How to convert an Auto to a Manual

[Storm 0]

Finally got round to writing this little lot up, I'm not a mechanic so would appreciate anyone sounding the alarm bells if necessary.

 

What you do need is

Cooling:

a) Top rad hose, connects the Rad to the thermo and top of the expansion tank.

b) The one that connects the thermo housing to the auxilary water pump and bottom of the expansion tank.

c) Buy a new Radiator from ECP, you probably dont need it but for £117 its worth it as the old one will be pretty clogged.

d) 2 bottles of G12 about £20 from the main dealer.

New lost head bolts for the steering column £5

Accelerator Cable there are two types

Gearbox W/ all associated bits including

Reverse switch

Flywheel

NEW clutch, bearing etc

New flywheel bolts

Transmission mounting

Interior trim piece’s, shift boot and shift knob

Starter motor

Pedal assembly /Pedal cluster

Shifter Box

Shifter Cables

Clutch Master cylinder and slave cylinder

Clutch hydraulic lines etc.

Slave cylinder bracket

 

What you don't need (I have checked this little lot on ETKA)

No throttle body swap needed

No harness needed, just tap into essential relays n backup switch

No 5spd driveshafts needed

No ecu swap needed since harness isn't swapped

 

You do not need the Engine ECU! The gearbox ECU piggy backs off of the engine ECU.

Try to use a new clutch & flywheel.

The hardest part was getting the gearbox out. Its alot bigger than a manual and weighs about 100lbs more.

 

ETKA differences

After trawling through ETKA for the really pedantic (surely that should be pervy) like me!

 

21-50 Cooling hoses

104-00 Steering column

105-20 Bracket

116-20 Tandem Master cylinder

122-00 Shift Mechanism Manual

123-00 Shift mechanism Auto

126-00 Pedal Box identical

175-00 Trim interior shift mechanism

202-00 Steering column Lock

204-00 ECU

211-20 Instruments, PCB rev counter

Single t piece to double on hydraulic circuit

202-00 Steering wheel keylock

215-50 Relay for Starter interlock

215-50 Gearbox shifter parts

235-10 distance sensor

240-00 Wiring for dash pin number 6

247-00 Wiring Harness

249-40 Engine loom

260-00 Battery & Alternator Ground strap - length variance.

261-00 Wiring Harness for auto.

 

Method

I recommend taking the engine out and putting the new gearbox/flywheel clutch etc on outside the car. Remove all the bits you need yourself from the donor, this is how I learnt. There is an order to this, its best to have the engine out and do all the pedal box, clutch pipework/ changer mechanism with the engine out. Where stuff is covered elsewhere I’m not going to re mention it, as there is too much typing involved. ETKA is brilliant, I used this far more than the Bentley manual I have.

Before you start:

1. Take some pics, take some more pics and then take some pics.

2. Get a Bentley Manual I have the paperback one and its far better than the CD. It has all the torque settings you need and there are alot of them.

3. Get a copy of ETKA

4. Everything dissassembled needs to be reassembled if poss whilst in storage. Its just easier when putting things back together. Remember if you take a screw out to take some thing off put it back!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

- Donor strip

1. Remove the front end: bumper, lights, radiator, battery and Slam panel.

2. Remove all supply, cooling, exhaust (down pipe to manifold from underneath), airbox (unclip at the MAF), drive shafts and electrical connections to the engine in the donor. Mole grips are brilliant on hose clips. If the car has aircon, remove the tension on the ribbed belt and unbolt the compressor, swing the compressor out of the way. If you undo the pipes it will need gassing again and possibley a new dryer.

3. Remove the cable connections to the gearbox and hydraulic line into the clutch slave.

4. Take the engine out.

5. Separate the engine & box.

6. Remove the flywheel and required hoses from the donor.

7. Remove the gearknob (unscrew) and shifter mech trim (lift).

8. Using a large flat blade screwdriver unscrew the clips holding the heatshield from underneath the gear shift mech. Undo the two bolts and remove the heatshield.

9. Remove the last two bolts holding the shifter mech in and remove it.

10. Remove the drivers seat, steering wheel, lower parcel tray and the cowling on the steering column.

11. Undo the bolt at the bottom of the steering column, you must remove it this bolt to get the column out. Use a 10mm drill to drill the heads off the lost head bolts holding the steering column onto the bracket welded to the bulkhead. Put some sheeting down beforehand to catch the swarf from the drilling. Remove the steering column.

12. Very carefully unclip the brake pedal clutch and accelerator connections. Use some extentions and a wobble to get onto the nuts holding the pedal box onto the bulkhead. This will free the brake servo too. You may have to pull the brake servo forward to allow the pedal box to come out. Remove the pedal box.

13. Undo a brake nipple and reduce the fluid level down until lower than the supply take off for the clutch on the brake master cylinder. Pull hose off Brake Master and remove the clutch cylinder. Note an auto does not have the hole for this. You may wish to take a tracing so that you can transfer to your bulkhead in order to mark it out accurately.

14. Note down the routing of the clutch line through the abs piping, you can get it out and put it back to look like factory.

 

 

 

- Your Car

1 & 2. As above.

3. Disconnect everything off of the autobox. Its all redundant.

4. Hook the crane up and yank it out!!!

4. Remove the parcel tray underneath the dash.

5. Separate the engine & box.

6. Fit the flywheel clutch and gearbox to your engine.

7. Remove the gearknob there is a little screw and shifter mech trim (lift).

8. Using a large flat blade screwdriver unscrew the clips holding the heatshield from underneath the gear shift mech. Undo the two bolts and remove the heatshield.

9. Remove the last two bolts holding the shifter mech in and remove it.

10. Remove the drivers seat, steering wheel, lower parcel tray and the cowling on the steering column.

11. Undo the bolt at the bottom of the steering column, you must remove it this bolt to get the column out. Use a 10mm drill to drill the heads off the lost head bolts holding the steering column onto the bracket welded to the bulkhead. Put some sheeting down beforehand to catch the swarf from the drilling. Remove the steering column.

12. Very carefully unclip the brake pedal and accelerator connections. Use some extentions and a wobble to get onto the nuts holding the pedal box onto the bulkhead. This will free the brake servo too. You may have to pull the brake servo forward to allow the pedal box to come out. Remove the pedal box.

13. Drill the hole required for the clutch cylinder, hammerite the hole in the bulkhead, needless to say you dont want to screw this piece up and will have a tracing or something to ensure its going in exactley the right place.

14. Take the clutch line that you carefully unclipped out of your donor and refit, you can weave it through the spaghetti around the ABS unit and no one will ever know it wasn’t fitted by Karmann. The auto still has the bracket on the chassis leg to fit the end of the hard line too.

15. Undo a brake nipple and reduce the fluid level down until lower than the supply take off for the clutch on the brake master cylinder. On an auto this spigot is closed; snip this spigot for the clutch cylinder. Be exceptionally careful. I covered the area with rags to make sure no brake fluid spilled into the engine bay paint.

16. Refit 3 pedal box, reconnect all the clutch, brake and new accelerator cable.

17. Refit the steering column.

18. Tuck all the cables in the engine bay (kickdown and various gearbox crap) left over out of the way.

19. Re assemble with the manual shifter, cables, be careful you dont twist the cables upon reassembley.

20. Refit the heatshield

21. Wack it back in the car and re-attach the supplies, exhaust, driveshafts to the engine.

22. Refill the coolant with the right quantity of G12+.

23. Rebuild the front end bodywork.

 

Wiring

I went down the scrappy and found a K reg Passat and cut out the wires for the reverse light switch and a bit of starter wire. You aim is to cut the connector to get the wire out with the metal connector intact.

 

I wanted the colours to be right!!!!!!.

 

The Black with red wire from the starter goes to position 8 on the starter interlock relay. This needs to be moved to F1 where it is connected on a manual car. I cut it off the relay and used a yellow crimp connector with the piece of wire from the scrappy and connected onto F1. That is it. All of the rest of the auto wiring can be junked.

 

You can then push it into the right positions on you existing connector having carefully removed the wires that go to the starter relay at positions 4 & 5 on the starter relay.

 

This I then routed to F6 for the Black and F7 for the Black with Blue tracer.

 

Start it and drive it.

E&OE ha ha

 

All feedback welcome, I would like to make this as comprehensive as possible.

 

Even though my car is not finished, I would like to thank all those who have advised, taken phone calls, especially Phat VR. I will have the time to finish mine soon, just dont want to reassemble the front with rust in my Slam Panel. The body shop will have this back to me looking like new soon though.

 

Good luck....

[Red=Fast 0]

great write up.

[STORM 2 0]

good work mate! :)

Dinkus - you gonna shift this over to 'how to' ?

[vr6storm 0]

good work mate! :)

Dinkus - you gonna shift this over to 'how to' ?

 

 

surely no one else is as mad as Storm to undertake this? :twisted:

[STORM 2 0]

good work mate! :)

Dinkus - you gonna shift this over to 'how to' ?

 

 

surely no one else is as mad as Storm to undertake this? :twisted:

 

I thought it would overtake LUPO WIPER MOD within a few weeks actually :wink:

[fla 9]

Good write-up. I may consider this in light of the suspected auto box problem I'm getting. Approximate outlay, Storm? How much did you do yourself?

[Storm 0]

All of it done myself and never touched a car before, youve just got to think goes back like it comes apart.

 

I got very lucky I did the conversion because the car I bought had a blown engine. The donor engine was more the complete front end from a rearended C. I used a 9" angle grinder to cut the front off :D the car and put it onto a trailer to bring home.

 

If you find a donor in a scrappy then he cant charge much more than say £40 over the price of the manual gearbox, for the bits, no one usually wantss them when you break a car.

[scottgroovez 0]

You converted one of the 20 Auto Storms?

[vr6storm 0]

You converted one of the 20 Auto Storms?

 

he certainly did :wink:

[southam2023 0]

Just proves to me that I DON'T want to do this. But thanks anyway.

[dinkus 10]

good work mate! :)

Dinkus - you gonna shift this over to 'how to' ?

 

Heh heh sorry guys, I'd read 'auto' and shuddered, so had avoided the thread.

 

Sounds like a pretty thorough write up though. I can certainly stick it up on the how-to section if you want :lol:

 

You converted one of the 20 Auto Storms?

 

And good riddance too, I hear the auto box is pretty awful... ;)

[dr_mat 0]

You converted one of the 20 Auto Storms?

 

 

Ok I can see why you'd want to own a manual instead of an auto, but I have to say the Auto Storms are rare enough that I'd be inclined to leave well alone...

 

Anyway, it's your money!

 

The other nine owners of auto storms will be thanking you for increasing the value of their cars... ;)

[Storm 0]

Right the wiring stuff I was given was total-tosh. So I got my Bentley and worked it out and the starter whirrs!!!!!! :D :) :lol: I have edited the above if anyone ever follows me down this mad path. :-P

[NjA666 0]

I am currently in the process of an auto to manual conversion an wondered if anyone can throw some light on the following for me:

 

Can the transplant car be a MK3 Golf VR6????

 

If so.....are the following the same in a corrado and a golf:

 

Are the Pedal boxes the same?

Gear Linkage?

Speedo drive's / wiring - Are they the same?

Drive Shafts - Are they the same length?

What clutch/Master Cylinders are required?

 

Any help with this would be very much appriciated.

 

Kind regards,

 

Neil.

[VR6 0]

Is there a reason this is in Suppliers Dom? :)

[NjA666 0]

Dunno, Just saw it there and thought I would ask the question as I need to know ASAP.

 

Apologies for the supe post in 'Drivetrain'

[VR6 0]

I'll move this to Drivetrain which may help you :)

[NjA666 0]

Thanks.

 

 

Can anyone help?

[NjA666 0]

bump

[NjA666 0]

Can anyone help with this?

 

Really could do with knowing if a MK3 Golf VR6 will be OK for the transplant?????

 

Thanks in advance.

 

NjA

[Storm 0]

You need to get a copy of ETKAand plough through the part numbers, it does not take long. You wont need the drive shafts. The rest of it should be the same. ETKA will reveal all.

[Storm 0]

Sod it, I did it. :-)

 

Parts from Golf

Gearbox W/ all associated bits including

Reverse switch

Flywheel

Starter motor

 

Parts that have to come from another VR6 Rado.

a) Top rad hose, connects the Rad to the thermo and top of the expansion tank.

b) The one that connects the thermo housing to the auxilary water pump and bottom of the expansion tank.

c) Buy a new Radiator from ECP,

d) Accelerator Cable note. there are two types

 

Parts that have to come from another Rado.

Transmission mounting - possibly

Pedal assembly /Pedal cluster - Golf different

Shifter Box - Golf different

Shifter Cables - Golf different

Interior trim piece’s, shift boot and shift knob - Golf different

 

Main dealer parts.

NEW clutch, bearing etc

New flywheel bolts

2 bottles of G12 about £20 from the main dealer.

New lost head bolts for the steering column £5

Clutch Master cylinder and slave cylinder

Clutch hydraulic lines etc.

Slave cylinder bracket

[veeDuB_Rado 0]

Nice one :D

[NjA666 0]

*** FANTASTIC - THANKYOU VERY MUCH - THIS IS WELL APPRICIATED :):):) ***

[G100extreme 0]

Yes its true... Why don't ask, but I'm into the electronics...

 

I'm looking for a 096 with a length of loom (+ connectors) and the TCM if anyone has one- ideally for a 4cyl block, although I could hack the VR6 bellhousing off...

 

I've come up with a whacky way of overiding the lockup feature between gearchanges, which in effect gives you a really fast launch. Way faster than with a manual. I've done some expirements already in another car, so now I just need the hardware.

 

Anyone got a spare 096 going? Doesn't have to work, so long as it hasn't been completely 'lunched'. You name the price...!

 

cheers,

 

frank