Manual Transmission Swap

cadikiller

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Fort Collins
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I thought i would share my progress with you all. I did a j-mod which after installing ruined the 4r70w for reasons i'm still not sure on but I will not get into. I decide to say F@*k it and install a tremec 3650. Feel free to ask any questions or suggest anything. I will also be doing some other much needed modifications and replacing things that need it. If there is anything you veterans would recommend inspecting or replacing while I have the motor out please comment. Thanks
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Old Trans
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Installing a trac lok and debating suspension bushings and bracing to help with wheel hop. Thoughts?
 
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Firewall pre cutting and mounting of new clutch pedal.

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Harness extension
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Tight fit!
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Bracket with the in the process of getting the old tabs removed
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New ecm location. Mounted in three positions to the dash frame.
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powerwashed with new motor mounts
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While the motor is out I am doing front and rear main seals, pan gasket, valvecover gaskets headers, intake manifold gaskets + imrc delete plates. Any other items please recommend.
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Low mileage tremec 3650.
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Kooks headers from scp.
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All cylinder walls still showing crosshatching and no maring. oil pan spotless too.
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Imrc deletes from MMR

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F%=÷! I,gotta hand it to ya. So much more than I would ever try to undertake. Look at replacing the oil filter adapter gasket, too. You did motor mounts which would be essential. I just had mine replaced -- what a difference. Other than that, I'm no way near qualified to suggest. Good luck!
 
I did that gasket too. Is there a specific programmer/tuner you guys would recommend. I was gonna look into sct stuff.
 
John Temple of Temple Performance, MK VIII Muscle.

He installed my solid drive shaft, and produces the Terminator Bumper and does a whole shitload of performance upgrades, tuners being one of them. Great guy, and knows the cars inside and out.
 
Awesome
That's some fast work too
I've driven markviiidrea's 5 speed mark
Has headers/exaust, tune, 3.73 it's a blast
It does have some hop hopefully we'll do some bushing and braceing this winter/spring
 
Mine is just a stock base. Traffic court used to have a bench with my name on it, but my hot rod days are now long gone. I do a lot of long distance driving -- just drove from New Haven, CT to Salt Lake City, so refinery, ride, and efficiency is what turns my wheels today. And after all I've invested in my MK, the drive was exceptional -- nearly 3 days -- and I loved it.
 
I have been working on this for months in what little spare time I have. I just now decided to post it lol. I decided to keep the gears. I'm hoping the lower first gear in the 5 speed will pick it up enough off the line
Awesome
That's some fast work too
I've driven markviiidrea's 5 speed mark
Has headers/exaust, tune, 3.73 it's a blast
It does have some hop hopefully we'll do some bushing and braceing this winter/spring
.
 
More progress! I got the motor put back in and started reconnecting things. Tidied up the ecm mount installed the clutch master and the stainless braided hydraulic line. Had to use the persuader to make room for the steering shaft near the headers.
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I am glad I wrapped these the tolerance is very tight to many important items. would have liked to ceramic coat them funds permitting.
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Custom clutch hydraulic line with the thunderbird oem fitting on one end and the quick connect fitting on the other for the tremec 3650 made by the local tubes and hoses shop.
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Used some dent protector door edge molding to shore up some of the extra space in the bracket caused by leaving the retainer out which was not allowing interior panel to go back on under the steering column.
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This piece and the clutch bracket where alot of trial and error getting them to fit right in the car and would probably be different for each intallation. lots of room for improvement on design but its sturdy and snug.
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Barton short throw shifter. Got lucky and found the linkage between shifter and trans on ebay aswell!
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Here is the clearance issue between the steering rod and header. It had only mm to spare but was not touching. I beat about a 1.5" long dent in it. I was able to pound out about and extra 3/8 of an inch with it in the car but definatly would be easier outside of the car. I hope that is enough.
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This measurement is from the collector to the steering rod if you are going to install these headers on a 97-98 Mark. The primary that needs persuading is the lowest most primary on the engine side of the driver side Header. In other words the #7 cylinder primary tube.
 
What kind of a gear box did you do ? Very impressed with the workmanship. What kind of a shifter is it? Looks like its for automatics
 
Fantastic! Great creativity using the door edge molding to assist with the bracket!
Make sure you use a dial on the transmission bellhousing to ensure you have the transmission and engine lined up. If they are off you will have issues. I swapped a T56 in to My Trans Am (I bought it for my winter ride) and a dial wasn't used and it smoked the pilot bearing. My mechanic said it was my parts, replaced bearing and less than 100 miles later same thing, but this time damaged input shaft. There is lots on line. This should start you off:

“Engine block, bellhousing, flywheel, clutch and transmission input shaft must all be in perfect alignment for optimum performance,” Couture tells us. To ensure everything lines up, he suggests beginning your fact-finding mission with a dial indicator, which can be found at most auto parts/supply stores, including Harbor Freight. Dial indicators are reasonably priced and are a must for every toolbox.
 
91 lsc le, I was under the impression that with a one piece trans were the bellhouseing is not separate it was not necessary for a concentric check according to my trans guy. I could be wrong though.
 
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Crossmember location was close enough to reuse it. The Heighth from output shaft to the bottom of the transmission mount was within a 1/2 inch of the old transmission. It should line the drive shaft up the same through the tunnel. Fingers crossed.
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This extra metal was connected to the crossmember with tabs bent over through two holes cut into the crossmember. No idea why it was there from the factory.
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Welded in some new metal to accept the new bolt spacing on the trans mount.
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Really wished I would have know the tunnel would have to be modified to make room before before hand. It would have been much easier to have the dash out for the clutch pedal install.
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PITA
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New metal is about and inch taller than were the factory tunnel was. It also is flat on top to allow a proper mounting point for the shifter assembly. Interested to see how the center console and air ducting to the second row fits...
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Most of this is a factory ford linkage for the 2005-2007 mustang. Bushing, steel tube and bolt on the end of it I made custom. The bolt on very end goes through the shift rod on the back of the Tremec 3650.
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The round hole cut in the new metal is extra large. I am gonna make some sort of rubber gasket to seal between the shifter and metal.
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Went with a ram muscle car series clutch. Factory mustang flywheel behind it.

-Project is getting close. One unanswered question remains. The Tremec 3650 output shaft does not have slip yoke like the old 4R70W. It has the same 4 bold plate identical to the rear diff does. Has anybody run into this problem? Do the make a drive shaft with an inner and outer spline to allow for movement between the two? Thanks for Following!

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91 lsc le, I was under the impression that with a one piece trans were the bellhouseing is not separate it was not necessary for a concentric check according to my trans guy. I could be wrong though.
Hey Cadikiller, You raise a interesting point. I wonder how you check the alignment on a one piece, or if this is necessary? I've only done the one auto to stick and it was a T56. With the amount of issues I had, I would recommend asking two or three different transmission specialists, just to be safe. I would think that if the input shaft isn't aligned properly, you would still have issue.
 
Car is pretty much finished. It runs a drives great there are a few things left to iron out but overall the project was a success. I didn't take to many photos towards the end but started to video the process part way through instead. Here is a link to the first video!
 
Very nice
Hopefully more pics coming?
For what it's worth
My ceramic coater said he seen a lot of headers come in after being wrapped that develop cracks so he doesn't recommend wrapping.
Coating cost me $200
 
Very nice
Hopefully more pics coming?
For what it's worth
My ceramic coater said he seen a lot of headers come in after being wrapped that develop cracks so he doesn't recommend wrapping.
Coating cost me $200
Whats it feel like in 1st, and 2nd gears?
 
Very nice
Hopefully more pics coming?
For what it's worth
My ceramic coater said he seen a lot of headers come in after being wrapped that develop cracks so he doesn't recommend wrapping.
Coating cost me $200
Ya it was partially a cost based decision. I figured with the stainless it wouldn't have an issue with rust but hadn't heard about the cracking. Also I didn't realize that local guys were that cheap. Jet hot wants like 500 or more to do V8 headers
 
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Since the 3.27 rear gear is still in there it is really tall but mechanically transmission and engine work perfect. If I could do it again I would have went 3.55 or 3.73. Also the rear end is gonna need some help. Stiffer bushings and such. It wheel hops pretty easy.
 
Since the 3.27 rear gear is still in there it is really tall but mechanically transmission and engine work perfect. If I could do it again I would have went 3.55 or 3.73. Also the rear end is gonna need some help. Stiffer bushings and such. It wheel hops pretty easy.
I had a 59 corvette powerglide with a new 327 340 horse, 4 speed and the rear end was still a 3.55. It would do about 35 mph in 1st, 75 in 2nd and 95 in 3d, shift into 4th doing over 100 then up to 130 mph , it could have done more had I not backed it down. It needed a 3.7 , Had it over a year. Burned sunoco 260. Had a afb 4 barrel, very large carb. duntov hi rise cam with solid lifters. Sold it with the 3.55 . Guy Buyer hit a tree after 3 months ownership, turned the vette into slivers of fiberglass . It was terquoise , whte insert, white top. I would have put 2, 4 barrels had I keep it with the 3.7 change over.That mark is nice workmanship.
 
Nice work! I have the 3.73 w/Tracloc and I think it pairs nicely with the low gear of the Tremec.

The only difference between yours and mine is the IMRC deletes. I've been debating whether or not to do that to mine because I'm worried about losing torque, but with the bigger first gear and rear end it might be worth it.

Now you're going to need to rebuild your rear independent suspension to compensate for the extra wheel hop.
 
Hey cadikiller do you have a YouTube channel called jessepliance because there's a dude doing the same manual swap on a white mark just like yours he's got a pretty sweet lightning too just curious
 

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