Hi All
Just a few questions about an Auto conversion. Do I need to change my ECU? Is there a difference between a Gli 5 Speed and an XR6 5 Speed? I want to put a strong clutch on, like around the 2000lb Mark, is there a weak spot on the fire wall that would make a heavy clutch a bad idea? ie: the pressure from the clutch pedal causing the fire wall to fracture.

thanks all, any other advice would be helpful.

answers are the the quote section

Agreed

ECU change is the preferred option. However, there are ways to fool the auto ECU to make idle and thermofans behave. Resistors for inhibitor switch, trans temp link... have a search for a thread started by username Bozz - he sorted it out via this method.

XR6 ECU is slightly more aggressive tune to suit the XR6 cam.

Firewall appears to be the weak spot for the clutch pedal. This can be fitted with reinforcing plates. Plenty has been said on this issue, might be worth a search.

So ultimately, the way to go is to change the ECU to another XR6 ECU only for manual. Will the flywheel adapt ok?

In response to your questions:

a) The auto ecu will do the job, you can trick it to think its in Drive all the time. A manual ECU will do a better job of idle and power control, but trying to find an EL XR6 manual ECU is hard enough, let alone having to swap your left arm, leg and testicle for it is another issue.

b) The 5 speed boxes are exactly the same between GLi's and XR's. Same ratios, etc. Any EB2 box up has the same ratios and will bolt straight up.

c) A standard PBR XR6 clutch can handle upto about 165rwkw without any issue. I know one member on here who is yet to fry this clutch. They seem to hold very well and are actually a little lighter than the standard I6 clutch.

d) Firewalls and pedal pinds on these break because of heavy clutchs, binding clutch cables, badly adjusted clutchs which cause the fork to overreach. But as has been said, you can reinforce the firewall and pedal pin with a bit of metal and some welding. Keeping a careful eye on the cable adjustment and cable lube schedule will help greatly.

e) Flywheels are the same on a standard I6 and an XR engine. They are all the same 6 bolt flywheel. EA's and EB1's had 3 bolt flywheels, so if your looking for a second hand one, careful as to what you are buying. The existing flywheel will have to come out, as they are not a flywheel as such, just a plate with teeth on it. Weighs about 1kg compared to the 10kg that a manual flywheel weighs.

Awesome! Thats what I was looking for. The main reason I am putting in a heavy duty clutch is because it is one of those "While ya there" jobs and also because I am going to run some sort of forced induction later on down the track. Still not sure wheather its going to be super or turbo but either one will require a little more meat on the clutch. Will it still be possible to piggy back a Haltec ECU ontop of the Auto ecu even tho the car will be Manual??
Thanks again all for ya help!

Becareful with the poor T5. My understanding is that they dont like alot of power, and tend to explode on the insides. I'm sure there are more knowledgable people on here that could tell you how much power they can take before killing themselves. I would guess its more on the hard take offs and shifts that would end up killing the box. Like anything I suppose, if your nice to it, it will last.

But when someone does a forced induction setup, one can only assume they wont be nice to it all the time.

If you're going to get an aftermarket ecu, you wouldnt piggyback (unless its an actual piggyback ecu), you would cut the necessary wires and rewire them to the new ecu, and this would do the complete engine management. But leave your existing ECU there to do its other function, like thermos, aircon management, emissions management, etc. If you are going to a manual, you make half the ecu's functions redundant and if you get another ecu, then you dont really nead the factory ecu anymore. There are members on here with forced setups that arent running the factory ecu anymore, and have no issues. And alot of ecus have auxillary outputs to run these extra functions in the car.

Is there anyway of perhaps getting the T5 strengthened? As with the Haltech, Its an ECU that just wires into the existing ECU and basically runs as a piggy back but allows to to change the factory ECU settings via PC in Real time. Really cool and really cheap (Depending on what model you get) Your right about the not being nice on it tho! I dont plan on killing it but she aint gonna be puppied around!!!

Heltec is its own ECU, the only reason you would leave to stocker in is to manage the auxilary items and soforth..

Pasted From www.haltech.com.au/interceptor.htm

Haltech Interceptor
The New Driving Force in Engine Management
The Interceptor provides tuning of fuel mixtures, ignition timing, boost levels and many other features with newly designed Interceptor Windows Software. As the Haltech Interceptor works with the factory ECU, you need only tune where necessary, with the factory levels of economy, idle quality, cold start etc being fully maintained.

The Haltech Interceptor is a totally new “piggy backâ€￾ ECU designed to work in parallel with your factory ECU.

Performance has never been achieved so quickly, easily and cheaply.
The Haltech Interceptor has been fully tested on many makes and models, with the range of supported vehicles set to expand rapidly.

Ok. Interesting. I didn't know that Haltech made an interceptor ecu.

But that said, I'm sure there is nothing wrong with them.

If you intend on making some big power, those that have are running a full aftermarket ECU, like a Wolf. There would be others on here with more knowledge on that.

As for stronger T5's, the only person I know who does stuff like that is Mal Wood Auto in Queensland. He would be a good person to call to discuss your options.

Mal Wood does a T5 'Z' spec box at a fair price considering it has been proven to stay together in a certain daily driven 1000+ rwnm EL XR6 if your not too mean to it. Speak to him about complete flywheel to tailshaft packages.

Any Idea on a price range for the Z spec and the flywheel/tailshaft package? I dont plan on 1000 RWNM (As nice as it would be) I would only run about 1 BAR of boost thru forced induction anyways. I dont want an absolute tar tearer, Just a bit more of a kick. That the idea behind the Haltec Interceptor. Cheap and It should do the job beautifully.

The box is about $2300ish. Not sure about a complete package.

Damm, Thats a nice price for a box like that. Think I may have to chase it up!! Thanks for ya help everyone!