Hold my Coffee ! another manual transmission swap thread

[Bikersmurf]

Ujoint probably has a stack of those E brake housings that bolt to the 4wd tail housing. E450 ambulances probably came with them.... id bet they're stored upstairs and to the right....

@ujoint ... is this true? Are you hoarding them?

I’m thankful my ‘97 rig with almost 17k hours has a happy remanufactured E4OD. I’m not to the point where I’d want to figure out how to shift without a left knee.

I’ll continue to follow along because I love standard transmissions and would enjoy one if I could. I’d DD the Ambo, and have at times, if they hadn’t dropped the height bar at my wife’s office building to 6’8” (even though I could easily get around at 8’6”). I enjoy driving it that much.

 

[ujoint]

@ujoint ... is this true? Are you hoarding them?

I’m thankful my ‘97 rig with almost 17k hours has a happy remanufactured E4OD. I’m not to the point where I’d want to figure out how to shift without a left knee.

I’ll continue to follow along because I love standard transmissions and would enjoy one if I could. I’d DD the Ambo, and have at times, if they hadn’t dropped the height bar at my wife’s office building to 6’8” (even though I could easily get around at 8’6”). I enjoy driving it that much.

Yea we should have a few!

 

[cynicwanderer]

great, so I was able to obtain a ebrake (from a guy)....and it bolts right up.

I also went to the junk yard and got some driveline pieces from a F-250 to mockup and see what I need to complete it.



a small issue now arises. the ebrake is a fixed yoke, while the driveshaft in the E350 is a slip yoke. this means I have to convert the driveline to a a two piece with center support to bolt on to the fixed yoke. in order to fit the F-250 driveline on the ebrake, I also need to convert from a 1350 to a 1410 universal, which luckily is a common adapter. the transfer case I have is a slip yoke, so that would be easier to deal with WRT the driveline, but then we're back to the gas tank mod....sigh.

are the diesel 2WD ZF5 transmissions slip or fixed yoke ? apparently, the diesel 2WD Zf5 are pretty rare in our area, so I haven't been able to find one to check out (or consider). I do have a 2WD ZF5 for a Bronco, and it's fixed yoke, I had considered swapping the front housing between the two, but apparently the input shaft are also different between the gas and diesel.

 

[charlieaarons]

BTW when I had an 88 F350 with ZF-5 the shift quality markedly improved when I switched from stock Mercon ATF to Redline MTL 75W80.

 

[cynicwanderer]

Took a break form this project to visit and watch the Baja1000 in Mexico. Now I have to put my desert bike back together and if I have enough time, attempt the transmission swap before the Parker 250 race in January.

 

[cynicwanderer]

Luk single mass flywheel kit arrived. things are getting more real now. only need a few more odds/ends, like hyd. clutch line, slave cylinder and throw out lever, besides the driveshaft mods. has anyone tried to do a centric throw out bearing/cylinder on a diesel ZF 5-speed ? the gas version uses one, but for whatever reason the diesel version uses an external slave cylinder.
https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipOx7rKck_TSwAVE6SCJjWnxwAotSTqZ1pW_mHE

 

[Mwilliamshs]

I would MUCH RATHER have an external slave. It can be changed in about 15 minutes. An internal slave requires pulling the transmission to replace it and usually trashes the clutch disc with leaking fluid.

 

[cynicwanderer]

I would MUCH RATHER have an external slave. It can be changed in about 15 minutes. An internal slave requires pulling the transmission to replace it and usually trashes the clutch disc with leaking fluid.

yes, that is a good point. for this project, I think maintainability/reliability is more important than maybe comfort. I.e. centric might be smoother/elegant, but being able to change the slave cylinder on the side of the road/trail is certainly a good thing.

 

[Bikersmurf]

I don’t know how long a centric might last, but generally I’d recommend replacing slaves after ten years... and I’m going on 22 years for my clutch. As Purdy as the others are, I’d not risk it.

LUK 11” low diaphragm clutch with, until recently, a 300 hp SBC in front of it. Even though it has been in there 20 years, I didn’t hesitate to put a newer 350 in front of it... which is something I’d never recommend unless someone knows the history well. That said, I got 100k miles and 20 years out of the front brake job.

 

[Mwilliamshs]

In my opinion concentric slave cylinders are solutions to a problem that didn't exist before they did. Not only do they have twice as many sealing surfaces as a standard slave cylinder but the sealing surfaces are also much larger which creates a greater likelihood of leaks. Where a normal slave cylinder uses the throwout lever to yield a mechanical advantage, the internal slave must travel far enough to disengage the clutch AND generate enough force to compress the pressure plate. Internal slaves are just a confluence of compromises for no real gain.

 

[cynicwanderer]

OK, so we're down to the last bit. I need to make a clutch line that goes between the Willwood master and the Ford Slave cylinder. the master has a standard 1/8NPT fitting, while the slave cylinder has a QD. does anyone know that these QDs are actually called and where to get the cable end or an adapter between the QD and something like 1/8NPT or a AN- fitting ? there is an X-ring style seal missing in the picture, it goes on the first groove I think. the second groove gets grabbed by a retaining spring pin.

 

[Mwilliamshs]

Russell makes the adapters. I think they go from QD to 5/16.


EDIT: YEP.

https://www.amazon.com/Russell-640281-3-SAE-Adapter-Fitting/dp/B002Q37CHS

 

[Bikersmurf]

I normally get lines made up at the industrial hydraulic line shop in town. They're now owned by Green Line, but they can make just about any line for less than the fittings would cost.

 

[cynicwanderer]

I normally get lines made up at the industrial hydraulic line shop in town. They're now owned by Green Line, but they can make just about any line for less than the fittings would cost.

well, I have made my own hoses for things in the past, but I have not been able to find the hose ends for theses QD fittings directly, and ended up just going with adapters, etc... maybe if I do more of these conversion, I'll invest more energy in trying to find the fittings.

 

[cynicwanderer]

I ended up ordering a clutch line from Russell through Summit. it's a AN-3 to AN-3 hose, with the AN-3 to QD adapters. Summit also had the 1/8 NPT to AN-3 adapters, so it's all good to go now.