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Ecotec auto to manual

vt1538

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Can anyone tell me if there is any differences between the auto & manual V6 Ecotec apart from the obvious like loom,flexplate to flywheel,etc? I can get hold of an auto motor quite easy but will be running a manual car.
thanks
 

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vt1538 said:
Can anyone tell me if there is any differences between the auto & manual V6 Ecotec apart from the obvious like loom,flexplate to flywheel,etc? I can get hold of an auto motor quite easy but will be running a manual car.
thanks

Yes the manual ecotec crankshaft has two dowel pin holes drilled into the end of it. These two 8mm diameter holes locate two dowel pins between the crankshaft and the dual mass flywheel. The auto ecotec crankshafts don't have the holes drilled. There is a way around this though.
It is possible to get an aftermarket Clutch / flywheel kit that has the two dowel holes drilled. But also a large single dowel holed drill into the flywheel that can pick up on the large 10mm+ hole that is drilled into all ecotec crankshafts. As there is two holes drill at different PCD and are of different diameters, one at 10mm+ and another at 11mm+. These holes are used in the manufacture process of the cranks to drive them while they are being machined and are not originally for dowels.
A few pics might help here I suppose. The pic attached has a shot of a auto crankshaft. You can see the 8 x 5/16" bolt holes and the two large holes ( from the machining process) The 8mm dowel pin is laying where a dowel hole would be drilled if it was a manual crankshaft, there would also be another 8mm dowel hole opposite the pins location.
 

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OZ38

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Now this is what you can get to get around the problem of wanting to fit a manual gearbox to an auto crankshaft ecotec engine.
This is what people converting to the T56 manual are using as well as a 5 speed convertion.
Now notice the two blind holes drilled for the 8mm dowel pins when fitting to a manual crankshaft.
Then the extra large single 10mm hole drilled for use with a auto crankshaft.
A dowel of the right diameter can be machined up for use as a locator here.
 

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OZ38

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I might add here to that if the flywheel is to be fitted to a automatic type crankshaft, the balancing needs to be sorted out. If it is a n/a automatic ecotec that is having the conversion to a manual gearbox then the flywheel needs to be mirror balanced to a n/a V6 automatic flex plate.
If it is a s/c V6 ecotec which is being converted to a manual then the flywheel needs to be mirror balance to a s/c v6 ecotec flex plate.
The n/a and s/c flexplates are balanced differently to suit the engine.
 

vt1538

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Thanks for the reply mate. Should not be too hard at all
 

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ok, so just to clarify, u don't really need the locating pins though do u. you can just put the manual flywheel onto the auto crank without modification if u didn't want to, just got to line it up.

and just to save on making a new thread, what about the wiring side of things(is it a totally new loom required and what about the chip) and which manual can i use, T5 or getrag, i have a VT11 V6.
 

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wouldnt you need to find a manual ecu aswell
 

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TAILS83 said:
ok, so just to clarify, u don't really need the locating pins though do u. you can just put the manual flywheel onto the auto crank without modification if u didn't want to, just got to line it up.

and just to save on making a new thread, what about the wiring side of things(is it a totally new loom required and what about the chip) and which manual can i use, T5 or getrag, i have a VT11 V6.
Yes you can bolt the flywheel up with out the dowel pins but I wouldn't.
The bolts are quite small and the shock loading from a clutch may just shear them off.
On the subject, malwood auto is doing a flywheel kit that will have the flywheel (steel billet) drilled to use on of the existing holes already in the crankshafts which is common to manual and auto cranks. Also another guy in Perth is gearing up to do a flywheel in Nodular iron with the drilling to use the existing hole. So there would be no excuse for not having a dowel pin.

I think the getrag as it came out in the VT. Although I'm told the T5 is a bit stronger I don't think it came in the VT series so wiring maybe a bit tricky.
Most if not all harnesses can be altered to suit. or buy a complete new one to suit the manual.

ECU's can be changed over or have your auto one altered to suit once again.
 

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I Would have to say i have had both T5 and the Getrag 260 and personally i would go with the getrag they are much stronger you will also notice they used them in the VZ onwards, There is a catch to using the getrag box if you do break them they are costly to repair, and if you need to replace the clutch they are also a hefty price compared to the T5 gearbox but all in all i found the getrag a nicer smoother less hasle gearbox and they really perform.
 
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