Humm....

Well, it only took about 2 hours to remove the TH-350, shifter, Flex Plate..etc. I cut the exhaust to move that out of the way. Also, I had the bolt on cross member that supports the transmission so that made it easier (I think they are only available in Auto cars). So, a couple of hours to do all of that and put the M-21 back in.

BUT,
I had already installed the pedal assembly, ran the back-up light wiring, mounted and adjusted the shifter (Hurst) to the M-21. Otherwise, that is a huge, time consuming job. You really need to remove the Steering Column for access to the existing Pedal Assembly. That's not overly difficult, just time consuming. Also, I had a 10 1/2 clutch and the Starter did not fit from the Auto so I had to buy a Starter that fit the 10 1/2..

 

Would anyone be able to post that Mid America or equivalent diagram in bigger resolution, please?

 

Here's a few pics of a 81 4 speed car











Hope this helps. I took these when I changed from a 4 speed to 5 speed.

 

Having done these swaps I would have to say no. To do it right and drive the car in and out the same day is going to be pretty much a no. Unless you have multiple people working on different parts of the car a tthe same time it is going to be a challenge. The hole will have to be cut for the shifter. The pedals take quite a bit of time and as said above the column will have to be removed. This is most likely going to be a full weekned project. I did an auto to manual swap on a 73 by myself and kept track of the time. I had a good 20 hours into it and I have a lift. Now I did a few extras while I was there and took my time and did it right the first time. I may have been able to trim a few hours but not many.

 

Wouldn't want to set your expectations for a single-day turn around then find your self cussing under your breath. Been there, own the t-shirt factory. LOL.

 

Did you have to weld the shifter onto the bracket?
BTW, cool pics! Thanks a lot!!!!

 

Gordon,
Your input was very useful indeed, thank you. I spoke to my friend and was able to convince him to just finish the car at the shop. I'm assuming a two day job, right? We were able to get the bracket from a local corvette yard here $20.00. We called the dealer and it is already a discontinued item and Zip will take 5 days to get to us. We will start this Sunday and will post pics as we go along.

 

Here's something I wrote a couple of months ago... mine is a '76.. Hope this helps. Also some Pics that may help at:

http://s189.photobucket.com/albums/z...20to%20Manual/



I'm in the middle of making the Auto to Manual change in my '76. I think I have spoken to most of the people that have responded to your posting about this topic!! I just completed the Pedal change this weekend and I would recommend the following to install the pedal assembly.

1. Remove the entire Steering Column. Takes about 30 mins tops and is fairly easy to do. The hardest part (for me) was removing the Shifter Interlock cable... but even that is not bad. Jim Shea has a detailed paper on how to do this as well. I have pictures if you need them of when I removed my Column.

2. Under the dash, locate the nuts that hold the brake booster on. There are 4 locking nuts that are mounted to the firewall. The upper right one is the hardest one to get to but just take your time and it will come off. I used a small ratchet with a deep-well socket.


3. Go ahead and remove the locking pin from the Brake Booster to the Brake Pedal as well as the brake light switch.

4. Pull the Brake Booster forward so the 4 studs clear the firewall. This was fairly difficult for me. I had to remove the vac. line from the Brake Booster and used a long screw driver to support the brake booster.

5. Now go outside in the Cowl area and there are 4 bolts that hold the upper part of the Pedal Assembly. Remove those as well.

6. Go back inside the car and remove the bracket that held the 2 vertical bolts which held the steering column. There should be 4 of these bolts.

7.Remove the screws that hold the drivers side dash pad on (7 total phillips head screws I think) and drop the dash pad forward.... just a little!!

8. There are 2 bolts that are mounted vertically behind the Speedo and Tac that are holding a upper support bracket. These will be clearly seen when the dash pad is moved forward. Loosen those bolts but do not remove them.

9. Now go under the dash and you should be able to remove the Auto Pedal Assembly from the car.

10. There are 3 screws that hold a cover on the FireWall for the Clutch Rod to go through. Remove those screws from the engine compartment and replace them with the rubber boot for the clutch rod.

11. Install the clutch rod on the clutch pedal and fit the Manual Pedal Assembly into place.


One important Note!

If you plan on using the Neutral Safety Switch, go ahead and install the connector on it before installing the new Manual Pedal Assembly. Otherwise it is very difficult. I did not do this and it too me alot of time to get that connector on!!

I also verified that the switches (safety and brake) worked with a meter before installing the Assembly.

Of course, now reverse the steps above. I am going to do a write up (I guess I just did!) when I'm finished and I have been taking pictures along the way as well if you need to see something.


I think I got all of that Correct!!

Later,
Tab

 

No, here is a pic that will help. There is a bracket that mounts to the crossmember and the shifter mounts to the bracket.

 

[QUOTE=dobroman2001;1569108926]Here's something I wrote a couple of months ago... mine is a '76.. Hope this helps. Also some Pics that may help at:

http://s189.photobucket.com/albums/z...20to%20Manual/



Photobucket is asking for user name and password.

 

[QUOTE=81cali;1569111575]Steering Column Removal & Auto to Manual are the 2 Albums that you may be intrested in....


http://s189.photobucket.com/albums/z...man2001_photo/

 

PICTURES DO SPEAK A THOUSAND WORDS, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

 

I wanted to do this in memory of my daughter. She was so fond of this car that in her elementary years, she was fondly called by teachers and students as "vette girl" (besides, she was the only one being dropped off and picked up in a vette) I was going to give the car to her until a senseless, idiot drunk driver took her life away a year ago when she was only 19.

This is for you Sam

 

Great information!

I am helping a friend put a T5 in his 82, and we decided to go the hydraulic route on the clutch. We just bought a clutch pedal, and swapped out the shaft on the brake pedal for the clutch pedal. We then cut down the brake pad, and put a manual pad on it. We bought a Wilwood master cylinder and a Ram throw out bearing. We had to drill out the Chevy pilot bearing for the Ford input shaft and put a 1/2" plate between the Ford Tranny and the Chevy bellhousing, but we bought that already engineered to work for the swap. Today, we installed the flywheel, the pilot bushing, the pressure plate and clutch disk. I made an extension on the wilwood master cylinder to fit the Corvette clutch, and Terry is puting the clutch and brake assembly back in the car. Hopefully, tomorrow, we will get the driveshaft and u-joints all installed, and can fit the new T5 in the tunnel.

A lift really makes it easy.

 

I am in the middle of a conversion on my 71. I would suggest getting a hurst comp plus shifter and linkage kit. Also no way you will do it in a day at your buddys shop. If you do everything else thats possible first maybe.. Those frame z-bar brackets are available weld-in and bolt-in. Theres a lot of good threads on this subject in here for help. Good luck!

 

Guys,
I'm stumped!!!!! Took the car to my friend's shop today and immediately worked on it. Took the tranny cooling lines, speedo and shifter cables off. Took down the auto tranny and accidentally broke the kick down. took the auto shifter out and cut a hole for the manual shifter to go through.

Now the bad news:
clutch assembly that i have does not match my application
yoke does not match manual tranny

I completely forgot that all these parts were supposed to go with the original motor of the car. We did a swap and the car now has a 2001 vortec from a tahoe.

If i only remembered, none of this would have happened and the car will at least still be running till i get the right parts.

Does anyone know what will match with the vortec motor???

 

Hey 81, first, sorry about your daughter. I would never let that car go!!

I would suggest posting this issue in a seperate Thread and I'm sure you will get an answer pretty quick...

Good Luck,
Tab

 

okay, I might have found the solution to my problem. My son asked around and what he found out makes sense. we're trying to put the older 2 piece rear main seal flywheel into a newer 1 piece main seal engine.

So, what i need is a flywheel for the vortec and hopefully everything will match up such as my existing pressure plate and clutch.

 

Day 2:
We were able to get the correct flywheel to match with the motor and installed it.


We got stumped again when it came to the shifter, won't bolt on to the tranny as the instructions required nor will it bolt on to the cross member.
Any suggestions or pictures please of how you guys did yours.