auto to manual August 22, 2006, 08:58:51 PM Hi, just bought a beautiful 88 bird turbo coupe (43K) with automatic tranny and was wondering how easy or tough it would be to convert it to my 87 parts car's manual tranny. Anyone done it that could describe the misery or joy?Thanks a lot. Quote Selected
auto to manual Reply #1 – August 22, 2006, 09:24:12 PM Quote from: t-bird-nerdHi, just bought a beautiful 88 bird turbo coupe (43K) with automatic tranny Thanks a lot.didnt all turbo coupes have a manual? i dont think ive heard of a turbo coupe with a automatic, but i could be mistaken, but i just havent heard of it yet. Quote Selected
auto to manual Reply #2 – August 22, 2006, 09:34:07 PM Quotedidnt all turbo coupes have a manual? i dont think ive heard of a turbo coupe with a automatic, but i could be mistaken, but i just havent heard of it yet.nope they had automatics, thats where the 373 TC rears come from :)Anyway I did the swap from AOD to t-5 on my v8 and it was easy. Only thing different for you would be transfering the hydraulic clutch setup. But you have a parts car so I would think it should be pretty straight forward.I'm sure someone here has done it, sit tight :) Quote Selected
auto to manual Reply #3 – August 22, 2006, 10:50:40 PM wow, so i guess 83-86 tc's had sticks and 87-88's had autos? and now i kno, my mistake:slap: . sorry for butting into your thread...please continue Quote Selected
auto to manual Reply #4 – August 22, 2006, 11:33:28 PM Yea, my 87 tc is a manual and this one's an auto. I've seen both in 87 -88 models I believe. Hopefully someone can give me a little rundown of what they did and problems they ran into to make things easier. Thanks Guys!! Quote Selected
auto to manual Reply #5 – August 23, 2006, 01:08:52 AM You don't want that car. It's old and too much work to keep up. You want to sell it to me.....Did my Jedi mind trick work? I want your car! Quote Selected
auto to manual Reply #6 – August 23, 2006, 06:19:20 AM you dont have to use the hydrolic setup if you dont want. u can change it to a cable setup. a friend of mine localy had a auto 88 and swapped it to a manual, but he used the cable setup from something else, maybe a 4-eye car? try http://www.turbotbird.com and ask around there. they have some good info about the turbo coupes and alot of the guys on that board have experiance with the unique things on the turbo coupes. Quote Selected
auto to manual Reply #7 – August 23, 2006, 10:26:16 AM Well it's not like there aren't guys here who could tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about TurboCoupes :rolleyes: Autos were available in ALL 83-88 TCsIf you have a manual parts car, then really it's as easy as swapping parts. The biggest PITA is swapping the pedal assy and if you go with the hydraulic clutch assy, you will need to swap the steering column boot, which will require the steering column to be removed.If you want a cable set up, you will need a pedal assy and bellhousing from an 83-86 TC (or 84-86 XR-7) or any 2.3 Mustang/Capri, etc turbo or not.When I converted my 84 XR-7 from auto to manual I used the hydraulic set-up because it's what I had. My 83 Turbo has a cable. Since it's an 87-88 you'll want the ECU from the 5spd car as well (83-86 ECUs didn't care or know what trans was behind the engine).As mentioned, it's a pretty straightforward case of slinging parts from one to the other. I would suggest a new clutch kit and having the flywheel resurfaced before putting it all together. Quote Selected
auto to manual Reply #8 – August 23, 2006, 09:53:53 PM Quote from: Paul FlockhartYou don't want that car. It's old and too much work to keep up. You want to sell it to me.....Did my Jedi mind trick work? I want your car!I fully understand. That's how I felt when I saw it. Dude gave me such a good deal I wouldn't rule out some kind of mind trick on my part. Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while :giggle: Thanks to everyone for your responses. Quote Selected
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