Auto to Manual Conversion
This one comes up more than you think on the Scirocco Register forums, so, having done the conversion, here is what you need to know. Some parts are vital and some are recommended. I recommend using a complete donor car for this conversion.
Vital
Manual Gearbox & Clutch
Gear stick & selector shafts, rods and brackets
Manual Steering Column/pedal bracket. Pre-1984 cars can also benefit from a post-1984 pedal mounted brake switch on the later brackets.
Manual Steering Rack (has brackets for the manual gear rods that the original auto Rack does not have)
Throttle cable
Clutch cable
Recommended
Manual car engine wiring loom. The starter motor on a manual car is on the front of the gearbox, on the auto it is on the back. It is possible to elongate the starter motor wiring but again for originality you may wish to use the factory loom which is the correct length.
Method
This is a recommended method, which I found to be the easiest way. This conversion is a big job, a full weekends work to do the conversion (and another to strip your donor car) and is not for the feint hearted!
The only special tools required are a suitably splined bit for the inner CV joint, a balljoint splitter and an engine hoist/crane.
I will presume that all parts needed are removed from the donor car and ready to bolt up to the car receiving the conversion. I will also presume that your donor gearbox has no driveshafts. All steps relate to the car receiving the conversion.
1. Slacken off Hub nuts but do not remove yet
2. Slacken off driveshaft inner CV bolts to flange
3. Remove steering wheel, stalks, dashboard, clocks, centre console and heater pipes. The dashboard has a couple of hidden screws behind a grommet in the glovebox and one to the side of the heater controls.
4. Slacken off wheel nuts, raise car in the air and remove wheels.
5. Undo brake callipers and support out of the way
6. Remove split pin and nut and remove steering arm balljoints from upright/hub using a ball joint splitter and a Thor hammer
7. Undo and remove the wishbone front and rear bolts on both sides
8. Remove Hub nut
9. Undo suspension strut top mounts and lever the wishbone, hub and strut away from the car, sliding off the driveshaft, to remove as a complete unit. (You may wish to leave the suspension struts in place and undo at the upright, but I wanted to retain my camber setting)
10. Dislocate centre exhaust box from downpipe.
11. Drain coolant and disconnect pipes to radiator and to heater.
12. Disconnect fuel lines
13. Disconnect all wiring to engine. Helpfully label it as you do
14. Support engine with a hoist.
15. Undo rear engine mount, front snubber mount, gearbox side mount and pulley side mount. Lower engine and auto-box beneath car to the ground or a prepared trolley. At this point I found it helpful to hacksaw through the auto selector cable and throttle cable rather than faff about undoing it.
16. optional – Use hoist on car to gain enough clearance to move engine and box away from car. I found this useful to gain access to the engine bay.
17. Separate auto-box and all associated items from engine. Be very careful, an automatic gearbox is almost three times as heavy as a manual gearbox. Have an assistant help you.
18. Fit manual clutch, gearbox and starter motor to the engine.
19. Remove driveshafts from old auto box and bolt up to new manual gearbox.
20. Move to the engine bay. Undo universal joint and mounts to remove old steering rack. With a bit of to-ing a fro-ing the rack can be removed as a complete unit. Remove steering boot.
21. Inside the car, disconnect brake pedal from pushrod.
22. In the engine bay, dismantle pedal side brake bellcrank and swing pull rod out of the way.
23. Remove nuts which hold pedal column to bulkhead.
24. Inside the car, drill out captive bolts that hold pedal/steering column to the support bracket. Be careful not to damage the threads of the bracket. Once you have done that you can remove the steering column/pedal bracket as one unit, withdrawing the UJ back inside the car.
25. Refit steering boot.
26. Fit manual steering column/pedal bracket pushing the UJ back through the steering boot and using new bolts to attach to the support bracket. Don’t forget to swap your ignition housing over to your new steering bracket.
27. in the engine bay, bolt up the steering column to the bulkhead and refit the brake bellcrank and pushrod, then pushrod to brake pedal.
28. Fit manual steering rack, renewing the bushes at the mounting brackets and reconnecting to UJ.
29. Remove auto selector and drop out of the bottom of the car.
30. Fit manual gearstick, shift rod and brackets and heat shields
31. Remove auto engine wiring loom and replace with manual car engine wiring loom, or, elongate the starter motor wiring
32. Position engine and box back under the car and raise with hoist until pulley and gearbox side mounts can be bolted up.
33. Bolt up front snubber mount.
34. Replace rear mount (the one most likely to be perished) and bolt up to chassis.
35. Whilst you are under there, reconnect downpipe to centre exhaust box
36. Connect all gear selector rods and connecting links between box and brackets.
37. Reconnect engine wiring
38. Reconnect all plumbing
39. Reconnect all fuel lines.
40. Fit new throttle cable
41. Fit new clutch cable
42. Refit front suspension/wishbone unit and renew hub nut. Tighten hub nut so that driveshaft sits correctly in hub.
43. Connect track rod ends to upright/hub and renew split pin and castellated nut
44. Refit brake calliper.
45. Attach wheels and lower car to the ground.
46. Tighten hub nut to correct torque.
47. Refit heater pipes, dashboard, clocks, centre console, stalks and steering wheel.
48. Test vehicle, adjusting gear shift rod and clutch cable as necessary.
49. Enjoy.
Contributor: Forum username The Autoad
The ball joint splitter is optional if you can wield a decent size club hammer with any accuracy.
Missed a couple of steps:
50. Drive to MOT
51. Fail MOT on previously unseen corrosion
52. Scrap car
53. Regret later…
crazy days my friend, the impetuousness of youth…