i picked up a nice 85 GSL yesterday. only down side is that it has an auto trans. trans is great and shifts really nice. car runs a drives super. my plans are in late june, early july, to swap in a manual trans. i am pretty sure i have all of the parts and want to make sure before i begin. here's what i have:

5spd trans
pedal assembly -from an 83
manual trans crossmember and mount
manual trans driveshaft
clutch slave cylinder and hose
clutch maser cylinder and hard line
speedometer cable for a manual trans
5spd shift **** and shifter plate with boot

is there anything i'm forgetting or missing that you guys can think of that i need? do i need to add a richer solenoid valve to the carb? is there anything that needs to be eliminated? do i need a manual trans ecu?

 

a clutch

 

ok, ok, good point. i'm just going to buy an oem replacement.

 

not all clutch/brake pedal assemblies are interchageable. One of the bolt holes on the 84-85 assemblies need to be slotted to fit on the earlier ones. Im referring to that stud in the firewall.

 

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/swapping-auto-trans-manual-375365/

 

the needle bearing in the end of the eccentric shaft.


isaac

 

ok, cool thanks. so shouldn't i be ok using a manual trans crossmember and mount instead of fabbing up a mount from my current auto trans mount? i cant imaging mazda would have produced a different floor pan for the auto box cars.....

 

One thing I want to throw out there is a personal preference of mine, I can't stand the skinny little 79-83 pedals, I much prefer teh 84/85 pedals, and swapped them into both my 83's. If you don't mind the skinnier pedal then go for it, but you might want to look around for 84/85 pedals while doing your swap. Again just a opinion.

 

Ray Green offered to sell me a set and i think i'm going to take him up on it. i also much prefer the 84-85 pedals. better feel imo.

 

as a note, if there's any interest, i plan to do a detailed thread on how to do the conversion. once underway next month (i have to leave from 6/6 to 6/21 for national guard training and i have an M-16 shoot when i get back from 6/24-6/26 for the police dept), i plan on taking detailed pictures of the removal and installation of everything and every step. this way someone who is contemplating doing the swap on their car can see step by step what it takes perform the swap.

 

http://frosted7.com/katrina13.html

This link helped me a lot for my auto to manual swap, enjoy.

 

thanks for the link. that will sure help out for the pedal swap!

 

You have to fabricate your support for the transmission.

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-gen-archive-71/drivetrain-84-85-automatic-manual-transmission-conversion-question-701724/

 

So thats just for the S3 bodies? The earlier cars are the same manual or auto?

 

Yepper. It's been several years since I did this, but as I recall the S3 cars all have the JATCO 4 speed overdrive auto trans. The body mounts are actually in a different place on the auto cars because the overdrive tranny is about 4 inches longer than the 5 speed manual.

Dave, believe it or not I have some mounts ALREADY MADE that are still left over from when I did my swap 2-3 years ago. They are about 4" long with the appropriate holes, and made from 1/4" steel. I made some extras just in case. You are welcome to them if you want. You can always just get some flat weld steel from the farm supply store and drill the holes in the right spots too. You could cut them to length with an angle grinder. Let me know if you are interested.

Jamie

 

thank you for the link Doc!!!! not to question anyone's rotary knowledge here, but the 85 S i have in my driveway has four mounting holes for the trans crossmember. that gives two different places to mount the trans...the SE i sold a couple years ago had the same. i'm going to have to jack up my auto car today and have a look at the trans mounting points. i'll post pics of both for reference.

 

thank you for the offer Jamie! i'll let you know by tonight if i need htem. i'll pay you for them. if it'll save me time and if they're correct i have no problem taking them if you arent going to use them. i'm really looking forward to this swap. i bought the car specifically to do the swap. only because i've never done this and i want the experience and the car is worth saving. the trans is in EXCELLENT shape and shifts so nice. the torque converter is locked up and when the car is put into any gear and the accelerator is pressed the engine stalls. if the trans is in neutral or park and you press the accelerator the engine revs fine. this leads me to believe the torque converter is bad. i could care less if it is or not. i want the 5spd in the car.

what snags if any did you run into when performing the swap?

 

Hate to steal the thread but is the speedo cable from a manual car absolutly nessesary? Or can i just put the auto cable right into the manual trans?

EDIT: Found out you can use the auto cable, its just alittle longer.

 

I noticed no one brought up the manaul transmission wire harness. Your going to need that too unless you know how to wire in a switch to make those reverse light to go on/off when needed. Quick question, does the manaul harness plug right in? I havent put my tranny in yet because im waiting for my rebuild to get done! Argh i hate rotor bearings....

 

I have never done the swap on the 84-85 models, always has been on the earlier ones. All that have inputed have all stated that the 84-85 models are different and you have to fabricate the mounts as pictured in the link. I found it odd because I had figured that Mazda did what they did on the earlier chassis and made it where they could use either or in all applications.

 

Yes, i've heard some 84-85 FB's has both holes and yet some only has 1 set(mine has 1). Don't know why mazda couldnt make it easy and make them all with 2 holes....

 

ok, my 85 auto car only has one set of holes. my 85 GS has only one set. my 85 S has two sets....weird

 

To answer some of the questions above...

1) Yes you'll probably have to make new brackets for the manual trans crossmember. I wasn't aware of these cars with two sets of holes...
2) The end of the manual and automatic speedo cables are different. You need the speedo cable from the manual car.
3) You need the wiring harness from the manual trans car for your reverse lights to work. The manual harness will plug right into your auto car no problem.

 

they did

the 84-85 auto overdrive trannys are longer so the chassis mounts are further back.. you will have to fab a tranny mount.. send me an e mail and ill foward you pics of a swap i did..

i didnt see a starter on your parts list, you need one of those too

robert@rotaryshack.com

 

i did forget about adding the starter. i'll have to pick one of those up when i get back on the 22nd (will be an ad in the f/s wtb section). i checked out my 85 shell and it still has the pedals. this means i wont have to use the 83 pedals. Ray Green was kind enough to offer me a set but i wont have to burden him with the pedals now.