My VE SV6 manual conversion

[hsv ss]

Hi all I’m doing a manual conversion on my missus 2007 SV6 sedan M82 auto
We got the car for $1500 with 6 months rego and new tyres
So far I sourced a manual conversion with a new excedy clutch and solid flywheel for $1100.
Conversion came with shifter,ecu, ute tailshaft and full manual engine wiring loom.
I believe the wiring loom was out of a series 2 VE ute as the precat O2 sensors are 4 wire and the series 1 VE had 5 wire sensors. Also the starter motor solenoid wire is plug in on the series 1 and has a bolted lug on the new loom.
I have wired the O2 sensors to the corresponding colours and will see if it starts and runs with 5 wire sensors and 4 wire loom.
I just cut the lug for the starter solenoid and soldered in the series 1 plug so that shouldn’t be an issue.
I have ordered a manual firewall plate as our one has the typical VE firewall plate rust and is actually pretty bad behind the accelerator pedal. I was going to try and cut a hole for the manual pedal and clutch master cylinder but the rust made my mind up to replace the firewall plate.
With the ute tailshaft being a different length to the sedan I used the front half of the shaft from the ute and used the rear half from the auto sedan.
To make the correct tailshaft I removed the metal clip holding the grease boot from the slip joint on both tailshafts.
Then with moderate force I pulled the slip joints apart on both tailshafts.
I cleaned up and greased up the slip joint and replaced the auto front half with the manual front section.
The manual front section of the tailshaft is 70mm shorter than the auto shaft due to the 6 speed manual being 70mm longer than the M82.
The slip joint on these tailshafts is only held by an Oring which is inside the joint
The oring is only there to stop the slip joint from coming apart during handling and serves no engineering purpose other than that from what I can see.
The manual shifter bolts up to the floor pan with no issues using the existing holes from the auto shifter.
If anyone can shed light on any problems I am yet to encounter I’d appreciate it.
I’ll keep updating this post as I get further along with the conversion and hopefully help anyone who is attempting this or who intending on doing a conversion.

 

[SV607]

Hi all I’m doing a manual conversion on my missus 2007 SV6 sedan M82 auto
We got the car for $1500 with 6 months rego and new tyres
So far I sourced a manual conversion with a new excedy clutch and solid flywheel for $1100.
Conversion came with shifter,ecu, ute tailshaft and full manual engine wiring loom.
I believe the wiring loom was out of a series 2 VE ute as the precat O2 sensors are 4 wire and the series 1 VE had 5 wire sensors. Also the starter motor solenoid wire is plug in on the series 1 and has a bolted lug on the new loom.
I have wired the O2 sensors to the corresponding colours and will see if it starts and runs with 5 wire sensors and 4 wire loom.
I just cut the lug for the starter solenoid and soldered in the series 1 plug so that shouldn’t be an issue.
I have ordered a manual firewall plate as our one has the typical VE firewall plate rust and is actually pretty bad behind the accelerator pedal. I was going to try and cut a hole for the manual pedal and clutch master cylinder but the rust made my mind up to replace the firewall plate.
With the ute tailshaft being a different length to the sedan I used the front half of the shaft from the ute and used the rear half from the auto sedan.
To make the correct tailshaft I removed the metal clip holding the grease boot from the slip joint on both tailshafts.
Then with moderate force I pulled the slip joints apart on both tailshafts.
I cleaned up and greased up the slip joint and replaced the auto front half with the manual front section.
The manual front section of the tailshaft is 70mm shorter than the auto shaft due to the 6 speed manual being 70mm longer than the M82.
The slip joint on these tailshafts is only held by an Oring which is inside the joint
The oring is only there to stop the slip joint from coming apart during handling and serves no engineering purpose other than that from what I can see.
The manual shifter bolts up to the floor pan with no issues using the existing holes from the auto shifter.
If anyone can shed light on any problems I am yet to encounter I’d appreciate it.
I’ll keep updating this post as I get further along with the conversion and hopefully help anyone who is attempting this or who intending on doing a conversion.

have a chat with Matty he does the conversion from Auto to Manual..i was going to do my auto to manual.. was going to cost about $4000 thats a few years back... but this place does them.. have a talk with them on what u have done.. they might be able to advice u .. https://lsxtreme.com.au/

 

[hsv ss]

Awesome thanks mate I’ll get onto him if I run into any real drama
I’m just fitting up the new 6 speed now and going to try and give it a run and see A if it’ll start and B if it does start how many codes it spits out at me lol

 

[SV607]

Awesome thanks mate I’ll get onto him if I run into any real drama
I’m just fitting up the new 6 speed now and going to try and give it a run and see A if it’ll start and B if it does start how many codes it spits out at me lol

also talk to this place.. there big on engine changes to cars... many go there to have the V6 removed and V8 fitted with manual or Auto.. costly job but many do it. https://www.facebook.com/gccarsnerangg

 

[hsv ss]

Hi all
I have fitted the 6 speed gearbox to the car mechanically and all is good in that regard
The car will not start with the key or by bridging the start relay but I just got it to start by shorting the solenoid directly to the 12v feed on starter motor.
It runs quite well with no missing etc but has the predictable fault codes.
I had to use the original auto ecu as the manual ecu showed “vehicle immobilised” on the screen as it’s obviously not matched to the rest of the cars electronic modules.
I will if I have to bridge the starter to get the car to my tuner to have the ecu flashed to manual specs but would appreciate any input as to why it is not starting without bridging the starter
I have got the original auto shifter plugged in and in park next to the new manual shifter and the dash reads that the car is in park
I have got the new manual wiring loom fitted for the whole engine and gearbox.
Is it possible that the car needs input from the old plug going to the old auto to enable it to start?

 

[hsv ss]

I have run into issues regarding the clutch pedal switch
From what I’ve just been told series 1 VEs had 2 different types of clutch pedals, one has a single switch and the other has 2 switches
The change over was apparently September 2007
My car is August 2007 so would be a 2 switch pedal but the pedal I got with my conversion kit is a 1 switch pedal
I’ going to get into the wiring diagram for Ve and see if there’s any way around this issue

 

[HSV08]

Doing the same thing atm. Any progress? I can have all manual setup but on a auto loom. Which is a pain as when it was a auto calibration it started fine, as a manual calibration it won't without the clutch sensors. Can't be turned off on tune and when pinning the ecu for the switch, it still doesn't recognize it!

 

[hsv ss]

Hi all I’ve made good progress
I spoke to a bloke in Queensland called “commodore hackers”
His name is Eliot and he’s pretty good with the computer side of these conversations
He told me I just needed to send him my ECU, cluster and ABS module (just the black electrical box not the whole ABS valves etc, it’s just 4 screws and a plug and no brake lines need to be disturbed)
I was a bit sceptical but I sent those things to him and he was super quick and efficient and sent them back to me the next day after he received them
I tried them in my car and it threw up codes for ABS, Traction control and brake etc, I was worried but as soon as I took it for a drive everything cleared and it was perfect with everything working as it should including reverse lights without any modifications
The clutch switch is still an issue but that’s nothing to do with Eliot’s work
In the VE Holden workshop manual it’s page 10228 that has the wiring diagram for pre 17th of September VE clutch and cruise switch.
Post 17th September 2007 it’s a 3 wire clutch switch which should be plug and play although switch needs to be programmed to the ecu/bcm
I’m just in the middle of trying to get the clutch/ cruise switch sorted now and I’ll update with how I go.
I highly recommend “Commodore Hackers” for any software related issues with a VE but he does heaps of other models as well like VT VX VY VZ
Just google it and you will be able to contact Eliot

 

[hsv ss]

Doing the same thing atm. Any progress? I can have all manual setup but on a auto loom. Which is a pain as when it was a auto calibration it started fine, as a manual calibration it won't without the clutch sensors. Can't be turned off on tune and when pinning the ecu for the switch, it still doesn't recognize it!

Give Eliot a call he can flash your Ecu to suit manual
Worst case scenario you will need a Manual engine loom which can be fitted in a few hours, not that hard of a job really, the only pain in the ass is the wiring on drivers side under the alternator which is I think for the Knock sensor and you need to take the alternator off to get to it properly
Might be different on a V8

 

[hsv ss]

Update on my SV6 not starting with the key
After researching the issue I found that the car needed earth to pin 16 on the ECU ( I got the ECU pin out diagram from the “pcm hackers website”)
This earth is supposed to be supplied by the clutch pedal position sensor (CPP sensor)
On a pre 17/8/2007 car this is via a switch on the pedal which supplies earth when pedal is fully depressed, I’m sure it is the same as VZ and earlier
The loom I’m using had no pin on the ecu for position 16 so I had to pull the plug apart and add a pin and wire to that position.
My car now starts and runs perfectly with the key with zero fault codes and drives amazing.
It’s quite difficult to fit extra pins to the plug and I used the old auto loom/plug to source a pin and wire.
It has been a fairly long road but well worth it to get a manual VE Sv6 for $1500 as opposed to the $10,000 people are now wanting for a factory manual.
The haters who continuously tell people to just go buy a manual are wrong and this job can be done with perseverance and dedication.
If it is your pride and joy and you want a manual just convert it.
Don’t expect it to be done in a weekend and preferably have another car to drive while you get it done but give it a go.
The mechanical side is easy
Although I had an issue with the solid clutch conversion I got with the gearbox,loom and flywheel.
An excedy solid clutch conversion uses a spacer behind the clutch slave cylinder to counteract the thinner flywheel compared to the dual mass unit.
The gearbox supplied with my conversion was clearly not the one that was used with a solid flywheel.
I needed to buy a slave cylinder spacer to suit
A big thank you to Jeff from Excedy technical support who gave me the part number and directed me to a local retailer to buy the correct spacer.
I still need to sort out a clutch start switch on my car which is not very hard now I know I just need to have it supply earth to pin 16. My clutch pedal is a post 17/8/2007 so the 3 wire switch is not suitable.
The only issue I could possibly have now is the cruise cancel switch on the clutch pedal but I will get that sorted like everything else I have worked out.