engine and drivetrain Collecting Pieces For 5 Speed Conversion

[billpatterson]

Hi there

 

I have decided to convert my '71 2002 that I finished this summer into a 5 speed.  (A sarcastic) Darn it!!  I have realized that the car will never been done; there will always something to work on .  An acquaintance from Australia summed it up as "tinkering with a transient 2%".  Brilliant!

 

It has been a fun summer of driving but I have realized that due to engine and exhaust noise at high speeds, the car is loud.  My objective is not drive faster but to reduce RPM and related noises at the speeds I drive.   

 

So I have started to gather up the pieces needed to complete the Getrag 245 conversion first thing next Spring. So far, I have the transmission, new seals and a few shifter related pieces.

 

I read somewhere that using a 1/2 power drill on the input shaft and running the tranny in each gear may indicate issues.  I drained the transmission and saw the oil was not too bad and there was not much stuff on the drain plug. I refilled transmission and spun it with the drill and listened with a stethoscope.  I heard/felt nothing that indicated an issue...just gear noises/whining.   

 

The other day I decided to strip and paint the tranny with POR's high temp aluminum paint.  I used it on a few other pieces and it sticks particularly well to cast (Al) pieces.  

 

The next step is to replace the seals and shop for the remaining pieces. 

 

I will ad to this post throughout the autumn, winter and spring, as I progress.

 

If any of you 02ers would like to add advice, things to watch out for, what you used, for example to this post please do so!  We will all benefit.

 

Regards

Bill Patterson

 

 

[jgerock]

I see you have already removed the rear (output) shaft cover.   Make sure to put the shortest bolt back in at about the 1 o'clock position or else you will not have 5th gear. 

 

Lots of great info here on the FAQ. 

 

Jim

[Mike Self]

VERY IMPORTANT--make sure the tranny and driveshaft are absolutely parallel--otherwise your Guibo will only last a few thousand miles!  Ask me how I learned this...first guibo: 4000 miles; aligned tranny & driveshaft; second guibo:  nearly 40k and still going strong.

 

Also, I'd use one of the available kits for the rear tranny crossmember; the one I got from Rob Torres has worked very well over the past 40k miles...I also understand the one from Aardvark is good also. 

 

You can modify your own shift lever support bracket if you have access to a welder.  Lotsa info on that and every other aspect of the conversion here on the FAQ.

 

good luck--I love my 5 speed.

 

mike

[billpatterson]

Hi Jim

10-4.  I have read that...  Disassembling...I found this and took a picture to remind me...

 

Regards

Bill

[billpatterson]

Hi Mike

What did you for the shifter?  I do not weld but I am considering a night course for weekend-warriors.  I use a Auto Solutions shift kit with the 4 speed; real nice!  Honestly, I lean towards the aftermarket solution for the shifter...  For the rear support, I like the cross member approach vs. the horseshoe approach; it resembles the original and would be stronger without the twisting force.  Again...what did you do?

 

I aligned my new driveshaft with this homemade tool.  I copied the specs for the BMW tool that were posted on FAQ.  

 

Regards

Bill

Edited September 30, 2013 by Bill Patterson

[M3M3M3]

that tool is actually useless for getting the guibo aligned correctly.  the critical part is getting the front half of the driveshaft aligned to be perfectly parallel to the output shaft of the tranny. this frequently means there will be a slight kink in the center u-joint.   that tool will drive you to eliminate that kink and hence mis-align the guibo.  alignment of everything after the front half of the driveshaft is irrelevant.

 

simplest way to do a 5-spd conversion is to buy the kit from 02haus, ardvaark or ie.  it will include the needed shortened shift selector bar.

 

for rear support get some brackets from MassiveBrakes.com, bolt them in the perscribed position on the tunnel and just cut a few cm off your stock cross member.  many details and pics of the bracket install in my build thread.   jgerock did a very long thread on how he(we) did his 5spd conversion.

Edited September 30, 2013 by mlytle

[billpatterson]

Hi mlytle,

 

I think the priority is to ensure guibo alignment (perpendicular to face of the output shaft flange), then align/straighten the driveshaft as well as possible without loading the centre bearing too much (just as much as prescribed).

 

Nice blog!

 

Regards,

Bill 

[rover1]

atcually the guibo will fail in about 25 miles if its out alignment. also if your on a tight budjet and your a true DIYer you can make your own cross member to support the 5 speed and you can modify a e21 shift tower to suite an 02. the thing i worry about is how many decent getrag 245's are left out there. the getrag 240 4 speed is actually a stonger transmission and can handle more abuse.