z31 auto to manual swap

zpuppy

Well-Known Forum User
Ive been trolling the site for ages looking for info on an auto box to manual swap for early z31 na. Cant seem to find anything of use however, anyone ever been there? and most important any advice? :D Im gonna be doing a complete bushing change including rear subframe and diff so thought, hey ive got a chance at a manual box with all related gubbins , prop shaft, linkages etc so if it's not impossibly hard to do why not give it a go :rolleyes: Cheers all :cheers:
 

rhanagar

Well-Known Forum User
Easy.

Bits you need (off the top of my head from when I did it to a pre-facelift 5-6 years ago)

Manual box plus cross-member.
Flywheel
Clutch
Clutch master and slave cylinder and associated pipework.
Clutch Pedal
Brake Pedal
Speed sensor that plugs into it.
Reverse gear switch that plugs into it.
Front (gearbox end) half of the manual prop.
60mm of electrical wire and a couple of terminals.
Plastic gearstick surround for the centre console.
Metal and rubber gearstick surround that bolts onto the gearbox tunnel.

Method (again sketchy memories here)

Jack up the car. Best of putting all four wheels on ramps or even better get yourself a four post lift or over a pit.
Take off the gearstick surround of the auto box. Remove the rubber surround as well and the stuff bolted to the tunnel. Disconnect the switch for the stick.
Get underneath and disconnect the prop from the rear diff. 4 Bolts. Undo the center bush from the car and the prop should slide out and put to one side.
Empty the gearbox of oil.
Get yourself as many socket wrench extensions as possible. Feed them through the gearstick hole to the top two bolts that connect the engine to the box. Then working under the car proceed round and do the rest. Catch the starter motor when the two bolts for that come off.
Undo the four bolts for the crossmember. MAKE SURE THE GEARBOX IS SUPPORTED AT THIS STAGE OR IT WILL FALL ON YOUR HEAD. I lashed a rope around under it through the gearstick hole and around the center bar for the targa tops. I also rested a long wooden bar on rags on the front wings with another rope around it and around the bellhousing of the box. Once all the bolts are undone wriggle, swear and hammer it free of the engine. Then move it out of the way. Take care the engine doesn't pitch forward and clout anything difficult and expensive to repair
Bolt on the flywheel to the engine.
Bolt on the clutch to the flywheel.
Lift the manual gearbox up under and bolt it to the engine and bolt the crossmember to the chassis. The manual gearbox locates in different holes in the chassis than the auto box, but they should be there but may need cleaning out.
Take the auto prop and disconnect the front half.
Take the manual prop and disconnect the front half.
Connect the autobox rear half of prop to the manual box front half
The proceedure for the props is a bit weird as I was doing this on a facelift model using parts from a prefacelift car. We found the props to be slightly different lengths. Either way if you have the entire prop from both cars you can mix and match them to fit.
Offer the modified prop to the gearbox and rear diff and then bolt the centre bush to the chassis.
Plug in the speed sensor and reverse switch to the gearbox. Find the associated plugs on the loom on the car. They are there just have a butchers.
Swap the brake pedals.
Bolt in the clutch stuff and bolt the slave cylinder to the gearbox.
Find the inhibitor relay for the autobox in the main fuse box in the engine bay and remove it, and short it out across the feed to the wire that leads to the ECU.

It should now start up and run a treat ... oh after you have filled the gearbox with oil and bled the clutch.

I may have missed a lot out but it was many moons ago I did this, and it worked a treat.
 
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zpuppy

Well-Known Forum User
Cheers matey ! Sounds easy enough ! :thumbs: Thanks for the help :cheers: BTW,,when I get it done I owes ya a beer :)
 

rhanagar

Well-Known Forum User
Lol ... no problem buddy. As said I did it ages ago. I could of missed something importatnt but I think I covered the important bits. Good luck.

If I lived closer I would give you a hand. Can be done in a weekend easily. Hardest part is lumping the box around if you are on your own.

Take care with the flywheel bolts. They are torqued up and can be a pain to remove from the donor vehicle. I rounded mine and had to grind the flats down so I could hammer a sacrificial spanner onto the head to get it undone. Nissan still sell them new though and to be honest are cheap.
 

zpuppy

Well-Known Forum User
Northerner mate , could you have a look at Rhanagars list "o" goodies and let me know ? Cheers Fella ! :driving:
 

Northerner

Club Member
Manual box plus cross-member. TICK
Flywheel TICK (have to take from 84 eng)
Clutch TICK (AS ABOVE still good nick)
Clutch master and slave cylinder and associated pipework. I HAVE THE CLUTCH SLAVE/MASTER CYLINDER

Clutch Pedal DONT HAVE
Brake Pedal DONT HAVE
Speed sensor that plugs into it. TICK
Reverse gear switch that plugs into it. TICK
Front (gearbox end) half of the manual prop. TICK (have both)
60mm of electrical wire and a couple of terminals. .........
Plastic gearstick surround for the centre console. NOT SURE
Metal and rubber gearstick surround that bolts onto the gearbox tunnel NOT SURE

PM'd you
 

Mr.F

Inactive
Late model manual box and Centreforce 2 clutch kit still available (see classifieds), but no ancillary components...
 

zpuppy

Well-Known Forum User
Yeah,,I thought about doing just that ,,anybody got a clutch pedal assembly ?? :unsure:
 

zakaryajm

New Forum User
Does anyone know the size for the bolts needed to bolt the standard transmission to the motor, and also the size for the bolts to bolt the flywheel?
 

Mr.F

Inactive
size for the bolts to bolt the flywheel

I would suggest that you bite the (cost) bullet and buy the OEM Nissan bolts for this - any old bolt of the right size will not do and the consequences of failure are too horrible to contemplate!
 

zakaryajm

New Forum User
I would suggest that you bite the (cost) bullet and buy the OEM Nissan bolts for this - any old bolt of the right size will not do and the consequences of failure are too horrible to contemplate!
Yeah I found a site that sells the bolts for the flywheel. They are costly but I am going to go ahead and buy them. Thanks for the advices.
Also Do you know if I will need a new speedometer cable or will the one connected to my automatic connect to the standard? I have a digital dash btw idk if that would matter.
 
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