i'm new to this forum,

i just bought a tf for a daily only to have troubles with the auto. have changed the fluid to the sp-III and changed the filter, but no difference. it now likes to shift up to 3rd and the "2" lights up dim with its not gonna shift up past 3rd. it also shifts aggressively and just a being gay.

have considered the options and am strongly considering a manual conversion.

firstly i know i will need everything even changing dashes to get rid of the PRND321. my plan was to leave the TCM in and just cable tie any unwanted auto crap out of the way and use only the speed sensor and the reverse switch.

just seeing if this has been done before and if its pretty straight forward. haven't looked to see if i can bolt in a clutch pedal or master cylinder.

cheers murray

Best speaking to Madmagna re: this one, he has done many of these (including mine) - You have it all exactly right, except for the dash section. The cluster is not actually different, just one of the plastic backings will need to be swapped as the manual one has a solid bit of plastic covering those lights.

You also need to cut out a hole for the clutch master cyl in order to fit the pedal.

Automatic ECU can be kept, just need some wiring to trick the ECU into thinking its in N.

Madmagna can also provide the kit for you, see the Mitsfix forum.

Spot on. Get it done by Madmagna if you can get there.

or if your handy, you can do it yourself, save some cash

lol lowrider, not many would dare DIY MC. Including me

It's such a pain in the ass having to drive to Melbourne to get the job done for some kind of piece of mind though.

lol lowrider, not many would dare DIY MC. Including me

It's such a pain in the ass having to drive to Melbourne to get the job done for some kind of piece of mind though.

Well....depends on your skill level of course...but anyone knows handy with a spanner can do a manual conversion. Unbolt a gearbox, bolt another one, insert some driveshafts, install the 3rd pedal which is a few bolts, run a few hydraulic lines in which the bolt holes are all there for, install new shifter cables which is easy with the GB out, bypass the inhibitor switch, done....

Just remember there are mechanics in NSW that can do manual conversions......*shock horror there is more then 1*

I'm planning to DIY my manual conversion (might actually do it while MMX is on :P), as it looks extremely easy. I have my wiring sussed out, and the only drilling I need to do will be for that damn clutch pedal. Everything else should be relatively easy.
That being said, I will be hiring out an engine crane so my back/arms/neck/man boob muscles doesnt get such a caning, like when I was doing Life's gearbox *sigh*. We tried to line up the gearbox and engine with 2 jacks, wiggled the box around for about 3-4 hours before the neighbour walked out with an engine crane....

I've taken out my manual conversion kit by myself, so I know exactly where everything is meant to go. If you plan on DIYing it yourself, go check out a manual car, take lots of photos. Its not hard, just time consuming!

Yeah, I'll ring around NSW Gearbox Specialists and get some quotes.

Just don't want to do it myself because there's no guarantee on the work etc.

Well thats the thing, as you supply parts, the mechanic would question the parts rather than labour should anything go wrong. Everything is bolt in anyways. I may be able to do the actual job for NSW people in the future, so my car will be the test dummy haha

If you have all the right gear, stands, engine support bars, decent sockets and wrenches (most importantly a torque wrench) you can do it yourself.
Make sure you do it when you can afford to have the car off the road for a few days.

I did mine with engine in, too late once the auto is out, in hindsight I'd take the entire engine out, I thought I'd save time leaving it in, didn't turn out that way lol.

Yeah, I'll ring around NSW Gearbox Specialists and get some quotes.

Just don't want to do it myself because there's no guarantee on the work etc.

lol you need to do up some bolts....You'd be better off doing it yourself and taking the time, as a mechanic will rush it. And then you know 100% every nut and bolt is done up properly as you've done it yourself....then if something does go wrong, you dont have to deal with a mechanic who will 99% of the time deny it was his fault and your parts caused it. if you do the work, you admit fault, say to yourself, well, I won't do that mistake again, you fix it and move on....
I should know...Been there done that!

I did mine with engine in, too late once the auto is out, in hindsight I'd take the entire engine out, I thought I'd save time leaving it in, didn't turn out that way lol.

What was so troublesome with keeping the engine in? Drilling out the holes for the clutch master cylinder? Or putting the flywheel on?

I will have both cars side by side, maybe even change ECU and looms but at least I will have holes to go off for the clutch pedal.

I will have both cars side by side, maybe even change ECU and looms but at least I will have holes to go off for the clutch pedal.

If it's anything like the 2nd gens, the hole is clearly marked from the inside of the wall and easily poked out (I used the end of a file grinded down to a point then smacked on the other end with a hammer all the way around, cut through the firewall with ease...I did it with dash in though!)

na, looks like we'll have to do some actual drilling for this one....

na, looks like we'll have to do some actual drilling for this one....

Why's that? I couldnt get a drill in, so a long pointy file hit many times did the job so well...well...it was perfect....one BANG on the end about 20 times and you had a hole!

For starters, why butcher it with a cut of file when you can get a hole saw for about 30 bucks and cut it neatly in one shot

I know of a few Mechanics in NSW who can do these conversion but for starters they will charge near double what I do and secondly, my conversions look as close to factory as you can get them to which to some is very important. This includes the clutch line running correctly and not just dumped in the engine bay like some I have seen

Surprises me that for $470 some shudder at the cost of labour given the care that goes into the job and the final finished product including the proper fix for the cruise control if fitted etc etc. When you think about it, the amount is not much to get a proper job done and you do not have to spend countless days trying to do this yourself

As for the engine out arguement, I hvae done more of these than most here have had hot meals, if I wanted to leave the engine in I would but when you think of all of the extra fiddling around with the engine in the way, a few hoses, a cable and 1 more mount and the whole damned lot is on the floor and far easier to get access to

What was so troublesome with keeping the engine in? Drilling out the holes for the clutch master cylinder? Or putting the flywheel on?

Making sure the car is high enough for the auto to come out, getting the auto out, then getting manual back in quick enough to line it up before the weight gets too much for your arms and back (a simple rope pully attached to the engine support bar helped)
trying to hold the weight of the gearbox while avoiding popping the clutch bearing spring off is hard.
Getting cruise to work wasn't too hard, you just cut a wire going to the cruise ECU and connect both ends to the clutch switch.
Clutch lines all went in behind the firewall shield stuff no problem

It's really not that hard, just make sure you take your time and all the bolts are done up to the correct torque

how did you decide to do your inhibitor switch? You wouldnt have a wiring diagram for that?

how did you decide to do your inhibitor switch? You wouldnt have a wiring diagram for that?

You can use a test light. On the 2nd gen its the black wire with yellow trace. you can poke pins and get your mate to hit the starter, one of the wires will light up. you then need to cut that out of the loom and join it directly to the starter motor wire. (which again should be black/yellow on a 2nd gen, sorry for no 3rd gen knowledge:()

if you wanted to do it nicer you could get another plug and loop the wires then plug it in...

madmagna

what would you charge to do the conversion.

how did you decide to do your inhibitor switch? You wouldnt have a wiring diagram for that?

The wiring diagrams are available on the forum in the Magna Manuals, do a search..
The inhibitor plug wiring is the same for the TF as the TH but the Cruise ECU plug is different as are the wire colours (on mine anyway), I can't remember off the top of my head which wire it was to cut for the cruise/clutch switch but could have a look if need be.

The best option would be (I didn't do this) instead of bridging the inhibitor wires in the engine bay, bridge them via the clutch switch in the car, you've then killed two birds with one stone..

For starters, why butcher it with a cut of file when you can get a hole saw for about 30 bucks and cut it neatly in one shot

I know of a few Mechanics in NSW who can do these conversion but for starters they will charge near double what I do and secondly, my conversions look as close to factory as you can get them to which to some is very important. This includes the clutch line running correctly and not just dumped in the engine bay like some I have seen

Surprises me that for $470 some shudder at the cost of labour given the care that goes into the job and the final finished product including the proper fix for the cruise control if fitted etc etc. When you think about it, the amount is not much to get a proper job done and you do not have to spend countless days trying to do this yourself

$470 is a great price, if you were in Sydney I'd already have a manual car. It's just the trouble of driving down to Vic and finding accommodation. That being said I'll most likely head down anyway lol

I charge as state above $470 for the labour plus parts of course

For those I know, I am happy for people to crash here at my place anyway :)

just looked at it today (as i don't get alot of time/ i'm lazy when i want to be) and the lpg wires run through a grommit where i presume my master cylinder to go. as for removing the engine not keen. can you gat away with removing the inlet manifold and that would allow you to get a drill in there. also my old boy has these punches that you drill a centre hole and wind an allen key through the hole into a punch and the allen key pulls it through the steel into a corresponding punch and it leaves a very neat hole i might use one of those for the centre hole. i'm yet to get my donor car but yeah i plan to remove all my old shiz and put the new computer in with its loom if possible. haven't pulled a loom out before shouldn't be hard just mark everything


i'm guessing there is no computer differance between te and tf both 6g72's

just looked at it today (as i don't get alot of time/ i'm lazy when i want to be) and the lpg wires run through a grommit where i presume my master cylinder to go. as for removing the engine not keen. can you gat away with removing the inlet manifold and that would allow you to get a drill in there. also my old boy has these punches that you drill a centre hole and wind an allen key through the hole into a punch and the allen key pulls it through the steel into a corresponding punch and it leaves a very neat hole i might use one of those for the centre hole. i'm yet to get my donor car but yeah i plan to remove all my old shiz and put the new computer in with its loom if possible. haven't pulled a loom out before shouldn't be hard just mark everything


i'm guessing there is no computer differance between te and tf both 6g72's

The dreaded LPG wires through the master cylinder whole hehe..
I extended mine and routed them through the gear cable grommet.

yeah i can do that, as for engine removal i can but not keen at all massive amount of heater hoses now.

can you drill with manifold off

To do a proper job you should remove the engine, lets face it, it is only a few more bolts once the trans is out and is also far easier to remove the trans from the engine while it is out of the car as the k frame is out of the way then

With the engine out you can also run the clutch lines in the correct place, unless of course you dont mind it looking dodgy once put together

okay i'd be happy to hand over $470 for you to do it but i'm north of sydney and i couldn't make it down in time to have it done. so lets assume i will do it myself. when i removed the auto to replace the welsh plugs i couldn't get the right shaft out of the extension on the block so i unbolted it from the block and moved it a bit out of the diff. so to remove engine and trans you remove the bonnet? and remove it engine up first angle???

Yep, bonnet off, engine up first angle. Remember to remove the torque convertor bolts before removing engine/trans from car.
Be wary of the balancer on the chassis rail and be prepared to push down a little on the trans whilst lifting to get the angle right.
Not overly difficult, can be done by one person.
Good luck.

Lift the engine out once the bonnet is off

The intermediate shaft needs to come off anyway so may as well just take it our to begin with

The wiring needed is as below

Inhibitor Switch connect Black/yellow and Black/Red together

Reverse connect Black/white wire to the red wire on the reverse light plug the red/blue wire to the red/blue wire on the plug

hey mal, whats your solution to those with cruise control?

okay well donor box it out new clutch kit to come.
new holes are drilled in the firewall. (there are press marks in the inside of the firewall. i used a 90degree air drill. i saw removing the engine not practical on the auto car. the donor car won't be going back together.)
manual computer and loom is out not all that big only 2 plugs on the box and the dizzy, temps and tps etc
hoping my auto mounts are the same as the manual ones are shagged
i've got spares if people need them cv's, disc's, calipers, struts, abs gear, doors windows etc