Any gearbox experts out there ??

[Leroy1982]

well my vr ss gearbos shit it self today and the town i live in (port pirie) i can only find one trans mech and he quoted me 2500 for a reco 4 speed auto fitted ... now for that price i could buy a whole other cheap car my question is i always wanted my car a manual so i could either try and chase a manual conversion kit and the mech said he would fit it or would it be practical to buy a whole other car (manual) than i can take the box out of it and put it in mine cause i imagine it would have all the parts i need than down the track fix up the donor car for the misses .... if i was to buy a donow car would it have to be a v8 like mine or can any manual gearbox be fitted ... and what gear boxes would be best i keeping reading the t5's are common but would be happy to source a better one with better servos .... any help would be great guys.

[GTP 85]

Ahh from my old home town!

Yea i'd be goin manual too.... well i did, with my VN. was in the same situation as you.

I managed to find a full conversion for $1k complete with clutch and i fitted it myself in a day. That is a rarity though, and it is VERY hard to find a v8 manual conversion for less than $1500- 2000

If you can find a complete car, then yes... thats the way to go. I would 100% go for a T5.

You can use anything from VN-VS, so long as its v8. only issue you will have with using vn/vp is that you will then need to buy a manual ecu to suit it.

If you and/ or your mates are handy with the spanners then i encourage you to DIY as its a pretty straight forward job and you can save heaps of money

[Leroy1982]

Thanks for the reply mate... I'm pretty handy with the tools but this would be my first attempt at transmission work... i did a search for a guide on here but could only find v6 ones unless there pretty much the same thing guess it wouldn't hurt to have a read ..... i spoke to a another mechanic just now he reckons my best bet is either a donor car or a wrecked car with those parts still intact... part of me wants to just pay the 2500 and not worry about the hassle but the rest of me wants a manual cause i do like my car very much.is it as simple as taking the old trans out bolting on the new one than cutting a hole for the clutch than attaching the looms ? i read something about the cross member and the tail shaft too ... i guide would help heaps.

[GTP 85]

every commodore shell is generic, so there are provisions for the clutch cable to pass through and all... You dont have to do any cutting. The hole in the firewall where most people run their power cable for amp/ subs etc is the hole that you punch thu to route the clutch cable.

in short, the most crucial items you need are gearbox and crossmember, clutch and flywheel, manual ecu, tailshaft, floor plate and grommets, clutch cable, pedal box. plus of course all the nuts bolts etc. I'm not 100% sure if vn/vp flywheels are suitable though. and also not sure if you just need to change the ecu, or the engine loom too, if putting VN/vp t5 into a VR

Basically, if you buy a wreck... fit all the gear into your car as it came out of the wreck!

fitment of a v8 t5 is near enough the same as a v6, so the guide will be of help to u.

[Leroy1982]

Thanks heaps mate,.... gonna have a look for another car today.i work in the mines and they organise all my transport to and from work to the camp so its pretty good and i can go without a car till its sorted.kinda excited and taking up the challenge of doing the gearbox myself.