I decided to start this thread for my son's and my manual swap in an '86 ES coupe. I have a few questions as we start on this, partly because we've never done one, and partly because I don't have a manual E30 in front of me to see how the pieces go together, especially when you're dealing with a bunch of swap pieces assembled from different sources and donor car.
I have a couple of good write-ups to go on - Yoshi & Viet's at E30performance.info (pics long gone), a good guide on E30Tech by NOKE325 with pics, a couple of tips & tricks write-ups, and posts here. We have the Bentley manual.
We've cleaned the case, had three independent transmission shops spin the shafts and generally nod that "it seemed good." The oil we drained is golden brown and seems fairly new. There was an engine/ grass fire under the donor car in Spokane, so some of the rubber and plastic fittings got hot and started to melt. I removed the rubber harmonic balancer from the output shaft yoke per some advice here.
We pulled all the seals yesterday, ready to install new. All new breather valve and back-up switch, mounts, etc. Sent the donor driveshaft to Driveshaft Specialist in Texas to rebuild. They seem to do good work and reasonable price. I got a nice flywheel from one of the Northwest guys here and had it resurfaced at our NAPA. Using an OEM SACHS clutch kit.
Boxes of swap parts arriving. Shipping these days is frustrating - you pay for 2-day and it comes in two weeks. They apologize and credit the shipping, but we're under a deadline before he moves away, so the car sits while we could be working on it.
Our car is an early eta single mass flywheel, with the plate shifter assembly. Using a great thread here from 2011, our case is a 260.0.1270.90, the slave cylinder mounting depth is 6 1/2", and the case has no mounting ears for the late style shifter arm.
So I'll have some noobie and dumb questions as we get started here. Starting with:
1. Is the reverse wiring harness already on the automatic car? I couldn't see up in there very well. The two CPS's will just swap across to the new bellhousing.
2. Anything special about installing the three seals? Just a big socket the right size and tap them in? Flush with the case or as deep as they'll go?
3. Should I take a strip of emery cloth to the output flange to clean it up? There's some black areas where the seal ran, but nothing you can feel with your fingernail.
4. I found a pedal assembly not from the donor car, maybe from a 528e. Bushings seem smooth. It looks right, but has an extra bracket on it and I just want to verify it's gonna work.
What is the zinc-plated bracket mounted here? It pivots on the bolt axis. I don't see this on E30 diagrams. Just remove it?
Is this the correct set-up for an E30? The switch on the clutch is a neutral safety switch? Or a cruise control switch?
I also ordered a brake switch mount bracket that's a different shape than the one with the square hole here. I use the same brake switch that's already on the car?
When we're done, the pedals should be in the same plane, correct? Not like this. Do the switch brackets adjust the pedal height, or the master cylinder attachment?
As you push the clutch pedal in, the spring goes over center and pops out the top. Something else must keep the spring and arm from going too far, but then how does the clutch pedal go to the floor?
I have a couple of good write-ups to go on - Yoshi & Viet's at E30performance.info (pics long gone), a good guide on E30Tech by NOKE325 with pics, a couple of tips & tricks write-ups, and posts here. We have the Bentley manual.
We've cleaned the case, had three independent transmission shops spin the shafts and generally nod that "it seemed good." The oil we drained is golden brown and seems fairly new. There was an engine/ grass fire under the donor car in Spokane, so some of the rubber and plastic fittings got hot and started to melt. I removed the rubber harmonic balancer from the output shaft yoke per some advice here.
We pulled all the seals yesterday, ready to install new. All new breather valve and back-up switch, mounts, etc. Sent the donor driveshaft to Driveshaft Specialist in Texas to rebuild. They seem to do good work and reasonable price. I got a nice flywheel from one of the Northwest guys here and had it resurfaced at our NAPA. Using an OEM SACHS clutch kit.
Boxes of swap parts arriving. Shipping these days is frustrating - you pay for 2-day and it comes in two weeks. They apologize and credit the shipping, but we're under a deadline before he moves away, so the car sits while we could be working on it.
Our car is an early eta single mass flywheel, with the plate shifter assembly. Using a great thread here from 2011, our case is a 260.0.1270.90, the slave cylinder mounting depth is 6 1/2", and the case has no mounting ears for the late style shifter arm.
So I'll have some noobie and dumb questions as we get started here. Starting with:
1. Is the reverse wiring harness already on the automatic car? I couldn't see up in there very well. The two CPS's will just swap across to the new bellhousing.
2. Anything special about installing the three seals? Just a big socket the right size and tap them in? Flush with the case or as deep as they'll go?
3. Should I take a strip of emery cloth to the output flange to clean it up? There's some black areas where the seal ran, but nothing you can feel with your fingernail.
4. I found a pedal assembly not from the donor car, maybe from a 528e. Bushings seem smooth. It looks right, but has an extra bracket on it and I just want to verify it's gonna work.
What is the zinc-plated bracket mounted here? It pivots on the bolt axis. I don't see this on E30 diagrams. Just remove it?
Is this the correct set-up for an E30? The switch on the clutch is a neutral safety switch? Or a cruise control switch?
I also ordered a brake switch mount bracket that's a different shape than the one with the square hole here. I use the same brake switch that's already on the car?
When we're done, the pedals should be in the same plane, correct? Not like this. Do the switch brackets adjust the pedal height, or the master cylinder attachment?
As you push the clutch pedal in, the spring goes over center and pops out the top. Something else must keep the spring and arm from going too far, but then how does the clutch pedal go to the floor?
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