Navigator ZF5 Manual Swap

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Laporterican

Laporterican

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Hole is cut, clutch and brake pedal assembly is in, driveshafts are done, and most of the parts are on the bench waiting to get installed!

HUGE thanks to Ford for cutting costs and using a firewall and floor out of an F150, the clutch/brake pedal assembly bolted right in. Hole for the clutch slave cylinder, locating pin, brake booster, and an upper bolt all lined up perfectly! Zero modification was needed to bolt it in. There's also a stamped area in the floor for a manual transfer case and manual shifter, if I was installing the lighter-duty M5OD I bet it would've lined up perfectly. Since I'm using the much heavier ZF5, the hole for the shifter doesn't line up with the stamping in the floor, no big deal.

I measured the shift tower on the ZF5 in relation to the bellhousing, made some marks and a handy cardboard pattern, and started cutting. I oversized the hole by a 1/2in, I'll probably have to do some more trimming once the transmission is in. Had to start somewhere...

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I pulled the new pedal assembly apart to get it in for the initial test fit, once I saw how nicely everything lined up I pulled the steering shaft, brake booster, and accelerator pedal, reassembled the new pedal assembly, and bolted the whole thing in. I wanted to double check there wouldn't be any interference.

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3 pedals in a Navigator, it's a beautiful sight :cool:

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Laporterican

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Before I pulled the Navi off the lift and started on the pedals and shifter hole, I thought it was a good time to take off the fancy auto-dropping full-of-rust running boards. SO MUCH RUST, DIRT, AND ROCKS!

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I probably swept up 18lbs of debris after pulling those off!

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riphip

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Are you replacing any seals or upgrades to transfer case/transmission before you finish install?? I think there is a problem with weak OD snap ring that gives problems
 
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Laporterican

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Are you replacing any seals or upgrades to transfer case/transmission before you finish install?? I think there is a problem with weak OD snap ring that gives problems
I'm replacing the seal between the trans and t-case. Transfercase is easy enough to pull if I need to down the road, it seems to be fully operational at the moment. By "OD" do you mean overdrive? I don't know of any issues with the ZF5, they seem to last a looooong time. Besides 1st-2nd synchros...

I was thinking of throwing the manual-t-case in while I was at it, but that would've been much more difficult with the massive center console.
 
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Laporterican

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That's it, I quit. I'm letting my kids finish this project up...

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JK...I AM SO CLOSE!! All I have to do is like 400x little things, along with installing the GearBanger shifter, building some custom linkage, I need to paint my new fabricated transmission mount, order a tuner, sort through wiring, and put it all back together!!
 

srirachaboy75

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Gutted the interior in the front, both seats, console, and the autoscum shifter. It's going to be TIGHT getting the shifter exactly where I want it, I'll definitely need to draw up an aluminum plate and get it laser cut. I'd do it at home, but my Bridgeport Mill is still running a 3-phase motor, I upgraded to dedicated 200A power in my home shop, still need to find a 240V motor for the old beast. All those wires hanging out are from a stereo install, I'll need to sort through that and find out what works and what can be removed, still debating if I should tackle that now...

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I took a bunch of measurements of where the current shifter was in Neutral, I'll aim to have my manual shifter in the exact same spot. Hopefully a GearBanger from Wild Horses Broncos will work for moving the shifter, even if I have to slightly modify it, it's easier than starting from scratch. In the past, I've had companies send me components that weren't welded together yet, or just portions of a product, one of the many benefits of having a full fabshop and spending years in R&D and product development.

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Here's a parts list so far, and a couple components I'll most likely be ordering next week. It was awesome being able to order everything I need for the clutch and hydraulics in one kit from RockAuto.

Transfer Case Gasket: Fel-Pro #55484
Transmission Mount (ZF5): Pioneer #622971
Clutch & Brake Pedal Pad: Ford #B7A2457A
ZF5 Complete Clutch Kit: AMS #KIT1535
- AMS Self-Adjusting Clutch #07179
- AMS Clutch Master Cylinder #M0721
- AMS Slave Cylinder #S0721
- AMS Flywheel #167763

Tuner - 5 Star Tuning SCT X4, or, Edge Tuner (researching which is best for my application)
Driveshafts - Need to take them to Precision Driveline and Fab in Cheyenne
Exhaust - Once it's drivable I'll drop it off at the local muffler shop, might as well open it up for some extra hrspwrs
A GearBanger would be a cool addition to your '03 Navigator.
 

whtbronco

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That's all, whatcha gonna do after lunch tomorrow then, LOL. This conversion is so frickin cool.
 
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