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Making a 82 auto a stick...From 79 5 speed

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Old 07-27-12, 10:57 AM
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Driven a turbo FB lately?

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IN Making a 82 auto a stick...From 79 5 speed

Son has an 82 automatic car that he wants to make it into a stick... At the junkyard they got a 79 5 speed car with low mileage.... (Rusted out to the core!).

The 5 speed trans work in this 82 if I swap the shifter to the 81-85 shifter?
79 drive shaft same mount to diff?
When we rebuild his motor we swap the counter weights and flywheel?

Other parts needed ? Starter, pilot bearing and seal, clutch set, the brake and clutch pedal, trans mount, 81-85 shifter, clutch slave and master, the hard line and soft line at the firewall with the bracket. Anything else? Aside from a couple of wires for the reverse lights and wire around the inhibitor (jumper?) switch

Thanks!
Old 07-27-12, 11:45 AM
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Happy Rotoring!

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Although it would bolt up, I believe the placement of the shift lever was more to the front of the vehicle in 79 than 81 and beyond. You may have to elongate the hole in the floor a couple inches and then deal with the inside lower dash and shift surround to get it all lined up. Normally, guys run into this the other way around, trying to put an FB tranny into an SA. Drive shafts were different bwt auto's and manuals too, so I'm sure you'd need one of those regardless.
Old 07-27-12, 12:37 PM
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Short version: S2 have the cutout for SA shifter, SA dash should fit with no problems, cannot use FB tailhousing on a '79 trans - but you can with an SA trans made in at least March of 1980.
Old 07-27-12, 02:57 PM
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Driven a turbo FB lately?

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IN

Originally Posted by peejay
Short version: S2 have the cutout for SA shifter, SA dash should fit with no problems, cannot use FB tailhousing on a '79 trans - but you can with an SA trans made in at least March of 1980.
Ok I remember now, the shift tower on the trans is different... so the trans is no good to me... You'd think a FB trans wouldnt be that hard to locate locally I'll rob everything else off the car... I'll leave the trans there... 79-82 driveshaft is the same spline tho right?

Car was built 5/79

BTW Theres a lot of other parts on there.. Dash is history, radio trim is snapped in half, but all the switches are there. Front and rear bumpers, headlight buckets and motors, hood, header panel... Im going for the motor tomorrow... Car is getting crushed soon... Son took pictures so it shows whats left.
Old 07-27-12, 09:29 PM
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Originally Posted by MIKE-P-28
Ok I remember now, the shift tower on the trans is different... so the trans is no good to me... You'd think a FB trans wouldnt be that hard to locate locally I'll rob everything else off the car... I'll leave the trans there... 79-82 driveshaft is the same spline tho right?

Car was built 5/79

BTW Theres a lot of other parts on there.. Dash is history, radio trim is snapped in half, but all the switches are there. Front and rear bumpers, headlight buckets and motors, hood, header panel... Im going for the motor tomorrow... Car is getting crushed soon... Son took pictures so it shows whats left.
Yea the spline count is the same for all 79-85 transmissions but the rear flange and length changed as fallowed

78-80 had a longer drive shaft due to the short tail shaft
81-82 the auto and manual where the same
83-85 the rear flange changed (bigger) but the length stayed the same as the 81-82

finding a 81-85 trans should not be to hard...
(For reference I did this to my 82, I have a 84 trans with a 82 auto shaft and 82auto trans mount/bracket lol used the stock wiring too, just wired around the gear select to get it to start, and reverse lights to work when selected )

Last edited by Redpro; 07-27-12 at 09:43 PM.
Old 07-28-12, 09:10 PM
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'79-82 used the same driveshaft. (There is no MY1978) The differentials were the same, the transmissions were the same length. Really, ALL 1st-gen manual trans and 3 speed automatics used driveshafts interchangeable, the only practical difference is the bolt pattern on the differential. (The '83-up driveshafts have staked in U-joints also)

The only time the driveshaft changed length is for the 4-speed automatic.

I've cross-swapped all sorts of SA/FB stuff. I've put an FB rear in a '79, I've put an FB trans in my SA, I've put an SA trans in my FB, etc.

I have a strong feeling that the early SA transmission guts could be installed in an FB case. I'm looking into this route, as I found a stash of SA 5-speeds for a ridiculously cheap price. Or I could just use an FC driveshaft and relocate the engine and trans 6 or so inches back. Decisions decisions.
Old 07-28-12, 11:28 PM
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Originally Posted by peejay
'
I have a strong feeling that the early SA transmission guts could be installed in an FB case. I'm looking into this route, as I found a stash of SA 5-speeds for a ridiculously cheap price. Or I could just use an FC driveshaft and relocate the engine and trans 6 or so inches back. Decisions decisions.
i don't see why not, i mean maybe the only internal difference is the shift rod and the ends anyways...
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