Well seeing how I just finished my 5-Speed conversion I figured I would make a thread telling what's involved since I couldn't find any when I started:
Here's the specifics of my conversion: I have a 94 SL and put a 5-Speed out of a 93 into it, some of the parts, such as axles, MAY not apply to all years, i'm not sure but it isn't hard to find out.
First, here's the parts you need:
- 5-Speed Transmission
- Flywheel
- Clutch kit
- Shifter (direct replacement) / Shifter cables
- Clutch Pedal (requires drilling a hole through the firewall)
- Clutch Master Cylinder / Fluid Line / Slave Cylinder
- Driver and Passenger Side Axles (for driver side only the inner axle)
- Starter (they ARE different between automatic and manual)
all of these things combined cost me just under $1200, some parts used and some new.
Second, here's the special / hard parts of the conversion:
- Installing the new brake/clutch pedal. Had to take the steering column down, and move the brake booster back to make room to get it in.
- Drilling a hole through the firewall. There isn't much room under there, but it doesn't take a professional.
- Installing the master cylinder. VERY small space to work in, but once it's in there's only one bolt that needs tightening. *The lines must be bled.
- Starting the car when you're done: There's a shift control connector that will be hanging loose, which used to plug into the automatic transmission. Two of the terminals need to be crossed to bypass the neutral safety switch so you can start the car, and two others need to be crossed to have reverse lights. It's different for every year from what i've heard, but it will be the one that has voltage and the terminal directly next to it that need to be connected.
After that, there's not much else other than testing everything out.
Labor Time: With no experience it took me a total of about 10 hours (ran into few problems). If I had to do it again, i'd say it would take from 6 to 8 hours.
Difficulty on a scale of 1-10(hardest): 4 (pretty easy, would have been much easier if I had this thread beforehand)
There are instructions available for free on the web at:
http://www.ecanfix.com/users/manualc.../3s/index.html
The new 5-speed will require 75W-90 Gear Oil, don't put automatic transmission fluid in it like I almost did.
