List of things to obtain in preparation for your swap:
OEM clutch components are made by the brand Exedy and are available at Rockauto.com. Clutch sizes vary based on year so select the appropriate flywheel and clutch kit for your Z! If you source a used flywheel, buy the clutch kit which matches the year of the flywheel
- Transmission 90a, 71c, 30a: (used)
- Flywheel (used/new)
- Flywheel Bolts ARP ($60+ship)
- Pressure Plate Bolts ARP ($20+ship)
- Clutch kit with clutch, pressure plate, throw out bearing, pilot bearing -Depends on year- ($120+ship)
- Clutch fork ($20+ship)
- Clutch master cylinder ($12+ship) and slave cylinder ($7+ship)
- OEM clutch line + pedal damper (used) or ISR aftermarket 240sx conversion line ($40+ship)
- Brake and Clutch pedal assembly (used)
- Driveshaft -specific to transmission, rear diff year, and 2+0 or 2+2- (used/new ~$330+ship)
- Interior shifter trim with dust boot (used)
- Redline MT90 GL-4 gear oil -2.5 quarts/4.25 pints also depends on transmission -view capacity here- ($40)
- Stock transmission mount (used/new $20) or Poly transmission mount ($43)
- Exhaust down-pipe- Not all swaps need a new down-pipe. For factory na cars swapping in a 71c, a down-pipe from a donor car (5spd) is required, however for factory turbo cars swapping in a 71c, the down-pipe is not necessary. Its always better to be safe than sorry but many people have swapped transmissions in their Z's so ask around. Forums and Facebook groups are very helpful! (used)
Recommended extras:
Estimated New Parts Cost: ~$405 (not including shipping on some parts)
Estimated Used Parts Costs:
Transmission: $200
Driveshaft: $100
Flywheel: $50
Exhaust Down-Pipe: $50 (may not be necessary)
Interior Trim & Pedals: $50
Total Estimated Used Parts cost: $450
Estimated Used Parts Costs:
Transmission: $200
Driveshaft: $100
Flywheel: $50
Exhaust Down-Pipe: $50 (may not be necessary)
Interior Trim & Pedals: $50
Total Estimated Used Parts cost: $450
Total Realistic Swap Cost: ~$855 (USD)
Transmission Swap!
Like listed above, there are a few different transmissions you can get for your swap. As long as you get all the related components you should be fine during the swap! The only real challenges I faced was finding new bolts for the bell housing and starter which were longer for the manual transmission than it was on the auto. There has also been some people saying to get dust plates from the m/t car. These are not needed as the auto transmission dust plates work fine and do not interfere at all (at least not on my 71c swap). The ZenonZCar write up also has an error, saying to take the "drive plate" from the auto trans and put it on the manual transmission flywheel when you install it. This is wrong and can only hurt you as it removes the flywheel bolts out of the crank giving you worse grip on the crank and a higher chance of stripping your bolts out.
I did this swap over a span of about 3 days. Depending on how much time you have, how much help you have, and how much experience you have, it may take longer or shorter. I broke my work into removal, preparation, and installation with installation taking the longest with having to get the new pedals and lines run correctly. Here are the videos I have made on the swap process. I highly recommend watching them as you can actually see what things will look like when you get to there in your own swap.
I did this swap over a span of about 3 days. Depending on how much time you have, how much help you have, and how much experience you have, it may take longer or shorter. I broke my work into removal, preparation, and installation with installation taking the longest with having to get the new pedals and lines run correctly. Here are the videos I have made on the swap process. I highly recommend watching them as you can actually see what things will look like when you get to there in your own swap.
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Removal
Removal is very straight forward. Simply remove everything in the way! The exhaust was the first to go for me. Exhaust bolts (especially original exhaust bolts) can be very rusty so spraying on some PB blaster or another penetrating fluid for multiple applications and then using an impact gun to get the bolts off works really well to remove them.
Once the exhaust is off, remove the catalytic converter heat shield with the 6 10mm bolts (3 on each side). This will let you have enough room to access the driveshaft. Loosen the bolts connecting the driveshaft to the rear differential. I used a combination of 2 open end wrenches, one to wedge the u-joint so the driveshaft can't spin, and one to undo the bolts. In order to get the driveshaft out, I loosened the hand brake cable to get it out of the way, and also loosened the rear sway bar mounts to be able to pull it down enough to get the driveshaft around the sway bay. Getting the driveshaft over the differential flange can be a bit challenging, but I found a combination of large flat blade screwdrivers worked the best to get the driveshaft over the flange since it is raised to make the driveshaft seat properly.
Now is also a good time to remove the transmission oil cooler lines running to the radiator. I recommend watching the first linked vide above for a good visual representation of all the bolts and mounts that hold the lines on.
Now that everything else is removed, it's time to start working on the transmission itself. Begin by removing the linkage to the interior shifter. I recommend watching the first linked video above starting around 16:00.
Next, unbolt the starter by removing the two electrical connections from the end of the starter, one a bolt and one a simple tab. This should allow you to remove the wiring from the starter. Then undo the two bolts holding the starter in from the rear of the transmission bell-housing.
Once the starter is removed, you can now begin removing the 4 flex plate bolts holding the torque converter to the flex plate. They are at a slightly odd angle to reach but you should be able to get them off with a little work. I had to have someone hold the crank bolt with a ratchet wrench while I undid them to keep the engine from spinning.
Once the exhaust is off, remove the catalytic converter heat shield with the 6 10mm bolts (3 on each side). This will let you have enough room to access the driveshaft. Loosen the bolts connecting the driveshaft to the rear differential. I used a combination of 2 open end wrenches, one to wedge the u-joint so the driveshaft can't spin, and one to undo the bolts. In order to get the driveshaft out, I loosened the hand brake cable to get it out of the way, and also loosened the rear sway bar mounts to be able to pull it down enough to get the driveshaft around the sway bay. Getting the driveshaft over the differential flange can be a bit challenging, but I found a combination of large flat blade screwdrivers worked the best to get the driveshaft over the flange since it is raised to make the driveshaft seat properly.
Now is also a good time to remove the transmission oil cooler lines running to the radiator. I recommend watching the first linked vide above for a good visual representation of all the bolts and mounts that hold the lines on.
Now that everything else is removed, it's time to start working on the transmission itself. Begin by removing the linkage to the interior shifter. I recommend watching the first linked video above starting around 16:00.
Next, unbolt the starter by removing the two electrical connections from the end of the starter, one a bolt and one a simple tab. This should allow you to remove the wiring from the starter. Then undo the two bolts holding the starter in from the rear of the transmission bell-housing.
Once the starter is removed, you can now begin removing the 4 flex plate bolts holding the torque converter to the flex plate. They are at a slightly odd angle to reach but you should be able to get them off with a little work. I had to have someone hold the crank bolt with a ratchet wrench while I undid them to keep the engine from spinning.
For a full walk through, watch the videos linked above.
Extra links to other write-ups and information
Visit the XenonZCar write-up here:
http://www.xenonzcar.com/z31/autotomanualswap.html
Z31 Transmission Info:
http://www.xenonzcar.com/z31/transmissions.html
https://www.z31.com/transmission.shtml
Visit the XenonZCar write-up here:
http://www.xenonzcar.com/z31/autotomanualswap.html
Z31 Transmission Info:
http://www.xenonzcar.com/z31/transmissions.html
https://www.z31.com/transmission.shtml