cool man, youv'e made some progress, now it's time to shove that engine into the VH (gently of course)

that engine crane looks good, i used to have 1 just like it, lol

no wheels? i didn't notice that,lol

it had wheels when i gave it to him, i'm assuming it wouldn't fit under the car?

WOO HOO.. Finally got the clutch cable unhooked. That was the hardest thing so far! Its always the small niggly things..

Anyhoo i have a couple of questions for the gurus..

1 Theres bugger all room under the glovebox area cos of all the air con stuff, and I assume the computer cant go in the engine bay cos of the heat..? So is there another suggested place to put it in the VH?

2 How the hell do i undo the auto shifter so i can get the console out etc. On the HZs there is a grub screw but I cant see anything anywhere to dismantle the thing..

3 Does the cold air intake fit over the top of the welded in battery tray? I havent really tried hard cos im not at that stage yet but it just looks like itll sit a bit high..

4 Im assuming one of these (below) is the reverse lights wire. Not sure what the other ones for, but do I need to get them to use in the VH...?

Cheers.

1. Do what Jim said - LH kick panel behind a VK or VL cover - it sticks out enough to cover it.

2. Isn't this VN a manual? Are you talking about the VH?

3. No, you'll need to remove the battery tray, but in this case you don't really want to, so the next best bet is an enclosed pod filter, or some sort of custom box that works while retaining the battery tray.

4. You need both.
One is the speed sender, the other is the reverse lights.
Reverse lights can be easily spliced into the pink & green wires at the VH shifter.
Speed sender wires need to be spliced into the patch loom you'll need to make to connect to the VH loom & VN engine loom.

This is the wiring I referred to in a previous post, that comes off the main dash/body loom that runs across behind the dash, and goes down to the box via a grommeted hole in the trans tunnel, that you need to retain.

Cheers,

Mick
_______________________________________________________________

Judge a successful man not on how he treats his peers, but on how he treats those less fortunate.

hi mate,
very helpful thread, im planbning on doing the same thing myself in a couple of months, just need to sell my vn ss first. But the reason for my post is i was wonderinif you wanted to sell thacho dash out of your donor vehicle? If so drop me a line [email protected]
Cheers Gaza

It's just a blank-off for the clutch hole.
You can cut around it (in the thin area) and remove it.
This will reveal a hole in the firewall, ready for the clutch pedal.
However, it will still be sealed by the insulator pad on the pedal-
frame (mounted from inside the car).

You will also need to remove the pedals, and find a VB-VK V8 set.
The VN pedal box is no good to you, nor is a 6.
If you can't find a pedal box, Dellow do a changeover for around $230
if you supply them with an auto set. A mate of mine just got a set
for his SL/E, and they look pretty good - almost identical to factory.

Try to use an original pedal insulator, as the nose of the clutch tube
needs to be sealed off at the firewall. The dellow replacement pads
don't seal this area - you can see daylight past it.
If you have to, salvage the one off your current auto pedals, and cut an
undersize hole to fit around the clutch tube, so it will seal it off.

I also got your email - I'll answer it shortly.

Cheers,

Mick
_______________________________________________________________

Judge a successful man not on how he treats his peers, but on how he treats those less fortunate.

If you undo the clutch pedal - pull the clip off & slide the pin out - it makes it so much easier to get the whole lot in.

You'll need to drop the column down - 2x 13mm nuts from underneath that hold it up to the dash brace, and there's a bolt through the bracked into the pedal box frame near the pivot points.

Then you need to undo the 2 bolts on the firewall side, either side of the clutch hole (they have access holes in the firewall mat).
Back inside the car, undo the clip off the brake pedal rod, and pop the rod off the pin on the pedal. Then, also from inside the car, undo the 2 nuts holding the brake booster in - you don't need to remove the booster, but those nuts hold the pedals against the firewall!

The hardest bolt to get to is the 13mm one that's mounted vertically at the top, bolted up into a captive nut in the dash brace, above the steering column. Take this out last.

Then when you have the new pedals sat in place, fit that bolt back in loosely to hold the pedals in, and fit all the other fasteners - the 2x nuts on the booster, and 2x bolts from the firewall side, before you start tightening them all up.
Then refit the brake pushrod, and the clutch pedal, before lifting the column up into place & fitting the 2 nuts to the brace, and the bolt to the pedal frame.

It will all make more sense when you have your head under the dash.

Also, do you know how to pull the RH corner of the dash out?
You'll need to, to give you enough room, and it has to be done first....so I'd better explain it.
When you've undone the lower steering column shroud, loosen the 2 column holding nuts, and you'll be able to see the 2 phillips screws going up vertically into the dash brace, that holds the column end of that dash part in place. Undo them. Pop the headlight switch out, and undo the screw vertically above it (not all cars have this screw).
Then pull the vent inserts out of the RH A/C vent, and undo the 2 phillips screws in the top of the vent - tip: turn the vent to "off" before you undo them, so the screws don't end up down the A/C ducting.
Undo the final screw, under the lower corner of the dash (near the kickpanel) and it should drop away.
You can unplug the wires off the locks/windows circuit breakers & kiddy lock buttons (label the wires, as they need to go back exactly the same way). Also unplug the dash light dimmer wires. Have a look at the fuse box, and you'll see the 'legs' that hold the fuse box onto the dash piece - bend them in to release the fuse panel, and you can pull that whole corner out of the car, giving you enough working space to do the pedals.

Cheers,

Mick
_______________________________________________________________

Judge a successful man not on how he treats his peers, but on how he treats those less fortunate.

how'd you go with the shifter?

There's no need to remove the shift knob or lever.
The console lifts out over the lever.
Then there's enough room around it to drill out the rivets.
Just remember to retain the C shaped bracket at the front of the hole - it holds the console down in place when you put it back in.

You can buy the manual shifter console plates from HDT, that will drop into your console (once you pop out the auto cover section).

Cheers,

Mick
_______________________________________________________________

Judge a successful man not on how he treats his peers, but on how he treats those less fortunate.

Thanks Mick.
I drilled the floor plate out today. Will remember to keep that C shaped bit in place. Thanks for the reminder for that one. And I have already joined up the VN front and VH rear shafts ready to go in. I should get that rebalanced now while its sitting idle out of the car shouldnt I!?

I was thinking i will get an adaptor plate made up to move the shifter forward a couple of inches. I reckon thats the best approach. Ive sena a couple of different pics on various forums. The T5 floor plates you can get from HDT, do they line up with where the T5 comes out a bit far back or where it would sit modified? Ie would I need to adapt the HDT floor plate if I move the shifter forward a bit or would it line up? If that makes sense...??

Cheers again.