BNS75VET

Im considering changing out the auto tranny for a manual one on my 1975 . What kit did you use? Did you do it yourself? What pitfalls did you incounter?

tom00799

I'm in the middle of an auto to 5 spreed swap on my 70. I went with the Keisler RS500 kit with the hydraulic clutch option. The kit is very complete with the pedal assembly, speedo cable, clutch, bell housing, etc. Customer support has been excellent. The biggest challenge is the pedal change. You need to tear into the dash and also remove the steering column. My car is stripped down to the shell which I'm sure has made things allot easier. No pitfalls as of yet, but I still have a ways to go. The only thing I did not know of when I jumped in was the fact that your steering lock-out mechanism gets disabled in the swap. Gordonm has done a number of these swaps and has been helpful. He can answer this question much better than I can.

drwet

What steering lock out mechanism are you referring to? My '79 has no mechanism to lock the steering wheel, or if it does it doesn't work. Should it have one?

I am also working on a 5 speed swap, but I am not buying a kit. I've been quoted $5-6000 for the kit, so I am assembling the required parts myself. I will save about $2000 that way, although I do have a few parts I can use from previous projects such as flywheel and bellhousing. Your results may vary.

Learning_Curve

I think the "steering lock" he is refering to is the ignition lock. The ignition lock is tied to the transmission and doesn't let you turn the key off until the car is in Park, or Reverse in case of a manual.

tom00799

Yep that's what I'm referring to.

Gale Banks 80'

Use the search and You will find a lot of info on this subject on this forum. I have done it as well. Its the small details that make or break the swap. When You have the dash apart changing pedals its time to replace the Vacume Booster at the same time. Have all the parts for the Clutch in safety switch ready so this can get done at the same time. Late C3's have a bit smaller pedals so pick the ones You want. Also search Hydraulic Clutch to see a lot of info there as well.

Shark Racer

The steering lock feature disappeared prior to 78... can't remember if it ended in 76 or 77.

My 78 does not have it and your 79 does not either.

The pedal assembly swap isn't too bad, but do some stretches, stay warm, have lots of u-joints on hand. It's definitely a good time to change your power brake booster.

I did this conversion June-July of last year.