Manual conversion

[GlennBA]

Originally Posted by Smoked

Maybe an issue with the Climate Control, but Im not to sure.

no i doubt there would be... you change the ECU to manual a manual one, not the BEM. The ECU is then coded to your existing BEM via both sets of car keys and a WDS like computer, so i'm going to bet that it'll go into a fairmont no worries.

[Abacus]

What about just using a shift kit:

Shift Kits

Do these work?

Would you get comparable results to doing a manual conversion with a lot less pain, or are they just BS?

[jonbays]

Originally Posted by Abacus

What about just using a shift kit:

Shift Kits

Do these work?

Would you get comparable results to doing a manual conversion with a lot less pain, or are they just BS?

Not complete BS but not the answer.

I have one but don't bothe with it at all except for a few runs down the drag strip.

Manual conversions are expensive and fiddly and not worth it unless you are seriously into rally or road racing. Then you should have bought a manual in the first place. For a really good street and drag strip performining six cyl auto you really can not go past just fitting a hi stall converter and a 3.9 diff to your auto. It will make a big difference.

[StealthAu]

where in the auto does the 3.9 diff gears fit?

[GlennBA]

Originally Posted by jonbays

Manual conversions are expensive and fiddly and not worth it unless you are seriously into rally or road racing. Then you should have bought a manual in the first place. For a really good street and drag strip performining six cyl auto you really can not go past just fitting a hi stall converter and a 3.9 diff to your auto. It will make a big difference.

"fiddly and not worth it"..
"should have bought a manual in the first place".. When you own a great example of a falcon that you've spent a lot on to get it right how you want it, its definately worth it in my opinion. Also something like 95% of falcon forte's sold were auto. Good luck finding one, and good luck finding a tidy one if you do find one. If you source parts over time its not as expensive as you think. There are cost effective ways to go about these things. I don't regret the decision at all.. it took all of about 5 hours to convert over and i still get to keep my pride and joy and have more fun with it than ever! :
Hi stall sounds bad though for "good street performance". Taking off everywhere from high rpm isn't very economical at all..

[jonbays]

Originally Posted by stockoau

where in the auto does the 3.9 diff gears fit?

Diff gears go in the diff the differential in the back axle.

[jonbays]

Originally Posted by GlennAUII

"fiddly and not worth it"..
"should have bought a manual in the first place".. When you own a great example of a falcon that you've spent a lot on to get it right how you want it, its definately worth it in my opinion. Also something like 95% of falcon forte's sold were auto. Good luck finding one, and good luck finding a tidy one if you do find one. If you source parts over time its not as expensive as you think. There are cost effective ways to go about these things. I don't regret the decision at all.. it took all of about 5 hours to convert over and i still get to keep my pride and joy and have more fun with it than ever! :
Hi stall sounds bad though for "good street performance". Taking off everywhere from high rpm isn't very economical at all..

Glad your happy with the conversion mate. If you found it easy and cheap then it was worth it for you.

I just don't think it would have been worthwhile if you needed to pay someone to install it or make it all work properly though.

[GlennBA]

Originally Posted by jonbays

Glad your happy with the conversion mate. If you found it easy and cheap then it was worth it for you.

I just don't think it would have been worthwhile if you needed to pay someone to install it or make it all work properly though.

wouldn't you need to pay someone to get the diff gears or high stall in?

[Racecraft]

Originally Posted by jonbays

I just don't think it would have been worthwhile if you needed to pay someone to install it or make it all work properly though.

Pay someone to rebuild a BTR properly then try and tell me a T5 conversion is more expensive

[Abacus]

Are the BTR rebuild costs for the sixes and the eights about the same?

[StealthAu]

jonbays, I was taking the ****

[jonbays]

Originally Posted by GlennAUII

wouldn't you need to pay someone to get the diff gears or high stall in?

If you have a decent auto thats not stuffed then all you need to do is buy a hi stall converter $350 plus a coller $150 get it fitted $300 and 3.9 gears $1500 with a LSD centre.

That would be $2500 max all up and it would all go well no other issues.

Now a manual conversion from a wrecker is $1500. Thats a second hand box not reco. fit it all up change the ecu and get it coded to your BEM or fool it with resistors. changeover the pedal assembly and console. R & R the transmission. etc etc

Fiddly is what I call it.

[GlennBA]

Originally Posted by jonbays

That would be $2500 max all up and it would all go well no other issues.

Mine goes well and it cost less than that fitted, and the car it came from had only done 64,000km. Like i said, a few hours work and it was complete. Hardly fiddly, it was fun
Not to mention that after the manual was fitted i took it to the drags to compare, the car had picked up a clean second off the 1/4 mile time when it was auto. Its still running the 3.08 single spinner too. :1syellow1

[Obriza]

Originally Posted by jonbays

If you have a decent auto thats not stuffed then all you need to do is buy a hi stall converter $350 plus a coller $150 get it fitted $300 and 3.9 gears $1500 with a LSD centre.

That would be $2500 max all up and it would all go well no other issues.

Now a manual conversion from a wrecker is $1500. Thats a second hand box not reco. fit it all up change the ecu and get it coded to your BEM or fool it with resistors. changeover the pedal assembly and console. R & R the transmission. etc etc

Fiddly is what I call it.

I really don't think the manual conversion would be quite that expensive... Even though my car was already manual i got a gearbox fitted and everything from a wrecker for $800 I know the conversion would probably cost more, but i don't think it would be quite that much more.

[Abacus]

Do the gearboxes have to be from an AU. or are the EF/EL ones the same?

Are the ratios the same for sixes and eights?

[jonbays]

Too many dreamers here for me!

Just trying to give some helpful advice guys.

Glenn you have done it a few hours well good for you. 1/2 a second off the qtr mile almost a certainty too whether you go manual or his tall and lower diff. The real difference is the highway cruise and economy gain the manual wil get over the auto.

I think most people will find it takes longer to do a conversion and a lot longer than a few hours.

obriza $800 for a second hand exchange gearbox fair enough. How about outright with all the conversion parts? $200 more i don't think so!

Do a conversion if you like just don't be fooled it's the only option or a cheap and easy option

[atec77]

Originally Posted by Obriza

Hi im posting this for a friend of mine. He is thinking of converting his au to manual, and he is wondering what parts are needed for such a conversion.
Also he wants to know what good places there are that do this kind of thing around the south east area of Melbourne.
Thanks
Daniel

why not add one of the electronic kits and see if you like the improvement , maybe a converter and diff gears would be for you ?
email me if you need the information to make your own kit ( I have el info only)

[Abacus]

I've rented a BF XR6 for a couple of days while my LPG installation happens.

The +/- gate seems to be the best all round soution.

I know a few guys have done conversions to their AUs with varying levels of success, particularly as far as aesthetics go. It would be wonderful if somebody could commercialise a decent factory-looking conversion for this.

[JC]

Originally Posted by Abacus

I've rented a BF XR6 for a couple of days while my LPG installation happens.

The +/- gate seems to be the best all round soution.

I know a few guys have done conversions to their AUs with varying levels of success, particularly as far as aesthetics go. It would be wonderful if somebody could commercialise a decent factory-looking conversion for this.

There is one on the way, utilising the ESS buttons on selected Momo wheels. The biggest hurdle to date is the fact that the non-T series autos have a standard solenoid, which will not hold first gear (it finds neutral at about 50km/h). The T series cars had a different solenoid, so it can be done, but cost is up around $1000, instead of the $450 we were hoping for (which includes a brand new Momo with shoft buttons).

I had the BA shifter in the AU, and it worked well till I burnt through the cable - my bad for not fitting heatshield in the first place. And I've now even figured out a way to avoid the need to cut up the console, so it can be done so it looks factory as well.

[Abacus]

Originally Posted by JC

There is one on the way, utilising the ESS buttons on selected Momo wheels. The biggest hurdle to date is the fact that the non-T series autos have a standard solenoid, which will not hold first gear (it finds neutral at about 50km/h). The T series cars had a different solenoid, so it can be done, but cost is up around $1000, instead of the $450 we were hoping for (which includes a brand new Momo with shoft buttons).

I had the BA shifter in the AU, and it worked well till I burnt through the cable - my bad for not fitting heatshield in the first place. And I've now even figured out a way to avoid the need to cut up the console, so it can be done so it looks factory as well.

You are a very talented man, JC...

[Edit] I don't know about using buttons on the steering wheel though. I could see me getting in a hell of a mess trying to change gears while spinning the wheel through a corner. I'm having enough problems with the radio and cruise controls on the XR rent-a-fang.

[JC]

Originally Posted by Abacus

You are a very talented man, JC...

Nah, not me. I'm just the bunny testing the auto I6 version!

[Abacus]

Any updates on the ESS steering wheel conversion?

Is there any way a B&M shifter can be adapted to the job?

B&M Shifter Catalogue