I ask the question WILL THE FOLLOWING SETUP FIT MY 1983 FAIRMONT FUTURA?

[texasfairmont]

Since my AOD is fried and I have very limited resources (money) I ask the question WILL THE FOLLOWING SETUP FIT MY 1983 FAIRMONT FUTURA?

t5 standard transmission upr blu thunder short throw shifter,also includes tranny with the flywheel flexplate and a brand new ram hd clutch along with a brand new firewall adjuster a brand new clutch cable and all the bolts needed in order to bolt it up to car.

Is there anything else I will need besides a clutch pedal?? If more parts are needed would you guys please list..

How hard is it to go fm a auto to stick?

[sleeper]

The shifter cover boot thing.

[Floyd]

I've converted four cars to stick and the Fox platform was by far the simplest one! Easy? No. Nothing worth doing ever is. If you remain dedicated and use the resources here that include pics and experience of those who've done it, you'll do fine.

[86STANGCOUPE]

The hardest part IMO is hanging the clutch pedal assembly. It was a nightmare but so worth it. The conversion is pretty simple just time consuming I did it to my 86 on a saturday. It will be so worth it in the end.

[ratio411]

It will work fine.
We swapped an AOD/5.0 into the 81, and then eventually used Fox pedals to swap that to a T5.

Some pointers:
>Using a longer SN95 cable helped greatly.

>Use a top notch throwout bearing! The T5 has only been in the car 6 months, and the stock replacement TO bearing is already dead!

>Make sure to use the correct flywheel... 28oz vs 50oz.

>Check online and find pictures of a "World Class" T5. They were used from about 86-up. They can be ID'd by the steel shaft bearing cup on the front of the tranny. It's hard to describe, so that is why I say 'find a pic'. There is nothing really special in the way of value for the WC T5, because it was standard for many years, but you DO NOT want an earlier T5, they are really weak. If you can, look up the numbers, and find a T5 with a 2.95 first gear. They are the strongest of the stock WC T5s.

You will probably need longer flywheel bolts. It is hit or miss. Flexplate bolts are too short for a flywheel, but the flywheel bolts are not too long for the flexplate, so the factory put whatever was handy in the flexplates. Sometimes a flexplate will have the short bolts, sometimes the long bolts. You'll just have to see what your car came with. If you have the short ones, you need to find a set of long ones, or buy aftermarket.

[frink84]

>Use a top notch throwout bearing! The T5 has only been in the car 6 months, and the stock replacement TO bearing is already dead!

i can second this. swapped my 88 fox to a manual and killed the stock replacement TO in a matter of months.

[ZephyrEFI]

I just did this on my zephyr. Don't forget the pilot bearing!

Also, you may need to make the shifter hole bigger. The top of the shifter needed some room to move in mine. the factory hole was a small, jagged mess.

Also, do yourself a favor: pull the stearing column out to swap the pedal assemblies.

[blake4591]

If your still looking at going this route

Things I learned from going to manual in the wagon.
For the pedal swap being flexible helps alot, I managed to do it with the bench seat pushed back and the steering column in and held up with a bungie cord. Extensions, swivels, and ratcheting wrenches are your friends here. Also replace the plastic quadrant and adjuster with a metal aftermarket one while the pedals are out of the car its alot easier.

For the trans make the cross-member adjustable by cutting the spot welds (you probably already did this to get the AOD in). The trans tunnel is a little tighter on pre 84 (I'm not hundred percent sure on the date other than knowing the changed it for the t5) fox bodies but a T5 will still fit you just have to cut a hole big enough for the inspection plate on the T5.

I'll also need the inner shift boot, this is the one that bolts to the floor to cover the hole and a outer shift boot, covers the shifter and inner boot this is the one you side in the car. If you have a bench seat you can no longer move it the whole way forward as it will block 2nd, 4th and Reverse.

Wiring you'll have to splice the wires going to the trans the to that are red with a blue strip need to be spliced together to jump the neutral/park switch in the auto. You should also find the clutch position switch wiring under the dash and wire it in. I've been lazy and haven't done this yet.

[jcruz]

i did the same conversion in my 83 fairmont was esay only thing is geting the cable right but other then that best swap i ever decied to do gonig with same system in my 81 wagon

[mcfairmont]

I`ve swapped 2 Fairmonts, as well as my current 85 Mustang from auot to stick, and as long as you have all the factory parts on hand, its pretty simple. Personally, I like to use the early Fox clutch pedal and bracket. These don`t have the self adjusting quadrant BS, the cable has an eyelet for the pedal lever, and has a length of threaded rod for adjustment at the clutch fork end. I don`t know when exactly in the early 80s the quadrant setup came out, but I have used units from 78-80 Fairmont/Zephyrs and 79-80 Mustang/Capris, and I use cables for that application with a 302.
Whichever style of pedal you use, you will need the complete pedal bracket, as the automatic brackets are lacking the tube that that clutch pedal swings from. That said, the hole is there, so I suppose that a pivot tube could be fabbed up and welded in place. Don`t forget the stick uses a smaller brake pedal as well, and the brake pedal has a different pivot location for power vs manual brakes.
I have found it easiest to swap the pedal bracket assembly by dropping the steering column down for extra room.

[Merle]

I`ve swapped 2 Fairmonts, as well as my current 85 Mustang from auot to stick, and as long as you have all the factory parts on hand, its pretty simple. Personally, I like to use the early Fox clutch pedal and bracket. These don`t have the self adjusting quadrant BS, the cable has an eyelet for the pedal lever, and has a length of threaded rod for adjustment at the clutch fork end. I don`t know when exactly in the early 80s the quadrant setup came out, but I have used units from 78-80 Fairmont/Zephyrs and 79-80 Mustang/Capris, and I use cables for that application with a 302.
Whichever style of pedal you use, you will need the complete pedal bracket, as the automatic brackets are lacking the tube that that clutch pedal swings from. That said, the hole is there, so I suppose that a pivot tube could be fabbed up and welded in place. Don`t forget the stick uses a smaller brake pedal as well, and the brake pedal has a different pivot location for power vs manual brakes.
I have found it easiest to swap the pedal bracket assembly by dropping the steering column down for extra room.

I believe the adjustable quadrant style pedal started in '82.

I too did a couple of manual conversions and used the early style clutch pedal assembly. I got real lazy though. I cut the brake pedal down that was in there to make the brake pedal narrower. I then got a piece of black pipe from the hardware store that was approximately the right length to use as a pivot tube. I continued threading the ends of the pipe and was able to screw it into the existing hole. Lubed the crap out of it and it was done.

No dropping columns or anything.

[FreeTimeGarage]

I swapped my Fairmont to a t5 a few months ago. It's not terribly difficult. I'll second whoever said installing the pedals was a bear. Not that it's "hard", but dropping the column and all is a pain.