how hard is it to convert a 81-87 regal to manual trans? what would be the easiest route to go...im almost positive SOMEONE on here has done the conversion..thx alot.
How easy? Well.....It takes a little dedication and some savy parts searching. O, a little luck helps too. I'm a Dummy and I did it. At first I used a New Process A-833 OD trans that I got for free, a $88 dollar Buick 350 Flywheel, and a totaled 80ish ElCamino that Was $100. So in its first incarnation, I did the stick conversion for a little over $200. I eventually shelled out alot more for a ST-10 Trans and a Hays Clutch. My 85 Regal is currently engineless and likely out of the picture for the next year or so. But anyway, I'd say your biggest obstacle is rounding up the G-body specific stuff. Thats the Pedals, Linkages, Bell, and Clutch fork. When you round that stuff up, your halfway home. A regular BOP bell can be cheaply modified to work, as can a regular automatic steering column. Good luck on your project. :3gears:
Buick Centuries also came with them aswell. I'd seriously look into going hydrallic clutch and using 4th Gen F-body stuff and a Howe universal hydrallic throwout bearing. Those pedals and linkages are extremely hard to find these days.
Although I have not done the swap yet, I have been collecting the parts to do it. My bellhousing came from a '78-'79 Cutlass and the pedals came from a ElCamino. The pedals are on Ebay most of the time and will run about $200 or so with all the linkage and z-bar unless they have went up since last summer. I still need to get a clutch, flywheel and the T-5. Maybe this summer? :3gears: Ken
Yea, it's still in the works! I just have been busy and the TH350 that is in the car works perfect. But now I'm driving the car alot more and with the gas prices going up again I want that overdrive in there. Are you building another 350 for yours or are you doing a 455 this time? Ken
Unfortunatley, as it sits, I really don't have a clue what to do. My wife goes back to work in the summer so I may be able to quit crying poverty on the thing. But that still won't mean I can drop $8000 under the hood. So it all depends what turns up next spring. Till then, I'm grounded
Lots of great info on the swap at this site!: http://garage-scene.home.att.net/t5_install.htm Early 80's El-Caminos had optional manual trannys... Pedals are reproduced, so they're available new! One of the most difficult aspects of the swap is having enough room for the clutch fork, the originals used a 'bent' fork that angles down sharply. Another method is to cut a new 'window' in the bellhousing, and mount the pivot ball lower, so the fork comes out at the 5 o'clock position instead of the 3 o'clock position (when viewed from the front). A friend is using this method on a 5 speed-nailhead-powered regal he's building :bglasses:
