CVT to Manual

Hey Guys,

What is needed to swap from CVT to manual?

Does anyone have any hints etc. Is it easier to take the whole engine/box out to swap? The swap will be done at home so no hoist just car stands.

I have read here that the CVT ecu can run a manaul box. Is there any other wiring looms etc that need to be swapped over? Any problems with just using the manual drive shafts and CVs etc?

Are all the manual mount points, clutch cable brackets,holes in firewall, holes for the gear stick the same in an auto car?

Can any one give me a good reason not to do the swap?
I have a whole donor manual car for parts.

Thanks
qwerty132

Whole donor car makes it easy. You have all the bits & can swap if necessary, e.g. half shafts & CV's.
Leave the engine in place.
You'll need to wire up the reverse light switch at the gearbox & disable the start inhibitor whereby the car would normally only start in P or N.

and maybe wire up the neutral switch, tho i still have,nt figured it,s function (mine still idle,d while coasting and shut the injectors off on lift, even when the neutral switch was disconnected)

Great....

Look out for a whole heap of questions over the next few weeks lol..

So is there really enough room to swap the auto out with engine in place? It would be good to leave the aircon and power steering stuff as it is.

Ive been looking at getting a haynes of ebay(au) but they are pretty expensive. I think they are about $60 + 12 post. Are they worth that much?? I was thinking they used to be about $40-50 in the shops.

Any more tips? Whats the easiest way to remove the half shafts/CVs???

Other than a new clutch kit what else should I replace while Im there?
Does the flywheel need to be machined? (I cant afford a lightened one)

Whats the easiest way to align the clutch?

Thanks
qwerty132

Once you've jacked the car up, supported on stands/blocks, removed the wheels, released the lower arm, you'll be able to disconnect half shafts from CV's & compare.

The outer CV's will hopefully be the same. If they're different you might find the shaft sizes are different & you'll need to swap out the whole hub. Definitely seen two sizes on JDM K11, 1L is smaller than 1.3L. You'll probably need to put the tyres back on & lower to the ground to get the outer CV nuts off.
Measure up the CVT & manual boxes to check of the half shafts are different lengths. If they're the same, which the drivers side will almost certainly be, you may not need to swap them either, if the inner CV or half shaft splines are the same size.

Having both inner CV's removed can make juggling the boxes in & out much easier, first thing to disconnect, last thing to reconnect. You can leave them in place & disconnect half shafts, if you want to save draining & refilling the gearbox oil. Depending on how you feel you may want to be changing the oil at this time anyway. Assuming that the drivers side half shaft or inner CV will come apart when you pull the box can lead to a lot of swearing & wasting of time. (Sometimes they do come apart easily thou)

Once you got the shafts disconnected, disconnect shift & wiring, earth, & anything else attached. Some of this may be easier (or harder) once you've disconnected the trans mount & the whole assembly has sagged down. Undo trans-engine bolts & use a large screwdriver or chisel to leaver apart, and pull. The whole thing & a pile of oil can then drop on the floor.

I've never bothered machining a flywheel or pressure plate. Only really needs doing if the surface has had damage from clutch plate rivets or smashed bits of clutch (springs, fingers, pieces of metal etc).
When looking for a second hand pressure plate, check the amount of wear on the fingers where the throwout bearing presses against it.

Once you've bolted the flywheel on, fit the clutch plate & pressure plate in place and bolt up finger tight. Sitting on the ground with your head where the gearbox goes line the clutch plate up by eye, moving it aroudn with your finger or screw driver. Tighten up the pressure plate bolts.

Hey,

Though Id put up a bit of an update with some more questions...

I have removed both drive shafts from the auto car. I have disconnected the 3(?) plugs to the auto. All the bolts that I can see have been removed. Auto fluid has been drained and the line through the bottom of the radiator has been removed. The cable from the auto to the throttle body and the braket has been removed and the manual bracket swapped over. The auto appears to be free it just wont come off.

How is the starter motor removed on an auto car? Its in a completely different place compared to the manual. I have undone the one bolt that I can see but is that it? It looks like the inlet manifold is in the way?

How many dowels are there on the bellhousing? I think something is seized up. Is it normally really hard to get the box off??

Ive also removed both clutch and brake pedal from the manual car and remove the brake pedal from the auto car.

Whats the easiest way to make the hole for the clutch cable in the firewall? There is a space for it but no holes. The firewall is a few layers thick and where the holes are is one layer less so getting the position right wont be a problem. Is it ok just to drill the holes out and file the edges smooth?

Also on the manual there is a spacer thing between the firewall and the clutch pedal setup. This looks like its spot welded in place. Im guessing I can remove this somehow and refit in the auto car.

Last question - I have removed the heat sheild over the exhaust and undone the bolts that hold the manual shifter in place (2 in car and 2 under car). Do I need to remove the exhaust in order to get the shifter and the bar that runs down to the engine mount out? I cant see any other way to do it?

Im waiting for my Haynes to arrive. I hope it has enough detail so that I dont have to keep asking this type of question.

Is it normal for the CVT cars to not have a front engine mount? This car doesnt have one and it looks like Ill need to swap the whole cross member as the auto one doesnt even have mount holes.


Thanks in Advance

qwerty132

qwerty

there are 2 dowels (1 front and 1 back) and they are usually siezed in, and i usually drill a small hole then drive a tapered punch in to roll the edge of the hole, and the gearchange should drop down ok if you drop the downpipe and lever the cat rubber mounts off

frank

Thanks

That will be next weekends work. Get the auto out and the manual out of the other car and then maybe swap the flywheel over and then put the clutch kit in. I dont know how much time Ill get though.

Just confirming there is only one bolt for the starter motor??

Thanks

qwerty132

I was pretty convinced it has two holes...



Right?

---dens

dens

it sounds like the starter is on the engine side on an auto eh, there,s sure to be another bolt near the block :o

frank

The starter will have two bolts.
Having a faint recollection about more bolts on the torque converter that need to be undone via a window or maybe from below, but I could be confused with another car.
I've had a number of boxes that required a chisel hammered into the join between the bell housing & block.
Yes gang drilling holes in the firewall & filing them out is OK. A holesaw is quicker & easier thou.
If there is a block spot welded on, you'd better swap it & mig it on. Some nissans suffer from the firewall tearing (particularly when a heavy clutch is fitted).
Yes all the front drive autos in Nissans & Toyotas that I can think of don't have the front stabiliser / mount. It's fitted to manual cars only. Think about the additional loads from a manual gearbox, heavy gearchanges & dropping the clutch.

Are you sure you've removed all the bell housing bolts. It's easy to miss one, particularly if it's hidden by loom, radiator pipes etc. If you have a look around you might find a picture or photo of the CG or GA bell housing bolt pattern, or somebody might post one. Maybe DENS wiki?

How do your inner CV shafts & half shafts compare?

Hey,

Thanks for the feedback/ideas...

Yes the starter motor is on the engine side underneath the intake manifold.

I havent compared the shafts yet. I havent taken them out of the manual car yet. I was just going to swap both left and right from the manual car into the auto. Im 95% sure that the outer cvs and hubs are the same size in both cars as they are both 95 1.3L SLX.

The spacer thing for the clutch pedal doesnt look like it would do much in the way of stopping the firewall tearing. It kind of hard to describe. Ill see what I can do to reattach it..

Thanks
qwerty132

Hey All,

Thought Id post up a bit of an update for people even if its just for someone that may be searching for conversion stuff.

CVT is out, Manual is in with new clutch. The old clutch(in the donor car) wasnt very worn at all... The drive shafts are in. I just used the ones from the manual donor car. The long shaft is the same auto or manual - the short side is different.

We had to swap the whole cross member as the auto one doesnt have holes for a front engine mount. The gear stick is in and the linkages are all done. Starter motor is in. The auto one is different. The bit that sticks in over the ring gear is longer so they arent interchangable. The auto one is mounted from the engine side.

I still have to figure out how to drill the hole for the clutch cable. At the moment there isnt really enough room to get the drill in under the dash. We may have to pull the dash partially out to get the drill in. There is 3 holes to drill - 2 for the bolts and one bigger one for the cable. The other option is dropping the engine down somehow and drilling from the engine side. The auto car seems to have the clip for securing the clutch cable on the firewall for some reason...

Whats left to do for Roadworthy?

Figure out how to drill the holes for the clutch cable.
Install clutch cable and pedal.
Install brake pedal.
Figure out the wiring - The reversing light is easy. The neutral switch may be more of a problem. The start inhibitor is easy.
Check that the clutch actually works. lol Adjust cable.
Fill gear box with oil.
Change engine oil and filter
Check the drum brakes - hopefully the cylinders aren't leaking.
Swap the brake pads and maybe the whole disks over.
Refit the gear stick surround.
Press the rubber out of the drivers side engine mount on the donor car and press into the auto cars casting and refit.

Tighten everything up lol.

Is there anything else Im missing?
What do Brisbane people think of getting a mobile guy to do a roadworthy?
Any experiences/recommendations?

Thanks
qwerty132

qwerty

personally, i would punch the holes through from under the dash with a metal spike, and use 10mm speedbolts (the firewall is only piss thin, and the pedal cage takes all the load/strain eh)
and mine runs ok with the neutral/reverse plug disconnected :-)

frank

hmm... I spose I could try and punch them out... I was also going to investigate using a dremel as well...

Thanks
qwerty132

Hey,

Everything is back together. Oil is in the gearbox. Clutch cable is in. Pedals are in.

Only problem is that it wont start. The dash all lights up as normal, the fuel pump does its thing. Turn to start - nothing.

We figure it must be the inhibitor switch. Havent had much of a chance to track down which wires need linking from the haynes.

Does any one know which they are?

Also, Im looking for someone that will do a windscreen swap in Brisbane? The glass is fine but the seal is no good. I have another car with good seal and glass as well.

Thanks
qwerty132

qwerty

going by the haynes, you earth out the blue/green wire

frank

epic thread mate thanks for posting all the info!

Hey,

Thanks... I probly could have done a bit better job if I bothered to take pictures etc.

Few things that I can think of that are different:

*Auto starter moter is different and is mounted from the engine side under the inlet manifold.
*To get the auto off, you need to undo the bottom half of the thin metal sheet that covers the bottom of the bellhousing. On the manual it is one piece - the auto is spilt into top half and bottom half. You need to remove the bottom half and undo 4 bolts on the electro clutch. You need to turn the engine over to get to the other ones so spark plugs out. The auto will not come off untill these are undone.
*No front engine mount points on the auto crossmember. You will need to swap the whole manual one with manual mounts over.
*You need to swap both clutch and brake pedals over. There is markings for the clutch mount and cable holes. The sound deadening stuff has cut outs too. There is a top mount hole for the clutch pedal in the auto.
*The clip thing for securing half way along the clutch cable on the firewall is there on the auto.
*The kickdown/ accel position cable that goes to the auto has a different bracket that bolts to the head up near the air box/pcv area.
you could just disconect the cable but I had the manual bracket and its only 2 little bolts and 2 ground wires to swap.
*You need to swap the brace bars that run from the block down to the bottom of the bellhousing. The auto ones are different.
*There are 2 funny clip things that were on the gearbox end sump of the auto car that get in the way of the manual. We just ripped them off. Dont know what they were for. Maybe something to do with the cover plate.
*All holes for the gear shifter and linkages are there in the auto car.
*The short drive shaft is different so you need a manual one. The long side is the same but I still used the one from the manual car.

I am currently in the process of this same conversion and am taking a few pics along the way, this thread has been very useful :D :
http://www.micra.org.uk/showthread.php?t=28756

hi qwerty132

so, is there still some drilling of holes involved or r u saying that the holes are marked already so no guessing involved on where to drill the holes?

Hey,
The firewall is made up of a few layers of metal and where the holes need to go is a layer thinner. On the pedal side is where you can see it. I think the sound deadening stuff has cut outs too.

I removed the brake pedal as well. Its different(needs swapping anyway) and also gives you a bit more space. Be careful when drilling as one of the brake lines is pretty close to where your drilling on the other side. It depends on what angle your drilling at. The big hole has to be about an inch across to fit the pipe mounting thing for the clutch cable.

Dont want to discourage you but drilling the holes was the worst part of the job. We had to an air drill and a 'christmas tree' drill bit just to fit it up under the dash to start the drill square to the firewall. The cordless we had was too big.

Once you get a whole in the centre it was ok. Drilled it to nearly the right size and the used a half round file to tidy it up.

Hope this helps..

qwerty132

anyone here in melbourne have done a convertion from CVT to manual...i just want to see how it was done


p.s. thnx qwerty132

Whip the dash out to drill the holes, makes it a million times easier.

Is the speedo cable different?

Hey,
I dont remember pulling the speedo cable out of the dash etc. I remember taking the drive gear out of the cvt. I think its 2 bolts. I cant remember if anything on the end of the cable was swapped. It was either a straight swap or change the little gear on the end.
Edit: I think the gear was the same colour and had the same number of teeth so we just swapped it over.

Thanks,
qwerty

qwerty123: I pulled the speedo gear out last night (Mine only had the 1 bolt). Yet to check the amount of teeth on the gear with the manual one. Hopefully it will be the same.

Hey,

I think mine was a light blue/green kinda colour... like 18 or 27 teeth or something.

Dont ask me how I can remember that.. I was a year ago since I did the swap and we only looked at it once.

I think we pulled the whole drive thing out but Im pretty sure the actual cable unscrews and then pulls out like the manual one..

Thanks,
qwerty