L series 5 speed swap-Which cable to use?

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Sat Oct 12, 2013 7:02 pm

Been doing a few odd jobs on the wagon today (apart from bodywork, last weeks marathon has made me sick of it for now) and removed the pedal box and decided to mod this as part of my L series 5 speed swap. I held up the L series pedal and cable to the MY pedal and hey! They're identical! Same sized pivot hole, same length pedal, same bend and angles all the same except for one difference; the distance from pivot to cable. L series is half an inch longer which would explain why people need huge travel on the MY pedal after they do the box swap. I'm not keen on this and decided I'm using the L series pedal to keep the travel required to a minimum.

Now, which cable to I use? I went full steam ahead thinking I was using the L series cable and have already drilled off the MY cable mounting plate to mount the L series 2 bolt mounting lug onto the pedal box. Then I noticed the L series cable is much longer, where would the extra length go when the box is in? Am I better off keeping the MY cable (of which I have a brand new one still in wrapping) or go ahead with mounting the L series one? They both require repositioning of the cable mount on the box because of the new length in the pedal in that area. I'm leaning towards keeping the MY cable and just welding the bracket back on in a different spot higher up to reduce angles on the cable.

Thoughts appreciated here, maybe I'm jumping the gun a bit though doing this having not even installed the gearbox yet

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sat Oct 12, 2013 9:00 pm

OOPS ! Got another pedal box Sam ?

Just joshing

Have done same twice, ground off the MY crapola and worked out the angle the cable shots out through firewall and located that block on the L Series clutch cable, drilled one hole, for M6 bolt and nt, check alignment angle again, did the other. think I also plate reinforced the inside edge to make it a bit more Subarobust given its change of stresses. Did one years ago, so not so clear, ground off #2 a few months back in prep for next conversion.

On length, note that the MY and L boxes are different in where the lever is in the bell housing more 12 O'Clock for L isn't it ? Never been an issue with my only MY five speed conversion.
I also used MY pedal. May try L pedal for its extra leverage next time - maybe you could pioneer it and share , just the pedal not the whole pedal box as some suggested years back

There was also two schools of clutch used in this conversion. I used the smaller 200mm clutch and always felt I needed a little more to play with for perfection. If not fully depressed sometimes would get gear crunch

Half an inch ! Where'd you get that ? Eastern Oz went metric in 1973 !

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Sat Oct 12, 2013 10:09 pm

Won't need a new pedal box even if I end up using the same bracket; those 8mm spot weld drill bits made short work of the 6 spot welds the bracket just fell off in one piece

You could be right about the clutch fork position, I'll have to have a look to see if the MY cable can be used without it being stretched tight. If I used the L series cable I was going to mark out and drill 2 clearance holes in the pedal box, bolt the whole lot up with nuts for that little mounting block and then just tack weld them onto the back to make captive nuts. A 15mm spacer is needed between the little block and the pedal box though, and a plate could be welded on the back like you say for reinforcement.

Also dunno what flywheel I have in sitting in the shed, it came with the twin port engine but I haven't measured it to see if it's the rare one (220mm isn't it?)

Many options...I tell ya there's so much to think about and prioritise with this resto at the moment it's doing my head in, being a one man band is making it hard

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Sun Oct 13, 2013 12:07 am

Yeah, the extra length is the clutch fork is on the other side of the box.

I use the standard MY pedal box but there is 2 different types of clutch cables for the MY series, so you need to use the early model or cut away the tabs in the later ones. With mine, I just welded a stiffening piece to the side of the pedal box and then made a support saddle over the top from a piece of flat bar. Then drilled 2 bolt holes and used HT bolts and nylock nuts to hold in place. I wish I had pics to show, as this would have been easier than trying to explain it.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sun Oct 13, 2013 7:07 am

Don't think the 225mm fly and clutch is rare as such behind EA81 just the later ones got them.
Many options doing head in - hah ! Try more than two cars with projects to do - got four cars with varying size projects on the mind - almost measuring wrong things for wrong job

Got most bits, just need time and space to complete before another case of "I wants" hits me !

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Sun Oct 13, 2013 9:14 am

Thanks Paul, I just saw your pics in another thread with a 5 speed in place and saw the clutch fork position, looks like I'm using the L series cable too. Not such a bad thing I like the mounting system better than the MY cable.

What's best for a stiffening plate on the back, just a big square piece of 6mm plate welded on the back? If I did this I would put the nuts on the plate obviously. I'm sure I've seen pics of this on this forum but damned if I can find them now.

And Johnno if I had 4 cars on the go I'm sure I would go quite mad. But I suppose with your own place time constraints aren't really as much of an issue

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Sun Oct 13, 2013 10:02 am

Just a piece of 3mm will be suffice but make sure it's quite large so it spreads the load over a wider area (if this makes sense?). If you went with a piece of 6mm behind (inside) then I'm thinking you could just tap the threads into the 6mm. The only concern is the angle of the cable going out the firewall will be very acute.