From auto to G-series

[timmay89]

Hey, so I figured it was time to start a new thread for my car. Here is a link from the previous thread that this will be continuing from.

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26389&page=13

As of now the car has a bp engine, with the festiva auto tranny and the aspire swap. A word to the wise, the auto tranny does work, but runs around 3500rpm going 100km/hr (62mph). In other words its too high. So I found a 1988 323gt with a tranny and axles that I can use. So I am going to swap in the 5 speed transmission.
First question, I am going to do the 5th gear swap, from research the 5th gear comes out of either a mx6 or 626. Does anyone know which years this would be?

[bhazard]

Older 323/mx6 I believe, and I think it has to be the 4 cyl.

There was a guy on teamcapri selling the gear sets for like $65. Thats where I got mine.

Have you thought about using the aspire auto? They have a lockup converter that drops the cruise rpm.

How is the auto bp anyway? Im gonna be doing the swap sometime soon.

[timmay89]

The auto bp is a great car! I love it. It's final gear if you drive it softly will shift at 20mph, driving moderatly will shift at 40mph, and flooring it will shift at 70mph. It gets good acceleration. The reason I am switching to a standard is that when driving at 65mph on the freeway, the rpm are really high. probably around 3700rpm. Too high for comfort.

I went to the junk yard today and found 1 mx6 (1st gen) with the proper tranny! So I spent today taking all of the wiring and hoses off of the engine and I am going to go back and pull the engine to get that 5th gear so I can swap it! I am determined to save money.

Also, I get my 323gt transmission tomorrow, which is really exciting!

[bhazard]

I would count the teeth on the gears when you pull them to make sure you get the right ratio, should end up .71:1

Theres only one taller 5th for the G series I guess and thats from the diesels sold only overseas, they got .68:1.

Im turning about 2300 at 55. Maybe 2800 at 65?

[timmay89]

That's a really good ratio that you are pulling. I will hopefully obtain lower 2000rpm at 65mph with the 5th gear swap. (funny enough this is my gf's car as well!)

[bhazard]

What I told you is what you'll get. I already have the taller 5th. 2000 at 65 would rock. There's already tons of torque with the bigger motor in the festy. I can be cruising out of town 35mph at 1500 and be at 55 in a few seconds. Even 25 at like 1000 I can pull up to 55 fine.

[timmay89]

Good news! I got the transmission today! Bad news though is one of the cv axle boots ripped when pushing the car from the auto body shop to the guys house. Shouldn't be too hard of a fix. Now I just need to figure out if the clutch is good or not. How do I go about doing that?

[timmay89]

So update for today. I rebuilt the cv axles and replaced the boots. I am going to buy a Fenco clutch, does anyone know if this is a good one? For the flywheel, should I get it resurfaced, or should I simply leave it? (keep in mind I am on a tight budget).

[timmay89]

Finally an update, I will get some pictures up soon. The G series swap is complete, and runs ALOT better than the auto bp. I highly recommend it. It took a long time to get the mounts perfect, but it all came together. Definitely more power and top speed with the standard.

Next up, turbo?