Hey all, Did a ton of things this winter break as I had almost a month off, started off with a vacation to Nashville to see Garth Brooks in his flood relief concert, then came back and immediately boarded a plane for ten days in sunny Arizona with the grandparents over Christmas. Came back and started in on this project. I started on a Monday, and had to be back in Carbondale (almost 300 miles South of where the project took place) precisely two weeks afterward.
The project was completed One week and 4 days after I started.
This is the pictorial of the experience.
New Parts, ready to go in...
Mocking up jackshaft from 95 Grandam
Jackshaft completed and painted
Thought this was interesting... Must have been some heat in there or something! Gasket for the output of the turbo.
Motor Coming out
Motor Painted, new color scheme, less variety of colors
Auto Trans out
Cell Phone holder, standard equipment on all J-Bodies...
Getrag in!
Note the front mount, which I fabricated myself, without measurements...
Mounts welded, framerail in primer
Shifter assembly in!
Motor just about ready to go in
Motor and trans getting ready
She's in!
95 Grand Am Jackshaft, slightly modified, Thanks to Gary Anderson!
Modifications... Fitment modifications...
Sawzall Fail
My girl stopped by to help during the last few days, Crunch time basically.
Overall conversion went well... However when I rebuilt the trans I must have missed a bent or misaligned shift fork as I'm getting the dreaded 3 and 4 getrag gear mash. Oh well, hopefully get some time to work on her soon. Otherwise things went well, smooth even minus a few hiccups here and there.
Buildin' n' Boostin for 08' - Alex Richards
well i have 2 trans's with bad 3rd gears in them. how many miles were on the trans??
Nice man, im a fan!
~2014 New Z under the knife, same heart different body~
______________________
WHITECAVY no more
2012 numbers - 4SPD AUTOMATIC!!
328 HP
306 TQ
When you coming to do mine?
congrats man!
have one in my garage... trying to find time to see if i want to do it
This is my dream project to do to my car someday. Was the process pretty straight forward or were there some difficult things? Great post.
Awesome...big props! You will enjoy the manual transmission.
GMR has got nothing on this
It's about time for tickles to be a standard. Nice work!
kickass. death to the auto!!!
BuiltNBoosted wrote:well i have 2 trans's with bad 3rd gears in them. how many miles were on the trans??
47k according to junkyard. I rebuilt it and put a bearing kit in it but all the synchros looked great. Which makes me think that maybe when it went back together I either missed a slightly bent shift fork or it got bent if something got dropped on it sometime during its storage time in the garage. I can tell its only slightly bent because if I rev it high in 2nd to about 3500-4k and disengage the clutch while letting her coast and very slowly slide her into gear I can get it in without grinding. Makes me think that it may be the case.
Thanks Jess! Feels good!
Anyway, some modifications I added while it was out
1. Repainted nearly everything, including touching up engine bay and changing color of motor. Now motor and trans is primarily all aluminum silver
2. Powdercoated parts included: Coolant hose spring clamps, accessory bracket, fuel rail, trans mounts, coolant tubes, valve cover (Still waiting to finish spacer to get that on along with the catch can)
3. Reloomed and retucked engine harness with Graphite Expandable braided sleeving and heat shrink
4. Repainted and touched up engine bay
5. Installed Short Shifter
6. Rebuilt trans with Team Green LSD
7. Modified 95' Grand am jackshaft and installed with fabricated bracket
8. Replaced leaky freeze plug (oops!)
Shane Wellington wrote:This is my dream project to do to my car someday. Was the process pretty straight forward or were there some difficult things? Great post.
Everything is always straightforward, its the execution that isn't. Had some fitment issues with the axle on the drivers side and with the passenger side axle and jackshaft since it interfered with the torque cradle on the motor. Plus the fact I fabricated my own front mount made it more involved.
Thanks for the compliments guys! I'll get some more pictures of the completed job soon here!
Buildin' n' Boostin for 08' - Alex Richards
I believe the jackshaft was off one of my z24s. ive never owned a Grand Am. did u get a different one from the 95 grand am or did you look up a part number and thats what it popped up to be?
gmanz24 (The Bash Whore) wrote:I believe the jackshaft was off one of my z24s. ive never owned a Grand Am. did u get a different one from the 95 grand am or did you look up a part number and thats what it popped up to be?
They are both the same.
The 2.3L Quads were in the GAGT's... Did not know GM ever had a jackshaft equipped J-Body with the 2.4 (or was yours a 2.3?)
Basically the bottom line, GM uses the sme jackshaft since the motor is the same length and just makes the difference in vehicle width with different length CV Shafts.
As promised, heres some more peektures...
The graphite EBS...
Clutch Lines
There she is!
Buildin' n' Boostin for 08' - Alex Richards
Nice man, how is she drivin now?
You have any pictures of the clutch pedal install? That is something I have always been curious about when doing auto manual, how the heck do you mount the clutch pedal lol
~2014 New Z under the knife, same heart different body~
______________________
WHITECAVY no more
2012 numbers - 4SPD AUTOMATIC!!
328 HP
306 TQ
Dont have any pictures but there are a couple good pictures with measurements from someone else's thread that's pretty extensive and descriptive, with measurements.
it is not that hard... The hole for the pedal bracket up top is already there., used that as a reference along with the firewall which also has a small protrusion or outline for the bracket. Once I got the pedal somewhat mounted up I just traced an outline for the three holes (Main large master cyl hole, and two mounting stud holes) And drilled.
One thing I did do that I think made it easier to use my method was I ground through the tack welds holding the studs in the pedal bracket so I had holes to trace the inside of, otherwise the mounting studs wont allow you to get the pedal bracket flush with the firewall.
Buildin' n' Boostin for 08' - Alex Richards
whats the deal with your clutch lines... those are not OEM?
I wouldn't mind stainless steel on mine instead of the OEM crap.
DaFlyinSkwirl (Pj) v2.0 wrote:whats the deal with your clutch lines... those are not OEM?
I wouldn't mind stainless steel on mine instead of the OEM crap.
It was really simple,
If you cut the plastic line away from the barbed quick connect fittings at each end you can chuck the end that fits into the master and slave in a drill and use a mill bastard file and a few grades of sandpaper to grind the barb off and get the barbed end down close to an 1/8". From there its an 1/8" compression to Male 1/8 NPT fitting, and a 1/8 NPT Female to Female 3/16 IF Flare so I can run 3/16 Brake line up to a higher point on the trans. From there its a 3/16 IF to Male 1/8NPT adapter, then a 1/8 NPT Female to -3AN adaptor, I run Teflon -3AN stainless hose, with Aeroquip fittings, which runs to a -3AM to Female 1/8NPT. The last fitting in the line is a 1/8 NPT MAle to 1/8 compression 90 degree elbow. that puts the other barbed quick connect fitting adapter vertical to snap into the bottom of the master.
You could probably find a 3/16 IF to -3 Adapter, and or a 3/16 IF to compression to eliminate a few fittings, I just had to adapt to 1/8 NPT because thats what I had to work with locally.
Buildin' n' Boostin for 08' - Alex Richards
oh no ive always had the 2.4 but i did the swap from auto to manual too so maybe i just grabbed the jack shaft from the 2.3 i had laying around and just assumed that was how it was supposed to be. i thought the older, pre 00 2.4s had the jack shaft, idk its been forever since i did the swap.
gmanz24 (The Bash Whore) wrote:oh no ive always had the 2.4 but i did the swap from auto to manual too so maybe i just grabbed the jack shaft from the 2.3 i had laying around and just assumed that was how it was supposed to be. i thought the older, pre 00 2.4s had the jack shaft, idk its been forever since i did the swap.
your correct. mine did to.
My old 97 Z24 manual did not have the jackshaft (thank god). I hate it and would not use it it. I think my 96 auto has one.
FU Tuning
very nice, i'm doing the same thing here in a bit. I was talking to you in the thread for the tranny mounts. I found a guy with a car to cut one out from, I should get it monday and i'll make a replica and post up the dimensions so others dont have to spend $80 on a mount.
smart idea on the line between the clutch master/slave. I grabbed my assembly out of a sunfire with an eco just so I don't have that damn plastic line. if you don't mind me asking, do you recall who made your stainless brake lines? I noticed ya had some in one pic. I've been considering making them myself, but i'm nervous as hell about not being able to pressure test them properly. what kinda clutch did you end up installing? oh, and if ya don't mind, what brand is the braided line?
nice job BTW
bradley s wrote:very nice, i'm doing the same thing here in a bit. I was talking to you in the thread for the tranny mounts. I found a guy with a car to cut one out from, I should get it monday and i'll make a replica and post up the dimensions so others dont have to spend $80 on a mount.
smart idea on the line between the clutch master/slave. I grabbed my assembly out of a sunfire with an eco just so I don't have that damn plastic line. if you don't mind me asking, do you recall who made your stainless brake lines? I noticed ya had some in one pic. I've been considering making them myself, but i'm nervous as hell about not being able to pressure test them properly. what kinda clutch did you end up installing? oh, and if ya don't mind, what brand is the braided line?
nice job BTW
The braided lines I got with the Neon Rear Swap GP that Joshua Dearman did awhile back, you may want to talk to him about sources. For the most part as long as you track down adaptors to rid yourself of the banjo bolts its relativly easy to get pre fabricated lines.
The clutch line is Russell Teflon hose, and aeroquip hose ends.
Also finished up the 3-4 grind, Had the trans out yesterday, went through it, and got her back in and running today.
I'll have a thread up in the next few days about how I fixed the 3-4 grind. I think you getrag guys with 2002+ getrag transmissions will like this one, the trick is, it has nothing to do with the synchronizers, blocking rings, or the shift forks.
More later!
Buildin' n' Boostin for 08' - Alex Richards
niiiice can't wait. 2002+? what's that about?
do your reverse lights work properly?
bradley s wrote:niiiice can't wait. 2002+? what's that about?
do your reverse lights work properly?
Reverse lights are not working as of now, I went over the wiring diagram and they are wired correctly, just have to track down the open or short somewhere in the circuit, already verified the switch works.
Buildin' n' Boostin for 08' - Alex Richards
bump
i'm waiting patiently for the thread!
check out the stock pressure plate thread in the trans forum, we need to have a discussion about the ACT clutch!
Great update Alex, never noticed a jackshaft on any j that I've owned or worked on. I'm looking forwarde to your trans fix. Did you get your clutch line idea from rare5spd's post a while back?
