Has anyone converted from a auto. to a manual? what was involved is there a reccomendation on trans.??
thanks

I'm going thru an auto to manual swap on my Volare right now. My car is a gutted shell but I have the pedals, steering column, and all of the misc. parts I need, EXCEPT for the floor hump and the Keisler hyd. clutch slave/master cyl. I have heard about a hydraulic clutch setup used on some /6, 1986-87 D-150's with the A833 OD (which is the trans I am using).I think that Slant Sickness mentioned this setup to me, but my dealer parts buddy can't find anything on it. I think this might be a better
way to go, if I could get info on it. Keisler's $500 price tag is a little steep for me. (That is the hyd. setup only... NOT the 5 speed, driveshaft, etc...
you can add another $3,000 for that). I am doing the body right now, and I THINK I will be going with an EFI 318 Magnum that is sitting here, but not sure yet. I MIGHT go back with the slant, but I am eons from worrying about engine choice, got too much other work to do to it right now. I will say, the easiest way would be to buy a parts car or find a complete
one in the JY that is the same model as your car... piecing it all together gets expensive, and there is always 1 piece that keeps you from finishing it all up. At least have all the conversion parts on hand before you start.

Don's got the right idea, a parts car is best. You can put it all together a piece at a time, though. Spend money, be happy. Get a manual. Most of the operation is just a matter of changing out an auto - replacing a worn clutch. My local dealer ( Bermont Motors in the heart of darkness, Gilbertsville, PA) still has the old parts books, I just got them to photocopy the page with all the clutch linkage parts. That helped. You'll probably find many more OD 4-speeds than other tranny's in the yards. Get everything you can - shifter, crossmember, little bits of hardware, everything. Get the trans checked out before you install it, the OD has a weak spot in the case. There's some things you can do before you dismantle your ride, too. Like install the pedals, weld in the little Z-bar base plate, cut out the floor where the new hump goes ( you realize you'll need new carpet, right) then just screw the new hump in place. It's nice to have that extra bit of access. What else? The speedo, starter, crossmember should all hook up the same. Crimp on a couple spade connectors for the backup lights, find a place for that ground wire to go (should probably have hooked it into the clutch pedal, but that's me). There's also the matter of concentricity and resizing the driveshaft, but again, I just bolted togther what I had. You'll want to do it the right way.