Page 4 of 7 www.cabby-info.com Auto-to-Manual Trans Swap
Shift Linkage
1. Bolt the linkage brackets to the steering rack. It may already have them bolted on. The one with the bushing can be
replaced and I’d suggest doing so. It’s cheap and will go a long way to tighten up the shifter.
2. Install the shifter rod and lever assembly. It should bolt down to the original holes. Before you do you might want to
sand and paint the shift rod and polish or paint the shift lever too. Where the shift lever attaches to the shift rod
there are two bushings. They’re identical in size to some of those supplied in the shifter bushing kit from VW and
others. I found significant slop there. Replacing those bushings made a ton of difference. You never hear about
changing those. Also the ball bushing that the shift lever goes through is also available and getting a new one is a
grand idea.
3. Attach all the linkage parts and test. Align the shifter as described in the Bentley. If you need a 15mm spacer for the
reverse lockout setting, use a standard cassette tape case. Works perfectly.
4. You DID use all new bushings didn’t you? You DID put in a short shifter kit didn’t you?
5. Test. Readjust as necessary.
6. You will need a new cover plate for the console. The old one for the automatic obviously won’t work. Find one in a
junkyard (the Rabbit GTI console is a different size), or make your own.
Suspension
1. Reattach the axles on both sides. Put the nuts on. We’ll tighten them later.
2. Reattach the tie-rod ends. Try to get them back to where they were before we removed them. Attach the tie-rod
ends to the steering hub. Don’t forget to cotter pin them!
3. Reattach the hub to the strut mount. Try to get the camber set back to where it was originally. Tighten as required.
4. At this point I try to start the car which is still on jack stands. Unless you frigged something up it should start up ok.
Test the clutch and shifter for proper operation. It’s easier to do it now than when it’s back down on the ground. If
everything passes then put the wheels back on and remove the jack stands.
5. Tighten the lug nuts to spec.
6. Tighten the axle nuts to spec. Again, a very large breaker bar and a length of pipe might be useful.
Now start it up and drive away.
Gotchas!!!
Here are several things you should watch out for:
While the engine is tilted severely many things can pull loose. I’ve already mentioned vacuum hoses. Also there may
be ground straps on the back of the engine that will need to be reattached. I fried a wire in my dashboard because it
became the only drain wire for the car. Turns out a strap from the firewall to the head had come off.
Crankshaft bolts. My bolts were from an ‘83 GTI that did not use the newer stretchy bolts. So they needed 55 ft-lbs of
torque. Unfortunately, I read that the ‘85 Cabby manual said to use 30 ft-lbs (for the new type of bolts). So the bolts
backed out about 200 miles later and I found myself stuck along side the road. No damage fortunately, but I spent
another 4 hours removing things so I could re-torque the suckers. And put waaay more Lock-Tite on! Know what
bolts you’re using and what they need for torque!
Axles. This is a confusing issue for many. The ’85-up Cabriolets use 100mm axle flanges and thicker axles. They also
feature larger CV joints. The hub on a Cabby is machined for these CV joints to clear. The splines inside the hub are
identical to the CV joint found with the “90mm” axle set. If the transmission you want to use has 90mm flanges and
you want to use your existing 100mm axle set, you’ll need to change the flanges. Some transmissions can’t be
changed over. If you have the 90mm axle set with the transmission, you can install the whole thing with no problem;
it’ll bolt right up. You CAN’T put a 100mm axle set in a hub designed for a 90mm set though. Just in case you were
thinking about putting your old automatic in, don’t mix and match CV joints and axles. They have different ones from
your old Rabbit; lengths and can bind up.
This may sound strange, but your starter needs two bolts to work properly. I lost the bottom bolt and installed it with
only one. Since it’s a concentric fit into the hole I knew it wasn’t needed to center it. However, it cranked like a very
poor tired starter on an automatic cabby. I was getting ready to buy a new one when I finally put a bolt in. The extra
grounding did the trick. It now cranks like new.
This is a good time to remove the oil pan and clean and repaint it. I’m happy to say my oil pan was clean enough
inside to eat off of. Over 200K miles of good living I guess. No sludge anywhere.