Gte Auto Coupe Turns Manual

[MarkB1]

Hi,

I am in the process of gathering parts to convert my auto.

So far a round trip of 8 hours to Middlesbrough got me a box, prop shaft, diff, pedal box, fly wheel and centre consul. Other than a new clutch kit is there anything I need to be aware of or need?

Regards

Mark

[AMG]

Only other thing I can think off is that you will need to blank off the pipes to the oil cooler for the box. Just done this conversion to my Ascona B, but used a 4 speed box as per original. I had to cut the hole in the tunnel to allow the gearstick to come up, but since the 5 speed sits further back it may be OK.

I left the standard auto diff in, seems to work OK, not revving as much as I thought it would!

[paulmanta]

Spigot bearing for the centre of the crank, do not forget this, the autos never had one at all, Andy clears at Drive Vauxhall can get this.

The clutch cable, also the big lump of turned steel that goes between the clutch cable flange and the bulkhead, this lump also has a rubber sleev on it to stop vibration.

The brake master cylinder has a cable clip on the end of it to stop the clutch cable wobbling about and rubbing thorough other things, it is held on the end of the master cyl with a 13mm bolt.

The lower part of the gearbox next to the sump has a steel plate to stop crap getting in the flywheel area from the road.

Just remove the trans cooler pipes and put bungs in the radiator, it wont leak water out but it is good practice to bung it up.

In the cabin you will need to remove the starter inhibit switch system, this stops you starting the car if it is in gear, it WILL unplug and not need cutting, you can remove the wiring completely by chasing it back to the ignition switch loom and finding the plugs.

Reverse light switch will need a new wire run from the old section of autobox selector loom and this wire must be put down the drivers side of the box.

you will need a good inner and outer gearstick gaitor, the flange to hold the gaitor is not fitted to your car so you can either weld a section of tunnel off a manual car on (just a tiny hit around the hole) or make it us as you go along, it is not unusual to see auto to manual conversions that when you change gear the gaitor moves so you can see the gearbox and smells come up through.

If you have not done loads of these you can end up with a few problems, lack of starting is the most common and is caused by the inhibit switch wiring not being removed and re-routed.

[MANTAMAN]

The speedo drive cable where it enters the box is different, the Auto has an elbow, the manual curves in, cant remember if they are differnt cables, the speedo drive ratio will probably be wrong, the auto rear axel was usual the lower ratio type, the GTE gearbox set for the higher ratio axel so the speedo will read wrong, this can be cured with a differnt ratio drive unit which unbolts from the rear of the gearbox, correct ratio drive units where availble from Opel Classic Parts, Germany.

[Rapierdave]

Also remember to inform your insurance company when you do the modification.

They will probably want to know some details of when the mod was done & the donor vehicle that the parts come from.

[paulmanta]

The speedo drive in the auto will fit the manual, so no problem there in terms of ratio and telling the speedo what is what.

If you have a 90degree elbow on the speedo sender in the autobox then use it on the manual box, it saves having the cable curve sharply which puts stress on it and can cause breakages.

[Andrew Findlay]

_{A lot more work than you think. Im thinking of converting my manta sr next year.}

[MarkB1]

Thanks for all the advice, I'll try and take it all on board and get it right.

Mark

[gt/e paul]

or just save the aggro and keep it auto ,auto mantas are rare nowadays .i am just speaking from a personal point of view as i love my auto manta .i suppose its because all the others i had have been manual .