Converting an automatic frame to a manual

[82DMC12]

I may have an opportunity to buy a refurbished automatic frame in the near future. My car is a manual. I've been considering options to repair some frame rot on my car and due to the near proximity and fair price for this frame I might just do a frame swap which will result in a lot less sweat equity than doing a weeks-long frame off of my own.

I read a couple of blogs where someone was fitting a different engine or transmission to their D and they were working with an Auto frame. It required, as best I could tell, some kind of "adapter plate" to make up for the 2" or so difference in shifter height, cutting a larger hole under the shifter to accommodate the side-to-side movement, and drilling the crossgate hole.

I saw some references to a DMC EU adapter plate that is/was available. Can't find it on their website though. The blog I read used some angle-iron to lift the shifter up.

Anyone have any pictures of a vendor-supported adapter plate installed? Curious to see how it would look and be installed.

Am I missing anything else? Any other modifications or gotcha's that will trip me up if I get into this one?!?

[Henrik]

I converted my D from Auto to manual. Follow this link (and scroll down to the June 13, 2015 entry):

http://deloreanvr6conversion.blogspot.com/2015/06/

[82DMC12]

I converted my D from Auto to manual. Follow this link (and scroll down to the June 13, 2015 entry):

http://deloreanvr6conversion.blogspot.com/2015/06/

Thanks, I saw your blog and it looks fairly straight forward. Martin mentioned having to "cut off a strip from the chassis" and drill the crossgate hole. Do you know what he meant by that? Looks like all you had to do was drill a simple hole? What did he mean by "strip"?

Can you think of anything else in auto vs. manual frame issues? Tranny and engine mounts are the same?

[AussieDMC]

The automatic frame doesn’t have the hole for the cross gate cable. It goes on the passenger side of the frame and sits behind where the shifter goes. The auto frame has a rectangular hole in the frame where the bottom of the shifter sits to join onto the linkages. It had to be widened slightly to fit the manual gearshift assembly. The auto trans mounts on the gearbox end are different to the 5 speed but they bolt to the same male fitting on the frame which is in the same place.

[82DMC12]

The automatic frame doesn’t have the hole for the cross gate cable. It goes on the passenger side of the frame and sits behind where the shifter goes. The auto frame has a rectangular hole in the frame where the bottom of the shifter sits to join onto the linkages. It had to be widened slightly to fit the manual gearshift assembly. The auto trans mounts on the gearbox end are different to the 5 speed but they bolt to the same male fitting on the frame which is in the same place.

Thanks Aussie. Sounds like a straight-forward conversion then.

[Nicholas R]

Similar to Henrik, I documented the process of converting my frame from auto to manual here: http://www.ls1delorean.com/2012/03/two-weekends-of-madness.html

This was before any of the shifter adapters were offered so I bolted in angle iron to create the raised shifter plate. The photos also show the drilling of the cross gate cable hole, as well as the removal of the strip of the auto mounting plate for clearance.

[Henrik]

Similar to Henrik, I documented the process of converting my frame from auto to manual here: http://www.ls1delorean.com/2012/03/two-weekends-of-madness.html

This was before any of the shifter adapters were offered so I bolted in angle iron to create the raised shifter plate. The photos also show the drilling of the cross gate cable hole, as well as the removal of the strip of the auto mounting plate for clearance.

Yup, I shamelessly linked to that page from my blog. I would agree that your angle iron solution, Nicholas, is simpler and better. I had thought that the aluminum adapter would be a bolt-on type thing but it needed a ton of mods before it would fit. Using angle irons also eliminates the stand-offs that was required for my adapter plate, which may come loose over time.

[82DMC12]

Thanks guys. Looks fairly straight-forward to me. The frame comes with an adapter plate which was purchased from DMCH. It's stainless and shaped like a box without a bottom. It has welded-on studs and a hole for both the shifter underneath and a hole for the crossgate which can be used as templates for where to cut the frame. Also has holes on the sides of the box for running bolts through the frame. Seems like overkill but at least it will be solid.

Question - this frame has been sandblasted, repaired where needed, and the normal cross section in the front where you can put a jack in front of the fuel tank has been cut out and replaced with SS plate. The frame was then finished in POR-15 (will find out if it's the 3-part process). Does the frame have to be painted with the gray paint afterwards or is POR-15 good enough? Is the paint only to color-match the OEM epoxy when doing spot repairs?

[painterdave72]

hi andy.. usually the gray topcoat over the por 15 is just for color match.. por 15 is not uv resistant or something also but since this is a frame it should be fine.. but u can still scuff sections u see and topcoat easily enough...

[82DMC12]

hi andy.. usually the gray topcoat over the por 15 is just for color match.. por 15 is not uv resistant or something also but since this is a frame it should be fine.. but u can still scuff sections u see and topcoat easily enough...

Got it! Didn't know about the UV resistance part. I guess we will find out if he actually painted it or not when we go see it.