T5 Conversion - mechanicals - More than just a link now

[BLSTIC]

Links to my conversion on FordForums.com.au

Covers the process in changing the mechanicals of the car to manual. The electricals are simple, involving two resistors (for the trans temp sender and the gear selector wires, for thermofan control and ide respectively) and hooking up the neutral and reverse switches. Note that I did not install the clutch switch to turn off cruise control for gear changes.

How to convert to T5 Part 1 (Remove Auto) *56k Warning
How to convert to T5 Part 2 (Install Manual) *56k warning

[BLSTIC]

Quoted from the opposition. Seeing as some of you are banned...

Hi people, seeing the amount of T5 conversions going on, and the lack of a tech document, I thought I would run through my conversion, which was started yesterday, and will be mostly finished today. Part 1 is remove the auto (this installment) Part 2 is install the T5 (later tonight) and Part 3 is the finishing touches (shifter boot, electronics, etc).

Part 1 (this one) is removal of the auto, part 2 is the installation of the manual, and getting it driveable. Part 3 covers the finishing touches, like killing that thermofan and stopping the fault codes.

So here goes

Part 1: Removal of Auto

Step 1: Make workspace.

This is important. Working on grass is crap, and dirt is worse. The only acceptable surface is hard, flat, and dent proof. Concrete.

Ideally you will have more space than this, but this is the only spot I had to work with. Space behind the car is unimportant, as the EF has such a large rear overhang you can fit a jack under there when you touch park it to a wall. Space in front of the car is handy, but the sides are most important. Which is what I haven’t got much of here.

SWEEP THE FLOOR. It's really annoying trying to work in dust and dog hair, don't even try.

Get plenty of rags. You may not need them if you have more of a clue than me, and are quick with the drain pan, but have them handy. Old bed sheets are great for spills of the calibre I can pump out.



Step 2: Position the car.

Make sure you have enough room on at least one side to slide the gearbox out (and back in, with the manual). Jack the car up. 400mm from ground to whatever ford calls the chassis rails is a nice workable height, but go higher if possible. If you have a hoist for use (even if it’s a carton a day), use it. If you do that, get a large gearbox jack (telescopic jack, huge, goes really high), or two strong mates. BTR's are the heaviest gearbox I have had to carry (with the torque converter in anyway).

This is a good time to assemble your goodies. My list is:

1 T5
1 Clutch/Flywheel assembly
1 Clutch pedal
1 Clutch pedal pin
1 Clutch Cable
1 spigot bearing
6 flywheel bolts
1 pedal box (just for reference)
1 Spare inspection plate



Step 3. Remove the gearbox accessories.

Start on the inside of the car, lest you get grease on everything. Start by removing the flip up panel around the radio, then the trim that goes around all the gauges and buttons. There are two clips that hold it in after the screws are removed, these are near the clock/trip computer panel, so don't worry, just pull lightly around that area. Don’t forget to disconnect the buttons (this is a great time to install the factory aerial switch, its just an on/off button that holds its state. good for killing fuel pumps or arming nitrous/shift kits without looking suss).

The panel that has your window switches (below drink holder) only has to be removed if you have a button on it, as there is nothing important underneath. The gearshift handle can be removed, the nut on the bottom is only a locknut, undo it half a turn, and the gearshift can come off (like a screw, it has its own thread). The surround can be (gently) pried off with a screwdriver. Don’t forget about the power/economy switch. Around this area there are four screws holding the front of the console it, and there are two inside the compartment, on the floor. The console can now come up and back, unless you have a light in the back of it. You will have to figure out how to remove that (shouldn’t be any harder than the gearshift surround was though). I prefer to leave the shifter in Drive, as it leaves the gear position sensor in the correct spot (more on that later). Remove the four screws holding the shifter to the floor. Don’t pull on it yet.

Now you can get underneath the car and marvel at how well your oil leaks have prevented rust. Now undo the bolt connecting the shifter to the (for lack of a better word) relay rod. The other end is held on via an R clip, and takes about three seconds to remove. Now you can remove the shifter from the inside of the car, noting how greasy the seats would have been if you pulled the dash apart after you got under the car…



The gear position sensor is that little white thing with two plugs on the passenger side of the trans. After unplugging the wires and undoing the bolts, you can remove the sensor. After doing this, measure the resistance across the two-pin plug while the selector is in the D position. There is no external mark, so what you will have to do (if you have moved it, or started in another gear) is monitor what happens to the 4-pin plug. One of them is reverse, the other is neutral. When the neutral switches, and the reverse doesn’t, you are in drive.

After this you can remove the trans cooler lines. You will need to hold the larger nut while the smaller nut is being turned. Use a pipe spanner (ring spanner with a slot to get around pipes) if you have one, these can be tight.

Unplug the speedo sender unit (just the plug, don’t take the sender out yet), and the round multi-pin plug on the side of the auto.

Step 4: Remove the Gearbox.

Undo the rear cross member outer bolts. You will need the use of a jack. Then lower the gearbox slowly. This is so that you can get at all the bolts.

There are two braces going from the block to the bottom of the bell housing, you can get away with removing the bolts to the bel housing and just the forward bolts on the block, they can then rotate downwards. The other two inspection cover bolts can now be removed, and the cover can come off.

Now you can remove the starter motor. The bottom bolt is easy, but the top bolt was annoying. After loosening it with a spanner, I used a ¼ drive breaker bar straightened out to take the bolt out.

There are four bolts that hold the torque converter onto the flex plate, line them up so that you can undo one with a ratchet while you have a ring spanner on the next one (this is to pull the engine around so you can actually undo the next bolt. If your engine has a decent amount of compression, these bolts should come off easily enough.

The bell housing bolts are straightforward enough, but remember that there are two bolts two inches apart up the top on the passenger side. An air ratchet is a great help for the higher one.

The gearbox can now be supported by the jack under the oil pan, raised slightly (from the fully down position), and pulled backwards. Lower the jack, and the gearbox is free. I had to jack the front of the car up further (and remove the passenger side jack stand while the car is on the jack) to pull the gearbox out the side. Do NOT get under the car while the jack (with no stands) supports the car, just reach under and pull the box out from the side.



Drop the car back onto the (now replaced) jack stand, and get out your ¾ drive rattle gun and appropriately sized impact socket. I tend to undo the flex plate bolts in a pattern, but it shouldn’t matter. The flex plate should need no more than a light tug to remove after the bolts are out.



That’s it for part 1. Part 2 covers installation of the manual, and will be available shortly.

cya
Ben

Part 1 is removal of the auto. Part 2 (this one) is the installation of the manual, and getting it driveable. Part 3 covers the finishing touches, like killing that thermofan and stopping the fault codes, and limp home mode.

Part 2: Installing the Manual.

Step 1: Arrange goodies.

So after you have removed the automatic, the parts not attached to the car should include an auto, a flex plate, a shifter, some interior plastics, a tailshaft, and a pair of trans cooler lines. The parts to go in should include a gearbox, clutch/flywheel assembly, a manual wiring loom (easily made from an auto loom if you don’t have it), a pedal (and pin), clutch cable, and once again a tailshaft. It doesn’t hurt to remove the bellhousing from the transmission now too.



Step 2: Install pedal

After making up a pin that looks like this (or sending away for a pin kit from Mal Wood in Warwick) you should bolt that into your pedal box in a hole next to where the brake pedal pin is. You can now install the pedal itself, remembering to install the nylon bush. The clutch cable simply pokes through the firewall near the brake booster (it has a tube on it, you will recognise it) and comes out near the pedal. The other end of the cable hooks into that elongated d clip that goes on the pedal, the hard bushes will need to come out for this. After the cable is in the clip, the bushes are re inserted into the clip and then it is slid onto the pedal. The R clip from the gearbox end of the shifter relay rod fits nicely to hold the whole lot in place.







Step 3: Clutch and flywheel installation.

First up inspect them, if they look anything like mine, go over them with a wire wheel (lightly on the clutch, heavy as you desire on the metal), then go over everything with sandpaper. If you can close your eyes and feel the rusty spots, sand some more. After they feel smooth, they are ready.





The spigot bearing is a snap to install. Get a socket the same (or slightly smaller) as the outside of the bearing. Gently tap the bearing into place in the centre of the crankshaft.

The flywheel can be slid onto the end of the crankshaft, and all the bolts hand tightened. If two don’t go in, it’s ok, just make the two line up (one hole is out on the crank, and another on the flywheel, when they line up, there is no problem) by removing the bolts and spinning the flywheel on the crank. Hold on tight, it’s heavy and has sharp edges. Tighten the bolts fully (I used our ¾ drive rattle gun, but not at full power and not for very long, stripping the crank thread would be a very painful exercise).



Now you can install the pressure plate. The thick side of the clutch centre goes towards the pressure plate, getting this wrong is a bad thing. The pressure plate is now hand tightened. Note that I have an EA/EBI style clutch and flywheel. Ideally you will have an EBII onwards 6 bolt clutch. If you have a spare input shaft, pull it out of the cupboard now, and put it through the clutch into the spigot bearing. I didn’t have one, so I had to line up by eye. I missed (more on the solution later). Tighten the clutch bolts fully.



Step 4: Install Bellhousing.

Now the entire bell housing and everything attached to it, goes on. Start with the 6 bolts that go into the block, these are the same as the auto ones. Then put the two upper bolts that hold the inspection cover on, then reattach the block-bellhousing braces. The starter motor can also be attached. Run the clutch cable behind the drivers engine mount, and underneath the engine, and connect it to the clutch fork. You now have a start-able car. Don’t, under any circumstances, press the clutch pedal, yet.



Step 5: Manual Loom.

Remove your automatic speedo sender, and install it into your manual box, unless you are changing the final drive ratio, in which case keep the speedo sender for that diff (or at the least, the gear, as the gear in an E-Series falcon depends solely on the rear axle ratio). Remove the auto loom. There are two plugs at the back of the manifold, one is round and large, and the other is flat and wide. The manual loom plugs into the flat plug. The plugs at the other end can wait.



Step 6: Install Gearbox.

The fun bit. Remove your spare input shaft now if you didn’t when you did the bellhousing. Also take the shifter extension off the gearbox. Get your jack, and put the gearbox on it, and jack it up to clutch height, with the two bellhousing-gearbox surfaces parallel. If you lined up the clutch properly, pushing the gearbox towards the engine (minor jiggling involved) should result in you being able to re-attach the gearbox and bellhousing. If not (like me), this becomes a painful exercise. My solution was to get a friend to step on the clutch pedal while I did some major jiggling of the gearbox. Only when the input shaft was in the spigot bearing and the first bolt was in was the clutch released. After you have done up the four gearbox-bellhousing bolts, you can now move on to the crossmember. Jack the gearbox up further, and re-use the old crossmember bolts.



Step 7: Tailshaft, and More Wiring.

Push the (same as auto) tailshaft into the rear of the gearbox, and then bolt up the tailshaft. The plugs that we didn’t plug in earlier can now go on. The two plugs that are closest to the engine (ie have shorter wires) go to the switch on top of the gearbox. This is the neutral starter lockout. The other two similar plugs go to the lower switch; this controls the reverse lights. The three-pin plug goes to the speedo sender.

Step 8: Oil

There are a few ways to do this; a plunger type pump is the best. I had to make do with a hose and a funnel. The hose went from the cabin, down beside the shifter, and into the hole half way up the gearbox. A plug that needs a hex key usually occupies this hole. 1.9 litres of Dextron III and 150ml of lubrizol later, your car has gearbox oil.

Step 9: Interior.

Reinstall everything you removed in Part 1, except the auto shifter surround. You can now re-attach the shifter extension. Adjust the clutch too, by pulling on the cable at the firewall end and turning the nut. Ideal hight is brake pedal hight, if not slightly higher.

You can now lower the car, and re-install the battery. The car is now driveable again, but in limp home mode. No extra lights will be on the dash, and the economy light will never be seen again (except on key-on, for about a ¼ of a second).



Part 3 will cover limp home mode, shift boot installation, and some other electricals. There is now no more greasy work.

[Rhodseyy]

it is a very good idea while you are there to install a fresh rear main seal to avoid it leaking weeks or months down the track and having to pull the box out again. so i would suggest maybe doing that while you are there too.

[SNR]

Also, put a NEW clutch in and get the flywheel machined. There's no point having to pull it all out and change it down the track.

[samftr]

A new clutch cable should keep you from having to repair the pedal box or firewall too soon.
Also try get a manual computer, I used resistors in my conversion and whilst it works, the ecu does not run the engine properly. Afr's are out, I went from 112 odd RWKW to 131 with the ef.
(dynod it, also saw marked improvement in AFRs and fuel economy)

[Rhodseyy]

Also try get a manual computer, I used resistors in my conversion and whilst it works, the ecu does not run the engine properly. )

i think i'd rather suggest a j3 chip as apposed to the resistors if you can't get your hands on a computer.

[Naylor203]

Possible to get part three for us please?

[ollie girl]

Hi, I just want to know that if we use quilt cover rather than bed sheets, will it be okay?