5 speed Swap

[Darius2250]

I am planning on doing this, I have the tranny 2 cars and local junkyards, I found this write up from someone who has done this so I thought I would post it up.

"from zilvia

First off well will start with mechanical parts needed S13 and S14

5 speed ecu S14's(optional on S13's)
5 speed trans
5 speed trans crossmember
5 speed driveshaft
manual flywheel with bolts
manual engine backing plate
manual trans to engine bolts
clutch with clutch bolts
(including pilot bushing ,driven disc and pressure plate)
clutch pedal
brake pedal(optional)
clutch line upper
clutch line lower
clutch dampner(optional)
cluth master
clutch slave
lower shift boot with plate(mounts on your tunnel)
upper shift boot (recommend purchase new )

ok that is your mechanical parts list . now we get into the fun part some of the actual install points.

this install is not that complicated . In fact there are places on the net were people have listed the install info before, and gone overboard with their parts list and install procedures. Making it look harder than it is.There are also places on the net, where people have fallen short on the info, leaving you scratching your head!
I will try to make these easy for based on what we did with my previous car a 91 S13 and my buddies 95 S14.

Most of the install is strictly a pull out the old stuff put in the new stuff situation.

There are a few points that people have issues with
hahahhahhaha.

Lets tackle the hard stuff.

Drilling the holes for your clutch master and hanging your clutch pedal are pretty straightforward. On both S13 and S14 if you look under your dash against the firewall in drivers compartment drivers side you will see guides for the studs for the manual clutch pedal. You will also see a outline for the clutch master hole. Whip out that drill and drill those out. Once you have done this you can hang your clutch pedal and mount the clutch master.

Brake pedals, as you see above I listed them as optional. If you want to go all the way and install a manual brake pedal you have to drop your steering column. You will find four bolts on the underside that you have to remove once you have done that it will drop down. You can them remove your auto brake pedal and put in a manual brake pedal.

If your lazy(I was ) you will just take a dremel or air powered die grinder and cut the auto brake pedal down to size . thats your pedal stuff in a nutshell.

On your shift boots , in a S13 and s14 the trans hole is already there all you have to do is remove the auto trans shifter and bolt the lower shift boot and plate on the tunnel. On your upper shift boot on the S13 there is a inner plate around your auto trans shifter remove and you bolt your upper shift boot right to the underside of the console piece the screw clips are already there.

On S14 you need to get the manual console piece.

Installing your clutch lines are straight forward the clips for them are already in place.

Some people going for a complete stock factory look install the clutch dampner. I prefer leaving it out. Nissan installed it our cars to eliminate clutch pedal vibration at higher revs.

its a pita when it comes to bleeding because it has a tendacy to trap air.

You have now taken care of all mechanical install points that are not like a standard clutch job.

Installing your flywheel is something to watch. You have to remove the automatic flywheel and install the pilot bushing.

Once you have done this then you can install your flywheel with the manual flywheel bolts(longer). You can mount your clutch and install your trans and driveshaft.

You are now down to the last stretch wiring. Now this is another area were some people go simple some people go all out.

On S13 due to the fact its OBDI you can get away with running your auto ecu and you will not throw code.

On S14 you need to put in the 5 speed ecu because OBDII sees more things and will throw a code turning on your check engine light.

on your trans you will need to hook up your speedo speed sensor. If you are using a S14 trans in a S13 then you will have to put in the S13 manual trans speed sensor for it to read right and vice versa.
now the easiest thing to do wiring is wire up your back up lights by looking at a FSM or haynes manual and tracing the back up light wires on your auto trans and cutting that wire out of your auto trans harness which you have already removed from your engine compartment. You will also take the plug from it as you will need it to hook it into the wiring on the car. This is what I did . I did not wire up my 4&5 gear sensors.

Now some people have gone as far as completely adapting the auto harness to the manual trans with all gear sensors hooked up. There really is not a big need for this since it will not affect your smog or throw code.

The other thing is your clutch lockout switch . I did not bother with that due to the fact I would not start a manual car without my foot on the clutch anyways.

Ok in your engine compartment at the relay box by your battery you are going to find a relay that is you auto trans in park relay. This tells your car that it is in park and will allow you to start your engine. you are gonna take a wire and basically loop from one side of the relay plug wires to the other sidea and then tap it out to a ground. This will allow you to start your car with the manual trans swap. ( I will get a even more detailed bit about this procedure from my buddy Gary because he was the one that did this on my car and his)

thats its folks . this is the basics to get you going on the auto to 5 speed swap. If you want to go farther like some people have then you can do a search on the net.


One last thing though. Parts pricing.

This swap on S13's can be as cheap as $500 if you do it yourself and as much as $1000 if you have someone do the work.
average price on the swap parts for a S13 without trans are in the$200-$250 range.

On S14's its somewhere in the range of $350-$450

S14 trans are more expensive due to the fact that they are usually lower mileage expect them to go for anywhere from $300 -$450

S13 trans go for anywhere from $100-$350 depending on mileage
having someone do the install work itself can vary.


You can expect a S14 trans swap to go anywhere from $800-1200 for all parts especially late model S14's"

[mugsy]

Nice work
This is good stuff all in one place

[GranMastrDrift]

Thank you much, I will look at the wiring issue. hmm it would be nice to not have to use the clutch to start car. thought I would have to remember to leave it in nuetral.... what to do gear sensors do? ( other then the obivous of sensing gears)

[theXfiend]

basically at the bottom of the engine bay fuse box there are 2 rather large wires, (on my 1992 its a brown and a white wire) just connect these 2 wires together and it will run fine.

it's really not to hard to activate the clutch switch, the clutch pedal already has a switch on it. just run it between the start wire.

I know for sure that the gear sensors are used for the rev/speed limiter, other than that i'm not really sure what use they have.

[GranMastrDrift]

hmm I would like none of that limit stuff, sounds like bullshit to me.

[Ahyc84]

Just wanting to add this. Clutch dampener is something good to have. It makes the clutch pedal less stiff and easier to engage and operate. Much easier on the foot in traffic as pedal pressure will be decreased. Clutch kicking is easier with the clutch dampener, especially if you have an aftermarket clutch that gives stiff pedal feedback.



I have a clutch dampener for s13 and s14 for sale. It is in new condition with no rust. $20USD shipped.

[jamesnater]

Sorry for bringing this old thread back alive, but it should probably be a sticky anyway eh?

I'm a Super Noob when it comes to this so go easy with me and use detail... (Some of these parts I don't even know what they look like, what they do, or what they are).

So this is what I THINK I have... in case you need to know in order to help me figure stuff out. (Lighter color font is what I don't have.)

5 speed ecu S13
5 speed trans (sohc)
5 speed trans crossmember
5 speed driveshaft
manual flywheel with bolts
manual engine backing plate
manual trans to engine bolts
clutch with clutch bolts (I'll be getting a new clutch for this anyway to be safe)
clutch pedal
brake pedal(optional)
clutch line upper
clutch line lower
clutch dampner(optional)
clutch master
clutch slave
lower shift boot with plate(mounts on your tunnel)
upper shift boot (recommend purchase new)

I also have...

Brake Master Cyl from 5spd 240sx (Not sure if I need it, I just have it)
Something that looks like a "mini-ecu" (I have no idea what it does, or what it is.)
Extra Differential

I think I'm missing most of the hardware and brackets needed. As for all the bolts, can I not use the same ones that are coming off the auto tranny for the manual? If anyone could explain to me what that damn, "mini-ecu" looking thing is that would be awesome. Also, Do I need to install the Brake Master Cylinder from the 5 spd? (Because I always thought that cars with automatics had stronger brakes) Thanks in advance!

P.S. If you need pics of anything to further help me out, let me know and I'll take pictures of whatever is needed and post it up here asap.

[jamesnater]

Bump! Need Help!

For engine to tranny bolts, can I use the same ones that are coming off the auto tranny for the manual?

If anyone could explain to me what that damn "mini-ecu" looking thing is (whether it has to do with the swap or not) that would be awesome.

Do I need to install the Brake Master Cylinder from the 5 spd? (Because I always thought that cars with automatics had a bit more sensitive brakes)

[sx_drifter]

no u don't need a 5sp mbc, the only thing you have to modify on your brakes when doing a 5sp swap is cutting down the automatic brake pedal so its smaler or replacing it with a 5sp one, my guess is the "mini ecu" is the auto seat belt regulator.

[BoWZeR]

Just wondering how long it usually takes a person to do this?

[jamesnater]

Once you have all the parts. And if you have all tools available, perhaps a transmission jack too, it should only take a day. Took me weeks though, because I had no tools at all, and I bought the parts as I needed them.

[pac-man425]

took me a little over a week all you need is tools derections and some good friends