got about half the bell housing bolts out, but I was beginning to fight with the top 3 so I gave up for the day and came in. I have homework to do anyway. =/ With any luck I'll be able to drop that tranny tomorrow.

 

I'll take another look at the t-bar tommorrow B, and try and get those measurements.

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Well, I got a few more bolts out of the bell housing today. I'm up to 8, so I'm hoping that is it! Some of those things are hard to get to!

 

Well I e-mailed alkorail with a few q's, and he verified that the R50 and WD21 flywheels aren't the same. So who knows which clutch kit I'll need now.

 

The R50 and WD21 do not share flywheels.

All the D21, D21U and WD21 with a V6 do share the same part number for the flywheel.

The R50 has two totally different numbers, not event he same series of numbers, as well as differnet engine sizes.

Will it it fit? maybe I dont know.

But they are all weighted differently for the different sized engines.

 

With any luck I can have that transmission out tomorrow though! Will be waiting on parts after that.

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From what you posted earlier, the dimensions are the same, it's the load or force that is different. Personally, I'd go with all WD21 (VG30) components, flywheel and clutch parts unless you want to risk a stiffer clutch. You have a VG30, a VG30 flywheel, so VG30 clutch makes sense to me. The tranny is just a gear box and shouldn't care less. That's just how I would do it on my truck with the info you have given. :shrug:

 

B

 

If you have both on hand, you could gamble with one, swap if necessary and return if possible. The good news is that to just swap the clutch on a manual, you don't have to pull the tranny and t-bars, just pull it back a bit so you can get in there. All the other bolts will be fresh too, so it's not as bad as you would think...

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From what you posted earlier, the dimensions are the same, it's the load or force that is different. Personally, I'd go with all WD21 (VG30) components, flywheel and clutch parts unless you want to risk a stiffer clutch. You have a VG30, a VG30 flywheel, so VG30 clutch makes sense to me. The tranny is just a gear box and shouldn't care less. That's just how I would do it on my truck with the info you have given. :shrug:

 

B

 

If you have both on hand, you could gamble with one, swap if necessary and return if possible. The good news is that to just swap the clutch on a manual, you don't have to pull the tranny and t-bars, just pull it back a bit so you can get in there. All the other bolts will be fresh too, so it's not as bad as you would think...

 

Yeah, with what I'm seeing, I'll order the vg30 clutch kit and probably grab a spare release bearing from rock auto for the 98 tranny, just incase it is different on the tranny side.

 

Am talking with alkorhrail about some other parts. Hoping to get rebuild kits for the clutch and slave cylinders, new boots for the shifters, the lower hydraulic lines/hoses and some parts for that r50 console from him.

 

At this point all the bolts will be replaced! The ones coming from my transmission xmember certainly will be!

 

Thoughts on sourcing a new rear main seal? Rock auto wants less than $6, and the nissan price is well, much much more. Does it make that big of a difference?

Edited by Harbinger
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Given the relative difficulty to access, I'd just go with a Nissan part. Then again, I haven't had the best of luck with rear main seals on my Pathfinder - see my post on NICOclub with pictures of my damaged RMS. I still am puzzled how the damage to the seal occurred.

 

Off-topic, sorry, but there has to be something up with the crank or some sort of debris in your oil for that kind of damage to occur, the only thing that seal does is keep the oil in, and it's not even under pressure..

 

on-topic, the clutch and flywheel should be the same size, just different clamping forces on the pressure plate. I'm running a Z31 turbo clutch and pressure plate on my 200SX SE-V6's flywheel, it supposedly has the strongest clamping force of all the VG30 clutches.

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I don't know, my RMS was first replaced by Nissan at 1720 miles (!) so there is a possibility of something being wrong. Why it failed again I've no idea, the oil & filter has been serviced regularly throughout the vehicle's lifetime and my engine is spotless, with no oil consumption and all power valve screws are present and were tight when I applied red threadlocker. I guess if it goes bad again I'll know I have a deeper problem... enough OT from me though.

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Eeek, well I'll be sure to be careful when replacing mine! Not sure the Nissan one is worth 10 times the price though...but we'll see how the budget ends up.

 

In other news, THE AUTOTRAGIC IS OUT! Spent all day under the truck disconnecting things, grinding down rusted bolt heads, you know, the usual, but at the end of the day, the t-case and tranny are sitting outside the truck!

 

Tomorrow I'll take off the t-case from the auto and return the auto for my core charge on the new tranny. Then I can hunt for a decent local machine shop for my flywheel and hopefully getting parts ordered soon.

 

Now, time for beer and school work!

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Thought I would update with some pictures.

 

This is where she currently sits.

img9168e.jpg

 

 

It's really empty under her now!

img9170a.jpg

 

 

Not a view I get everyday...

img9171d.jpg

 

Look Ma! 3 Pedals!

img9177t.jpg

 

While unbolting the old tranny's upper bell housing bolts, I found this. It wasn't mentioned by the previous owner or the carfax on my truck, so am not sure what to make of it.

img9176e.jpg

 

In other news, I have disconnected my t-case from the dead auto after a bit of grunting and prying. Today I returned my dead auto to the junkyard and was quite happy to get the core charge back!

 

I placed orders today for redline mt-90 (9qts for the tranny/t-case/extra) and a pump to get it into the t-case after it's all installed again. Also placed an order @ rockauto for a wd21 clutch kit and a few other goodies. Will hopefully be ordering the cylinder rebuild kits, lower hydraulic system and hose from Alkhorail. I also ordered new t-case seals for the input and output shafts.

 

Moving right along I suppose!

Edited by Harbinger
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Are you instagraming your truck on jackstands? :laugh:

 

That reman sticker is a little weird. So at 6 years old she got a heart transplant? Makes you wonder......

 

Ha, no instragram here. All those pics were taken on my dlsr and edited in lightroom.

 

Yeah, it does make me wonder. There are two under-hood notes about the timing belt being replaced, but if I have a replacement engine, I don't know when it was installed. Makes me want to do a timing belt job sooner than later anyway!

 

That metal reman'ed engine plate has a nissan and a ford logo on it it, but no other markings than what you can see in that pic.

Edited by Harbinger
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Good work, just keep at it before the weather gets nasty. Don't sweat it other than not letting the non-freeaing time slip by. (what the hell was I trying to say?) :blink:

 

Ha, no instragram here. All those pics were taken on my dlsr and edited in lightroom.

I like your photography and would like to talk about it. I'm also in the same place where I have far more to do than just that.

 

Keep it going, we'll guide you when we can.

 

B

Edited by Precise1
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So maybe it was a Nissan-Ford dealer install?

 

Would be my guess, but it is really generic so it could have been any ford/nissan dealer. *shrug* , seeing how it was changed out over a decade a go too, it might be hard to track down. I'll pull up my carfax later today after some homework and see if I can narrow it down.

 

Good work, just keep at it before the weather gets nasty. Don't sweat it other than not letting the non-freeaing time slip by.

 

 

I like your photography and would like to talk about it. I'm also in the same place where I have far more to do than just that.

 

Keep it going, we'll guide you when we can.

 

B

 

Thanks B. Yeah, it is a push to get it all done before the weather turns sour. Already spent a morning or two working on the truck in the rain. Just waiting for parts now though, and then I can start bolting her back together. Damn good thing too. School is a 40 mile round trip twice a week, and if the snow hits I won't be taking my motorcycle anymore...

 

I took a few cans of brake fluid and engine degreaser to the new tranny's bell housing yesterday. The 3.3 it used to be bolted to much have had a hell of a RMS leak. Happy to say mine doesn't appear to be leaking, but I haven't gotten assistance with removing the flywheel yet so I can't be 100%. Nissan wants 60 bucks for a new one so I'm hoping it looks so shiny and new as is that I won't want to change it. But will probably suck it up and do it anyway.

 

Thanks for the kind words on the photography. All those pics were taken on my aging Canon rebel xt, with a tamron 17-50 f2.8 lens.

Edited by Harbinger
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