I searched too, but couldnt find my old post about it ... i made it in 2002 so i might forget some stuff, please pm me if you find something missing...
Part list:
Best bet is buying a complete donor car, one that is manual of course at a low price. remember that it will cost easely over 1000$ if you gatter all part separatly.
E16i/s manual ecu (can work on auto ecu, but wont perform good)
Shifter linkage from manual (drill 4 rivet of donor car it will pop out)
engine back mount with Dog bone (youll need it !!)
transmission mount side (the one that bolts to chassis= absolute necessary)
5speed tranny with mount (D"oh!)
Drive axles (dont botter trying the auto one, they might fit but the manual are better)
Clutch 190mm,Throw out bearing and flywheel from E16s/i (take the one from the donor car)
Engine back plate (you know the one plate that is between tranny and motor)
Starter motor (the auto one is mounted 90deg/manual goes in)
clutch cable (d'oh)
clutch pedal with mounting hardware (tricky to get out and put on)
Brake pedal from manual (this one got a 45deg bend to clear clutch pedal, no need for anything else here)
How to :
First off, keep in mind it might take a few days to complete the swap... took me about 3 (worked on it a few hours each day + the fact i was probably the 1st one to do it)...
First thing first, jack off the front, get rid of all tranny fluids, batterie and tray. disconnect all wires going to tranny and starter, including the 2 cable coming from the shifter assy. then undo steering knuckel either by unbolting the shocks and tie-rod to get the axles off... (put a pan under the tranny before !! there is always oil left inside). Get the cross member off and unbolt the back engine tranny mount (it doesnt support the engine at all). No need to get the front one off as it doesnt bolt to the tranny ( might be helpful to unbolt it to lower the engine for easier tranny install).
Support the engine with a jack (put a piece of wood between so you wont damage the oil pan). Now the fun part begins !! thats where i hit the most problems. On the front, bottom of the engine/tranny plate, there is a 3in hole masked by a plug. get the plug off, you should be able to access the 3 bolts that holds the torque converter to the flywheel. unbolt those by rotating the engine with a ratchet on the crank pulley. unbolt the tranny mount either from the center bolt or from the tranny casing (easier from the center one).
Now start unbolting the tranny from bottom up (you dont want to get a tranny in the face !!. once you only have the 2 top bolt left, support the tranny with another jack. get the last 2 bolt off and pull gently on the tranny and get it off. get the flex flywheel off the engine. Get the back engine mount off too, this one hard a bit as the sway bar is a little in the way. thats all for the engine side now.
For the shifter stuff, get every you can off the way : exhaust, heat shield, console... you need to drill the 4 pop rivet that keeps the shifter there. It needs to be droped from the bottom. The same way is to get the manual one out of the donor car. To install the manual one in there, make sure you get all the stuff and little brackets from the donor (might not need all but it make for a better and stock looking installation). Once youve pass the shifter rods around the sway bar, lift up the shifter to its position into the tunnel... Trick part here is to use bolts and washer to fix the shifter in there.. so you need a friend that will either hold the bolt under the car or ratchet it up inside the car. youll never be able to do it yourself unless you weld the bolt in the holes... (i did use my Gf for this one).
Next thing is building up. put the engine mount in (the one from the manual tranny) 3 bolts under the sway bar again. you can bolt up the dog bone to the firewall.. see the bracket there wasnt used with the auto tranny. put on the engine back plate from the donor car, bolt up the flywheel to the engine. Use blue locktite on the six bolts there as the crank is drilled right throu and could leak oil from there. Torque it out as spec. mount the new clutch on the flywheel. Dont forget to change the mount thats bolted to driver side frame, youll see 2 plastic plug masking the holes youll need to use, just plug back the holes needed for the auto tranny mount with them. Now mount the tranny to the engine...(im sure you cleaned the clutch lever and regreased it, and installed a good throw out bearing before hand) (use a friend and/or aligment tool and/or a jack to help you ease the install) bolt it all up around, and jack it off till you can put back the center bolt inside the driver side mount. Install the shifter rods to the tranny and engine mount (stabilizer rod)
install the drive axles and speedo cable, mount back the suspension and direction stuff...
put gear oil into the transmission... dont forget or 5th gear wont last long !! trust me !!. Install batterie tray, yes it will fit the new mount exactly where it was, install starter and stuff you unplug around there. Tricky part here... wiring the tranny. if you can, use the donor car plugs and match it up the auto plug... for back up light and neutral switch back up light are needed.. if you want to see at night !! trust me there also!!)
Next hard stuff... installing the pedals !! ... you need to get the dash off if you want to do a clean and easy install (
easy yeah right !!)... i didnt and ended up cutting/prying the air duck... the brake pedal isnt hard to change... just get the sleeve/pivot bolt off, and the booster holding pin off and it will get off easely. the hard part here is to put back the other one and having the return spring correctly install... you get the point when youll be on your back half way in the car having back pain !!... the clutch pedal is the one youll have most problem clearing the air duck... it is 2 or 3 bolt that hold it to the firewall. then pass the clutch cable and bolt it where it goes (the masking plate behind the driver side shock tower.) Install it onto the tranny and adjust it (there is a holding bracket on the tranny too, just next to the starter)...
Change the ecu if you got the one from the manual donor car.. you know where it is ...
from there, just put back the stuff you took out... either the hood, batterie, starter wiring, ground wires.... it shouldnt be long before you make your first standart trip
Happy swaping !!
Martin