81 corvette crossmember auto to manual

[KELLEY1]

Hello everyone, what an awesome site. I am new here. I have a 81' auto, I am going to do a 4 or 5 speed swap. I have not bought any parts yet, wanting to get all the information right so I dont waste money. Is the auto and manual crossmember the same? If not, will a 69-early 70 direct bolt to frame? reason being, I noticed they have provisions for the dual exhaust. Also are all 68-82 pedal assemblies the same? I was told 80-82 were different being they are smaller? Is the z bar frame mount bolted or welded? any more iformation on this swap will be helpful. Thanks, Kelley1

 

[73shark]

Welcome to the CAC. I'll bet someone here can help.

 

[LVMYVT76]

There are venders that have a complete change-over kit, where you don't have to look for any of the parts. Check with Hurst Driveline Conversions, 760-438-2244. ANP Performance 888-878-8741. Keisler Engineering, 888-609-0053, they had a write up in Corvette Fever in December, showing how they made some of the parts etc. Good Luck!

 

[bill81vette]

Welcome to CAC!!!
I would have to look at the AIM to see if the is a note or something like that for the auto's vs 4 speeds.

 

[82CorvetteCE]

Auto to Manual Conversion

Check out Canney's Corvette at Canney Family Corvette makes a transmission

He did the conversion and shows how he did it.
The '81 Corvette has tapped holes in the frame to bolt the Z-bar bracket to the frame.
The Z-bar bracket can be purchased from Corvette parts suppliers.
Crucial is finding the hole where the clutch rod goes through the firewall.


Canney used his but he had to find the 80-81 shifter bracket to the crossmember.

I'm planning at a later date to do the same and I managed to get an '81 Corvette manual trans crossmember. I also picked up an '81 manual driveshaft. Other parts in the arsenal is the Z-bar frame bracket, Z-bar and associated clutch linkages, bellhousing with clutch fork, manual trans starter, Corvette 4 speed shifter for a M-22, clutch/brake pedal assembly w/ neutral safety switch, M-22 with reverse light switch, correct speedo gear. (Hopefully, the M-22's shifter will fit properly in the top console plate where the shifter passes through as think in 80-81 they used a Borg Warner Super T-10 and the shifter is shorter from pre-80 models)

Might also want to view Noel Carboni's 82 Corvette at:
Noel Carboni's 1982 Collector Edition Corvette

 

[KELLEY1]

I did get in touch with canney, very helpful. He used his original crossmember. must be the same for auto and manual. He also said he used a universal joint from summit to adapt the auto drive shaft to the 4 speed. Also, the 80-81 cars do have different pedals! they are smaller because of the driver foot area is smaller. Thanks for the help!

 

[82CorvetteCE]

80-81 Corvette Trans Crossmember 4 Speed Shifter Bracket

Noticed on eBay right now, there are a couple of those hard-to-find 80-81 4-speed shifter brackets for the crossmember.
I bought Canney's spare one since at the time, couldn't find one.

My '82's foot area around the clutch/brake pedals does seem a bit more narrow compared to the '76 Corvette 4-speed I use to have.
Volunteer Vette shows their conversion kit fits 68-81 Corvettes and Classic Motorsports Group's kit diagram at http://www.classicchevy5speed.com/f...1968_82_Corvette_clutch_pedal_and_linkage.pdf
shows the same....guess it would be safer to get the specific 80-81 ones to be sure.
My '82 although that year only came with automatics, has the two threaded holes for the Z-bar bracket to the frame which bolts to the frame. Yours should have them and the Z-bar bracket is readily available. Be sure to also get the small retainer for the bracket to keep the Z-bar from sliding out of the bracket.
Since I have a set of C3 clutch/brake assembly, I'll tackle the problem when I install it.

If I didn't have an M-22, I would opt for a 5-speed with the overdrive & big ratio 1st gear so would not have to change the rear differential to a 3:54 plus with the overdrive you would have fuel savings and less stops at the gas station which saves $$$'s in the long run.

 

[KELLEY1]

68-81 pedals will work, but 80-81 were smaller pedals. I just bought a shifter bracket off ebay, thought they would be hard to get, but they are several on there since I have been searching. I wish I could afford a 5 speed conversion, but the borg warner will have to do for now.

 

[82CorvetteCE]

On The Right Track

You can check out Volunteer Corvettes on-line catalogue at:
Clutch Pedal Linkage 78-82 | Volunteer Vette Corvette Parts

They show the Z-bar to frame bracket for the 78-82 Corvette @$15 and the crossbar stud retainer for $2.


Another crucial part is the neutral safety switch & the brake pedal's cruise control switch if the cruise control is still used. Both switches are mounted on the clutch/brake pedal assembly.


Seen a few clutch pedal conversion kits with the pedals only for the conversion and was wondering if the automatic's pedal bracket is the same as the manual one & can stay in place and just replace the pedals with the manual ones to eliminate the task of removing the pedal bracket & power brake booster/master cylinder.
I would imagine putting back the spring tensioner on the brake pedal would be difficult, but not impossible, with the bracket still in the car if this pedal swap was possible. The automatic's pedal bracket will have the cruise control bracket to the brake pedal, but may be missing the the threaded bolt/screw hole to retain the neutral safety switch to the clutch pedal, which can be solved by drilling and tapping one in.

 

[pbcanney]

wow.. people are really reading that? cool. I only wish I'd documented stuff more than I did and took more detail pictures...

 

[82CorvetteCE]

Rear Differential

Aloha Paul,

You have a very informative website, The Canney Family Corvette. I was especially in a dither about the hole in the firewall where the clutch pedal pushrod goes to the Z-bar & it was a relief to find out there's a ready-made hole from the factory.

I was the guy who bought your spare '81 4-speed shifter bracket a while back...what a small world !

Noticed in your profile description, you've got a 3:55 differential.

Question: Was there a pinion crush sleeve in your '81 rear differential between the pinion bearings ?
Think the 80-82 differential cases are different from 68-79's where the pre-80's have the crush sleeve & the 80-82's don't.

Plan to put a 3:54 in my '82 when I switch over to a 4-speed setup so just want to be prepared. Still waiting for my 700-R4 to go under.

Thanks for the help.
Ken

 

[KELLEY1]

That 82 CE is one bad corvette. All it takes is money:W As far as the pedal housing, I do know the pedal housing is the same. I have talked to several that has done the pedal swap in the car, and they all said it was very time consuming. I think I am going to try that route instead of the whole swap. If any of you try it first, be sure to post. I will do the same.

 

[82CorvetteCE]

Hey, thanks for the info on the auto pedal bracket. One more option for a solution to installing the clutch/brake pedals for the 4-speed.

The Canney Corvette is one mean machine with his 383/4-speed/3:55.

The Canney Family Corvette shows the clutch rod hole in the firewall which can be seen from the driver-side passenger compartment to the right of the fuse box. The steel firewall has a hole in it with a fiberglass surface behind it. Just have to grind the fiberglass out of the hole with a Dremel.
It's kinda tight to drill the (3)holes to mount the clutch rod boot from the engine side of the firewall with the brake booster in the way so might be easier to drill them from the passenger side with the pedals off & before the pedals go in to have more space to work. Using the actual boot's holes to setup the template since the location of holes will be same on the reverse side of the firewall.

When I tackle the conversion, the stock 5.7L & 700-R4 is coming out to get more room to get the conversion parts in. An old school '69 Z-28 302 w/ a single idler gear drive & M-22 will take its place in addition to a 140 mph speedo.

Your Borg Warner Super T-10 is a good choice as its first gear is a wide ratio so it will help launch your '81 off the line without touching the stock differential- gear multiplication in the trans.
On mine with the close ratio M-22, will have to do a gear switch from the 2:87 to a 3:54 especially with the short stroked 302- gear multiplication in the rear end.

 

[pbcanney]

Aloha Paul,

You have a very informative website, The Canney Family Corvette. I was especially in a dither about the hole in the firewall where the clutch pedal pushrod goes to the Z-bar & it was a relief to find out there's a ready-made hole from the factory.

I was the guy who bought your spare '81 4-speed shifter bracket a while back...what a small world !

Noticed in your profile description, you've got a 3:55 differential.

Question: Was there a pinion crush sleeve in your '81 rear differential between the pinion bearings ?
Think the 80-82 differential cases are different from 68-79's where the pre-80's have the crush sleeve & the 80-82's don't.

Plan to put a 3:54 in my '82 when I switch over to a 4-speed setup so just want to be prepared. Still waiting for my 700-R4 to go under.

Thanks for the help.
Ken

Aloha Ken!

The rear end was upgraded when my son Jason had the car. He had it rebuilt in Denver when he was having Van Steel rebuild the trailing arms. So I don't know the specifics.

I was just thinking about your conversion recently and tried to find our correspondence to see where you were with it. It is a small world.. after all..

Oh gawd.. that song will be stuck in my head all day now..

 

[82CorvetteCE]

Our Toys

It inspires me that you got your '81 Corvette together with the 383/Super T-10/3:55....must be a thrilla from the 400+ ft. lb. gorilla to get behind the wheel !

Plan to do the conversion later this year.
Was thinking of getting the 383 stroke kit, but the guy who bought my '63 Corvette roadster some 35 years was selling a 40 year old new '69 large journal '69 302 so couldn't resist it.
Still pondering over which way to go for the 302's cam; Hydraulic or solid - mild or wild.
It's the rainy season here so waiting 'til summer to refinish the paint with acrylic lacquer; chose the '69 Z-28 Fathom Green, a dark green with fine silver metallic. Original decals & paint taken down to the factory primer with no surprises. Planning to take everything off and re-do the weatherstrips & refinish all the nook & crannies on the body especially the door jambs. Might put the Z-28 front grille/rear panel & 302 hood emblems on to make it a quirky Corvette.

Putting together the 302 in the meantime; new NOS GM block, new 1178 crank, Pink O-rods, new TRW L2209 11:1's from Smokey Yunick, Total Seal rings, GM 340292 64cc angle plug heads. single idler gear drive, 7.25 Fluiddampr, serpentine system off an '84. Depending on the cam selection- either the modified Crossfire Injection with 52mm TBI throttle bores and ECM 1227747 w/ Moates Ostrich chip emulator or to make things a lot simpler, Holley 650DP with a GM HEI with adjustable vacuum & advance curve from my toy box. The cam selection will determine the intake system.

After all above done, the 3:54 Dana 44 ring & pinion goes in & finally it's done !

Should call this on-going project: '82 Z-28 Corvette CE
Wish Chip Foose would do the "Overhaulin'" so I could say "Where's my car ?"

Hope to get it done before the Mayan calendar ends on Dec. 21, 2012 so at least I'll have a year to enjoy this ride.

 

[Peer81]

Question: Was there a pinion crush sleeve in your '81 rear differential between the pinion bearings ?
Think the 80-82 differential cases are different from 68-79's where the pre-80's have the crush sleeve & the 80-82's don't.
Ken

You're correct, pre 80 uses a crush sleeve 80/82 alu diff's uses shims.

Groeten Peter

 

[82CorvetteCE]

You're correct, pre 80 uses a crush sleeve 80/82 alu diff's uses shims.

Groeten Peter

Thanks Groeten for the handy info.
One less thing to worry about when I start wrestling with the rear...makes it easier without the crush sleeve.

Ken

 

[pbcanney]

Ken/Andy (Kelly1)

I've said it before and I'll say it again that going to the manual trans was the single most seat in the pants fun decision I made. When I bought mine in 1995 it was a tired stock L81 automatic with the (yawn) stock rear end.

When I gave it to my son he made most of the changes I had planned, and only because his wife became pregnant did I 'get it back' earlier than I expected. (oh the sacrifices we make for our children).

Although it was quicker and torque-ier, it was still a little bit of a yawner to stick it in [D] and go.

Now with the 4 speed it's more like driving a sports car should be. I'm okay with the stock '79 BW. A 5 or 6 speed may be in it's future but, I need to focus on getting the nose replaced and the car painted. (which will happen in my garage)

I have a nose already, the problem is.. it's such a blast to drive, I hate to put it up on blocks .. I mean.. when I'm behind the wheel.. I can't see the nose anyways

 

[82CorvetteCE]

Keisler Engineering Tremec TKO500-600 Kit

Hi Paul,

Here's the ultimate toy- a 5 speed tranny kit for a 68-82 that comes with everything to install and has a 3.27 1st gear with a .68 overdrive 5th:
Keisler Tremec TKO 500 5 speed PF Corvette Transmission : eBay Motors (item 150331637445 end time Apr-04-10 12:15:13 PDT)

Re-doing the paint with acryliic lacquer from TCP Globals's Restoration Shop in California at: Restoration Shop - Quality Automotive Paint

There's a color chart with a drop down menu for the year/make/model and either urethane or acrylic lacquer.
I bought the Restoration Shop's own lacquer @$199 a gal as the Dupont Durcryl was $500+ @gal.
Had to buy it from California as Honolulu has only one paint supplier for acrylic lacquer and they wanted $400 @gal.
Lacquer is easier to work with as it dries quickly and mistakes can be just sanded out. It is toxic so use a good respirator to filter chemicals. Airborne overspray lacquer quickly dries to dust a few feet from the surface.
Don't know which is worse as urethane paints have a derivative of cyanide and they recommend a good respirator, eye & skin protection as the cyanide can be abosrbed through both.
Lacquer thinner comes in two types: Fast Dry & Slow Dry.
I use the Fast Dry for the primer coat and Slow Dry for the top coat as the slower drying allows the paint to flow evenly across the surface.
Use a sealer also to seal any glazing filler before applying the top coat.
I use 2000 grit between the primer and top coats to get a super gloss finish.
I put down about 15-20 coats of top coat with light sanding between 3-4 coats.
Meguiar puts out a 3000 grit wet/dry paper which works very well on the top coat before buffing out the gloss on the final coat. It is good on either urethane clear or lacquer.

Nothing like shifting through the gears !

 

[KELLEY1]

I cant wait to get mine converted to the manual trans. I have already "seat test drove it" with the 4 speed, meaning I have pretended it had the 4 speed in it! I love to look out through the windshield and look over the silouette of the fenders going through the gears, feeling the torque and sound!.................soon!