it's the time of the year... aka MANUAL conversion time :)

[crazydriver81]

As I have announced it in the other thread already - it is time to convert my car to manual transmission. I am bored of the AT and a manual gearbox suits a performance car very well.

I tried to obtain the parts but with only little success - so I ended up buying a factory manual car from 2001 from Japan. This makes -4000 EUR (car inc shipping, tax and customs) on my account.

However, I have purchased a 2001 Legnum VR-4 Type-S with genuine and certified 88000kms on the clock. Car runs sweet, no noisy tappets, starts first time, no unusual noises - just perfect. Bodywork needs some TLC though. And it came with a HKS catback system fitted. Best point to it is - THERE IS NO RUST AT ALL!

And here it is:
IMG_0210 (87).jpgIMG_0195 (72).jpgIMG_0198.jpgIMG_0204.jpgIMG_0206.jpg

As you can see, the pre-owner was fan of a massive speaker setup, amplifier and instead of a rear view mirror a big screen. Some LED things here and there etc. Unfortunately he had cut the door cards as well for speakers which aren't there anymore. I am curious to see what else I might find.


The plan is now to swap gearbox and other parts. Now I need to buy everything which is necessary to do a cambelt change while engine is out.

I am not sure yet whether I break this car or sell it on afterwards. We will see how all goes. Stay tuned, I will post updates in this thread as soon as there are some.

[Nick Mann]

Have fun! Yours is a pre-facelift IIRC? But you facelifted it? There are issues with the TCL and ASC when converting a prefacelift car, so if the engine is coming out too, maybe you would benefit from looking at the differences in the wiring looms?

[MarkSanne]

Great project Stefan! I'll follow this with great interest, as always

[crazydriver81]

So, for a while nothing has happened here. Other obligations.

We had a quick spin in the car from Japan and Jesus this thing is sick. I am in love with the manual version! Of course the BOV currently installed helps with a nice "pshh".

But now I have ordered the usual stuff for a cambelt service, new spark plugs, seals, oils etc. All parts should be with me by mid of the month and then we are going to start.

I also picked some oils from Mannol this time, due to the nonavailability of Amsoil ATF. It says fully sunthetic and SPIII compliant. The Legnum from Japan will be converted to automatic gearbox and will get a full service prior to be sold on to a guy here in Germany. So it will live on - fully serviced!

I also noticed that I need to buy a new radiator as the VR-4 one is cracked at the top tank. So this is another couple of quid to be added. Luckily my car has fitted a manual Golpher rad already,

That's it for now. We plan to have the swap finished by end of June. Fingers crossed!

[crazydriver81]

Oh, and I forgot. Once we are there, we will of course improve the things we are at. I have ordered brass shifter cable bushings and a short shift kit will be installed as well!

[crazydriver81]

Have fun! Yours is a pre-facelift IIRC? But you facelifted it? There are issues with the TCL and ASC when converting a prefacelift car, so if the engine is coming out too, maybe you would benefit from looking at the differences in the wiring looms?

Cheers for the heads up Nick! You are right - I FL'ed my car.

You probably remember, that my car was a 25ST-R from factory. At the time we swapped loom and engine, these parts came from a FL car without TCL.The manual car is a FL without TCL as well. I have taken care of that. So with swapping engine loom and ECU(s) it should work fine without pitfalls me thinks. The only thing which is not clear yet it the gear display in the gauge cluster. Have they prepared it in the loom, also with the manual cars or not...

[adaxo]

Im not sure how hard it would be to convert manual to auto as theres A LOT extra wires needed to run auto box.

[crazydriver81]

Im not sure how hard it would be to convert manual to auto as theres A LOT extra wires needed to run auto box.

I know Adam. But to my knowledge these wires are only part of the engine bay loom (as they run between auto box and TCU and till gear stick). With swapping the looms it should work. Normally you just skip the AT box and replace it by a MT box, which makes the additional wires useless.

[crazydriver81]

It took a time - but finally the project started and is targeted to be finished on Sunday. The current poor state of my car... But it has been prepared to swap parts and get easy access to everything.
IMG_0262.JPG

A time back I already purchased parts for a manual conversion from @Ralliart1 Csaba. All these parts have been cleaned and prepared for install as well. I also replaced the worn shifter cable bushings by some SS ball bearings and installed the short shift gear lever. So this has been prepared as well already.
IMG_0263.JPG

I also scrapped the three 52mm gauges I had in the clock bay. The 52mm gauges are simply too big to view everything.
Foto592.jpg

As I like the "stealth look" of theses gauges in the clock bay I will replace them with three 45mm stepper motor gauges from Prosport.
IMG_0267.JPG


Stay tuned, there will certainly be an update after the weekend - with a clear answer if a MT car can be converted to an AT car... figers crossed, otherwise I have to sell spare parts.

[MarkSanne]

Nice find these 45mm gauges Stefan! I switched over to 3 digital 30mm gauges. Sure it works and is stealthy too, but at the same time it looks a bit 'back to the future', and I much rather have real gauges.

Going to be an interesting week! Good luck!

[crazydriver81]

So finally - both cars have been converted and the ex-manual now AT Legnum drove out of the workshop yesterday. So yes - a manual car can become an AT car. Ownly downside - you will not have a gear display. It is a separate loom we could have taken out of my car but we did not bother at all.

Unfortunately, my car would not start. The starter motor magnetic switch does not engage. Upon checking the wiring, we found that my loom does miss the starter signal switch cable in the respectlive, grey plug under the engine bay fuses (which is part of the car loom which goes out to the under bonnet fuses). So, we were not able to start the car yesterday evening. Inside the car all wires fitted and even the manual engine loom had the right plug and pins were correct. ACC works and when turning key to on, you could here the fuel pump running.

Does anybody know about the differences for the starter switch between AT and MT cars @GalantOnly @swinks @Nick Mann @MarkSanne?

Pictures to follow...

[MarkSanne]

Great work Stefan! Sorry I can't be of much direct help with the started switch, I did not expect this to be an issue. The majority of the conversions done here in NL are VR2, and usually it's starting as a manual V6 N/A where a VR4 lump is built into, which will have the correct starter motor and loom by default... That said... I have bought my old VR4 engine back a year ago (auto-box originally) and the wiring loom used (and included with the motor) was the VR4 loom... I'll dig it up tonight and see if I see any obvious changes made to the starter-plug and/or it's switch.

[crazydriver81]

Thanks for offering your help @MarkSanne! Problem has been solved meanwhile! We solved it by running a separate wire from the inside (ign barrel) to the plug below the fusebox. And voilá - car starts and runs!

The issue was, that on my ST-R AT car loom, the starter switch signal was not present (it is the grey plug under the engine fuse box, where a pin from car side was missing). I am not sure how wires are running for AT and manual cars, but in fact AT cars use another systematic to engage the starter motor then the manual cars do. It is nothing VR-4 specific as the AT gearbox with VR-4 engine was running fine with my ST-R car loom beforehand. I think there must be differences in general between car looms from AT and MT cars.

What has been done over the weekend is basically taking out engines to swap looms and clutch lines and all the stuff needed for manual conversion etc. Make a full cambelt service and put the cars back together. All hours counted it needed 30 hours of labor. Luckily, everything was present to just bolt all parts together. No fabricating needed.

Conclusion:
So yes, my car is a MT car now and the ex-MT car is an AT car now. Engine looms have been changed with the addition of one wire, to engage starter motor on the ex-AT car. Ex-MT car does miss the plug and wires for the gear display for AT but it is a separate plug below the radio. If you fancy, you can swap this as well and then the gear display will be present too (dashboard has to come out, so we did not bother and left it in my car).

[Louis]

Do you have your dream car ?

[crazydriver81]

Do you have your dream car ?

Now it is my dream car But it was a hard long way to that stage!

The MT brings this car into another world of driving pleasure.

[Nick Mann]

Nice job!
The AT cars need a signal through the gearbox inhibitor switch to start which probably explains the difference.
Enjoy!

[crazydriver81]

Nice job!
The AT cars need a signal through the gearbox inhibitor switch to start which probably explains the difference.
Enjoy!

Thanks Nick! I'll certainly enjoy the car more than ever before now.