When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Thanks! Making youtube videos of working on cars was something me and my brother wanted to do together. Unfortunately due to reasons of employment we live 500 miles away from each other right now, but I've still been trying to do some videos (and he's been slacking doing any). That was one of our "dream job" schemes if we could get away with making videos fixing up and messing around with cars, kind of like wheeler dealers meets top gear or something.
I started today on modifying my car for the 5 speed swap I bought (info on those pars here: https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...get-input.html). I had initially set out to make more progress than just getting the firewall modified this weekend, but oh well.
I got the master mounting plate off of my donor firewall cut, and cut out part of the firewall where it mounts to use as a template on where to make the cut on my firewall.
I made a small hole in the firewall first to make sure I wasn't hitting anything I shouldn't, then made a bigger hole to get the air nibbler though.
And after running around town for hours trying to find swivel air hose fittings and after having to stop to adjust the angle of the nibbler about 7 times, I finally got the hole cut out. I didn't make as clean of a cut as I thought it would, but it made it without throwing sparks and without having to remove the brake booster. I did file down the hole after the fact to make it look nicer. Cut out the engine side insulation with a razor knife, then evicted the spider nest.
Without removing the brake booster it seemed like it would be quite the task to get the master in place and get the bolts started in it, so I just attached it to the panel before installing it.
Some panel sealer and a whole pack of rivets later (should have bought more) the new panel got attached.
Got the clutch pedal hung.
Thought I had a picture of the interior side insulation all put back before I put the carpet on, but apparently not. Apart from cuts in the outter rubber and a couple places where the rubber cracked off, it's all back.
The car is hungry for the transmission.
Depending on how this week goes maybe I can start working on removing the automatic a bit each day after work.
I do still have to cut out the metal in the center console where the auto shifter mounts to make room for the manual shifter. Apart from that I think things will be more remove and replace rather than "fabricating", and hopefully with go smoother.
I didn't accomplish a ton tonight, but I did get the exhaust dropped down. Fortunately the corrosion and oxidation gods were somewhat kind, my air line fitting came loose easy, and while the y pipe bolts were pretty darn crusty, they all did come loose. I didn't get so lucky separating the cats from the rest of the exhaust (wasn't helped by the hangar up there missing) so I did have to drop the whole exhaust as one piece, minus the rear muffler (that's been replaced with pipe). The last time I tried dropping a whole exhaust on my Charger I managed to hit myself in the mouth and break a tooth, so I'm going to call the lack of personal injury here a win.
I have a friend who wants to sell me (cheap) his '91 S4... but i never bought a auto and don't want it....BUT i do have a manual '90 GT , ever bought as spare shell for the rally car…….. so yes, i have all the needed pieces for a swap. The GT was used on track racing , no interior ,no dashboard, bad welded roll cage etc... not worth a rebuild.
I don't want to curse myself here, but I think it certainly could be. It seems like as long as you have all the 5 speed parts (which you should having the whole car, although replacing some worn parts is probably unavoidable), you modify the firewall, center console, remove the auto parts, and install the 5 speed parts in their place. I'm hoping to start dropping the auto in the next couple days, so I can't say from my own personal experience that it's 100% true yet, but from Carl's thread that I was looking at it seems like that's more or less the case.
Didn't get a ton done tonight, but I did get all the heatshields down, the lower bellhousing off, drained the trans pan, and disconnected the wiring to the transmission inside the trunk.
Even though it was only a couple months ago that I released tension from the flexplate, there was still some movement when I loosened the pinch bolt.
I did separate the cats from the rest of the exhaust too. Cats are definitely shot. Looks like at a minimum I have some crap to knock out of there.
So my plan from here for the rear end of the car is to disconnect the remaining wires for the wheel speed sensors and pad sensors, disconnect the parking brake, remove the wheels, hang the calipers, then unbolt the suspension arms and shocks from the body and lower the trans, suspension, and crossmember all as one assembly. Dwayne's write ups seem to favor dropping the trans and suspension separately, but it looks like Carl did it all in one go. Aside from more weight to manage (I have a trans jack to use) are there any other disadvantages to dropping it all at once? Seems like it'll be easier to get the suspension parts off the crossmember out of the car to me.
i swapped transaxles in 2008 on the rally car….seems i did it separately. Ok, i have a lift , which makes it of course more comfort working.
I have a pic from that time....
It seems like the pieces are probably more manageable if lowered separately, but on the same note I was hoping to be able to get the suspension down intact, mark it all up well (granted I'll be switching crossmembers), and hopefully get it all back together again with the geometry as close to original as possible until I get an alignment.
just to give a reply.... it sure won't be the '91 S4. Car has all what i do not like : green , interior white. And seeing now a 32V .. i realized i will stick with the 16V . That engine makes me a bit scared and for what ? for 10/20 HP more ? So i will look further for a 16V .
Here great difference in asking prices : a decent auto 15K , a decent manual 25K so the swap would be justified.
07-29-2019, 08:45 AM
