manual conversion

Getafix · tinkerer Joined: 16 Jan 2002 Posts: 146

I have a TF gemini (moderately nice condition), however its auto. i just dont think the old trimatic was designed for a 1.6l engine, so is it worth converting it (do it myself, not paying anyone to do it for me), was thinking of buying a second donor gemini which has all the manual parts already. any thoughts? I really wanna get this thing moving fast and its not going to happen with the trimatic.

thanks

Benjamin · backyard mechanic Joined: 05 Oct 2001 Posts: 525

Good idea, buy a donor. Make sure you get a 5spd though.

Adam · Site Admin Joined: 04 Oct 2001 Posts: 682

If you give the donor to me when you're finished I'll help you do the conversion.

Adam · Site Admin Joined: 04 Oct 2001 Posts: 682

If you give the donor to me when you're finished I'll help you do the conversion.

Getafix · tinkerer Joined: 16 Jan 2002 Posts: 146

that'd be mad.. well its a project i wont be able to start working on till march (working 9-5, 7 days a week atm) but yeah...im in melbourne if that screws things up for ya Smile

thanks again for the offer

Adam · Site Admin Joined: 04 Oct 2001 Posts: 682

Being in brisbane it more or less ruins it...

Getafix · tinkerer Joined: 16 Jan 2002 Posts: 146

sorry man, thanx for the offer anyway.. off the top of iyour head do you knwo if there are any differences b/w the gearboxes from the older gemini's (say TD,TE) in regards as to whether they'd fit into a TF (i know the sentence sucks) cos i think i found a donor Smile

martin · backyard mechanic Joined: 04 Oct 2001 Posts: 900

adam if i give you a TX doner will you find, purchase and put in a sr20det and some 16 inch mags and a full whiteline setup, and maybe a few g's worth of paint?

you offered Wink

Benjamin · backyard mechanic Joined: 05 Oct 2001 Posts: 525

Watch the spline of the output shaft. I covered this once recently.
My TF 4spd had a fine spline.
The 5spd (unknown origin) had coarse spline.
The TF tailshaft had to be ditched, I used the shaft from the TX which had a late model diff, but the shaft was coarse spline.
Rumour has it the lengths are different too, but I didn't notice that and I haven't had any trouble.

I am just North of Melb, I have a 4spd left over, and possibly a complete pedal set from a TX, as long as it wasn't damaged in the crash.

engagegra · rice boy Joined: 03 Dec 2001 Posts: 29

I have just converted my TD from auto to a 5 speed manual and was also under the impression that the 5s gearbox being longer than the the 4s I would have to get a 5speed tail shaft. So getting most of my parts from a donor TC 4speed I took the tail shaft to the wreckers and all the 5speed tail shaft they showed me were longer than the 4speed. Also none had the dust cover on the gearbox side. Do any 5speed T/S have one? So at the moment I have the T/S from the TC on which seems to be ok. Does anyone know the length of a 5speed tail shaft? just the tube part.
These are the lenghts I have found.
4 speed 410cm
5 speed 420cm
auto 480cm
Please correct me if I am wrong and what oil is best run in manual gearboxes? My car manual say's the same as the engine. Is this ok?
Thanks.

RJM · tinkerer Joined: 10 Oct 2001 Posts: 109

Run 80w/90w oil or better in the gbox if you want it to last for a while.