hello

Realized while I joined a while ago I never posted yet. Bought this 86.5 in 2018 advertised as parts. Wound up catching it up on maintenance (all it actually needed to run was a fuel pump) like fuel lines, timing belt, etc. Over the past 2 1/2 years I've made it run and drive reliably, converted it to a 5 speed, and painted it in my driveway. It's no show car, but looks presentable enough now that the neighbors can't say I'm decreasing their property values anymore (at least not with this car).

2018 when I bought it:


This past summer after I painted it.



It's got 233k miles on it now. Anyone got more than that?

Well Done! How hard was the Auto to 5 Speed conversion?

It honestly wasn't too bad. The only thing that needed modifying was the hole made in the firewall and the hole for the shifter cut out fully. I did have to change the wiring for the reverse lights slightly too. Other than that I was just fortunate to find a parts car in a junkyard within 5 miles that sold me everything I needed to make the conversion for cheap, including the master mount from the firewall.

I was able to cut out the firewall with an air nibbler without removing the brake booster (or throwing sparks which was the main reason for using it). I did file down the cut to be nicer.






Auto shifter hole:

The auto and torque tube came down as a unit.




Clutch and flywheel went in



And the 5 speed went in as a unit.

Sadly the story didn't end there though. After a week of driving I found that there was some bearing noise. Tracked that down to be some moisture that seeped in through the small hole in the input shaft that rusted up the needle bearings inside 5th gear.


Also wound up putting some new bearings in the torque tube.



Also got a used auto lsd diff to throw in the trans while it was out



And a new input shaft bearing because the original was noisy also (not loose though).

Whoa! That’s impressive work. I’m going to have to take my transmission out because of noise in first gear. Your work gives me inspiration! You should start a car profile and put all of your work in there!