auto to manual conversion

[d112crzy]

This was a DIY intended for accords, some of these steps may not be neccessary if you are doing this on a prelude.

this is the original thread
CB7Tuner Forums - Auto to Manual Transmission swap reference

Parts List
Transmission
Flywheel
Clutch assembly
Slave cylinder
Clutch master cylinder
All lines and dampener from master to slave cylinder
Includes--
line from master cylinder to dampener
dampener, bracket and bolts to hold to fender
rubber line from dampener to adapter on transmission
adapter and bolt to hold to transmission
line from adapter to slave cylinder
bolt that holds rubber line to adapter(banjo-bolt)
Starter for manual tranny
Drivers side CV shaft and intermediate shaft
Transmission mount and bracket
Front motor mount(at radiator)
Rear motor mount(at firewall)
Speedometer sensor (salvage yard may leave it on the tranny)
Shifter cables, holding clips, clevis pins and cotter pins
Shifter cable bracket for tranny (salvage yard may leave it on the tranny)
Shifter assembly
Shifter boot assembly and shift knob
Clutch pedal assembly
Both switches for clutch and their plug-in connectors
Brake and gas pedal assembly
30 Amp Relay
Manual ECU
Bolts Needed
Transmission bolt that goes through starter and bolt below it(the two longest bolts)
Flywheel bolts
Pressure plate bolts
Slave cylinder bolts
Intermediate shaft hanger bolts
Transmission shifter bracket bolts

Step-by-Step
To begin, disconnect the battery and disable the driver's side and passenger side (if equipped) airbags. To do this, unplug the airbag wiring harness located behind a panel on the bottom side of the steering wheel and behind the glovebox for passenger airbag equipped cars. Connect the harness to the red disable plug beside it.

Remove the battery, battery platform and intake tubing. Raise the car and remove both front wheels. Drain the transmission fluid and take out both CV shafts. To remove the shafts, take off the axle nuts and disconnect the lower control arms. Lightly bump the shafts with a rubber mallet to extract them from the wheel bearing assembly. Using a prybar, pry the shafts out of the transmission. Remove the passenger side torsion bar to give adequate clearance to remove the tranny. Also, remove the center beam from under the motor. Next, take off the flywheel cover and remove the bolts holding the torque converter to the flywheel. Take off the shifter cable cover and disconnect the cable. At this time, unbolt the firewall side of the transmission by removing the bottom three of the four bolts that are located on the motor side of the tranny. Be sure to leave the top bolt in to support the motor.

From the top side, disconnect all four of the wiring connectors from the transmission and remove the starter. Remove the transmission throttle control cable and its bracket from the throttle body. Unbolt the transmission cooler lines and remove. Support the transmission with a jack and remove the mount and brackets located on the rear of the tranny. Remove the solenoids on the front of tranny and unbolt the speedometer sensor and lay aside. Remove the remaining bolts connecting the tranny to the motor and pry them apart. Rotate the transmission about 30 degrees clockwise for easier removal, and lower it from the engine bay. Now is a good time to replace the front and rear motor mounts, jack the motor up under the oil pan and remove the bolts holding the mounts in and change them out.The auto mounts will work but are not as stable as manual mounts and will not accept Energy Suspension mount inserts if you decide to add them.

Inside the car, remove the passenger side kick panel, disconnect and remove the Transmission Control Module. Take out the center console and remove the radio. Disconnect the shifter cable, unplug the connections and remove the shifter assembly. Replace the brake/gas pedal assembly with the manual brake/gas pedal assembly. Take out the plate that covers the opening for the clutch master cylinder which is located to the left of the steering column on the firewall. Install the clutch pedal assembly and clutch master cylinder. You must remove the Interlock Control Module (which is no longer needed) in order to mount the clutch pedal assembly.

At this time you can do the necessary wiring changes. Cut open the transmission wiring harness. Cut off both counter shaft speed sensor connectors, the torque lock-up connector, and up/down shift connector. Leave the torque lock-up wires (yellow and green/black) exposed and re-tape the harness. These wires will be hooked up to the reverse light switch on the transmission later. In the passenger side kick panel, seperate the red/white and white/black wires from the connector that went to the Transmission Control Module. Extend these wires to the auto shifter harness and hook them to the yellow and green/black wires. Connect the red/white wire to the yellow and the white/black wire to the green/black for the reverse lights. Re-install passenger side kick panel. Unplug both clutch switch connectors from the assembly. Connect both solid black wires together, extend them and connect to the black wire in the shifter harness. Extend the black/pink wire and connect to the pink wire in the shifter harness. Extend the black/green wire to the shifter harness and install a female spade connector to the end of it. Connect this wire to terminal 86 on a 30amp relay. Cut the connector off of the big black/white and black/red wires that are beside the shifter harness. Install a female spade to the end of the black/red wire and hook it to terminal 87 on the relay. Install a female spade to the end of the black/white wire and add a 6 inch section of wire in with it. Connect the black/white wire to terminal 30 on the relay. Install a female spade on the 6 inch section of wire and connect to terminal 85 on the relay. While you have the passenger side disasembled remove the cover plate for the ECU and unbolt and change to the manual ECU, this is straight forward, everything plugs in just as it came out.

Install the manual shifter assembly with the shift knob removed. Remove the front heat shield from the underside of the car. Take the two bolts out retaining the auto shifter cable and slide the cable out of the car. Slide the manual cable assembly through the opening and bolt into place. Re-install the heat shield. Inside, connect the cables to the shifter with the retaining clips and pins. Slide the shifter boot into the holding channel on the center console and secure with screws in the factory supplied holes. Re-install the radio and the center console, screw the shift knob onto the shifter, and slide the shifter boot ring(small chrome piece) up until it snaps into place.

Bolt the clutch dampener onto the passenger side structural beam behind the transmission mounting bracket. Install the clutch fluid line from the clutch master cylinder to the dampener(unbolting some of the existing lines on the firewall makes this easier). Mount the clutch master cylinder resevoir onto the existing bracket beside the brake master cylinder. Now, replace the automatic flywheel with the manual one and install the pilot bearing. Using a clutch lineup tool to center the clutch disc, install the clutch and pressure plate. If not already on the transmission, install the clutch line adaptor, slave cylinder, the line from the clutch line adaptor to the slave cylinder, and the speedometer sensor. Install the throwout bearing and lift the transmission into the engine bay. Be sure to adequately lube the throwout bearing before installing. Align the splines on the transmission input shaft and the clutch disc and slide the shaft into the disc until the tranny housing is flush with the engine then install all of the transmission mounting bolts. Install the rubber clutch line from the dampener to the adaptor on the transmission. Install the rear tranny mount and brackets. Disconnect the hoses and the wiring connector going to the speed sensor for the automatic tranny and hook them to the speed sensor on the manual tranny. You will need to do this as quickly as possible because power steering fluid will leak while the hoses are disconnected. Connect the shifter cables to the tranny with the retaining clips and cotter pins and then install the starter. Now, plug the reverse light switch on the tranny into the wiring made for it earlier. Install the passenger side CV shaft, reconnect the lower control arm, and torsion rod. On the driver's side, install the intermediate shaft, and bolt the shaft support to the engine block. Then, install the driver's side CV shaft and lower control arm. Drain any remaining oil from the transmission and replace with new oil( I recommend Redline MTL). Replace the wheels and lower the car. Re-install the battery platform and intake tubing. Bleed the clutch. Hookup the airbag(s) and re-install the battery.

heres some specifics on the wiring.
CB7Tuner Forums - Auto to 5 speed swap wiring questions!

#1. making the car think that the shifter is in park
when you removed the auto shifter, u disconnected a big grey plug. snip the black and green/white wires and connect them together. in the picture, i had cut the matching reverse harness off of the shifter, leaving enough wire to splice to.

#2. hooking up the reverse lights
on top of the tranny is a reverse lights switch, it has a yellow and a green/black wire. they need to be connected directly to the wires of the same color on the shifter connector. agian, in the picture you can see two black wires coming from the right gegtting spliced in. they run through a hole in the firewall and connect to the wires on top of the transmission.

#3. neutral safety switch
there was a brown 2-pin connector that went to the old shifter. the easy way to do it is cut the connector off and splice the two thick wires together (solder them!). or if you need to do it the "right" way to pass inspection, follow the diagram below. the "switch on clutch pedal" is the switch that gets pressed when the pedal is put all the way to the floor.