Has anyone completed a manual conversion?

[Adrian E]

I suspect some modification to the tunnel will be needed to give you somewhere to put the clutch pedal - depends if the manual box is all that much narrower than the auto, given there'll be a slave cylinder somewhere in the mix

A remote clutch cylinder in the scuttle area should be doable - there's a fair bit of space really, just not next to the brake master cylinder

I think from looking at manual rs6 conversions there are some decent challenges to overcome but a decent fabricator should be able to use elements of a left hand drive pedal box and the existing auto one to make something that works

[MikkiJayne]

Originally Posted by Adrian E

I suspect some modification to the tunnel will be needed to give you somewhere to put the clutch pedal - depends if the manual box is all that much narrower than the auto, given there'll be a slave cylinder somewhere in the mix

Narrower in places especially round the diff, but I think modifying the footrest is going to be enough, without altering the body. There's heater stuff on the left and a fusebox on the right so not a lot of leeway past those. The accelerator will move about 1/4" to the right which helps a little.

Originally Posted by Adrian E

A remote clutch cylinder in the scuttle area should be doable - there's a fair bit of space really, just not next to the brake master cylinder

I was thinking of putting it inside actually, but reversed compared to B5/C5 etc. The early B5 uses a very small metal master cylinder which I think will fit backwards under the column, and then I can run a couple of hoses to bulkhead fittings in the pedal box casting. Probably. A remote linkage to put it in the scuttle is worth thinking about too though.

Originally Posted by Adrian E

I think from looking at manual rs6 conversions there are some decent challenges to overcome but a decent fabricator should be able to use elements of a left hand drive pedal box and the existing auto one to make something that works

I'll need to fabricate the top half to get the over-centre backwards pivot for the m/c and I'll probably chop the bottom bits off spare B5 pedals.

Need to have another think about it tonight

[HPsauce]

In the past I recall seeing various LHD conversions that used mechanical linkages to transfer brake and clutch movement across to cylinders on the left.
Sounds like a fair bit of creativity will be required.

[MikkiJayne]

Mmm thats also an interesting idea. The B5/C5 works like that.

I need to buy a spare one I think

[Architex_mA8tey]

Goran on this forum had started to work out a lot of details but ended up buying a LHD S8 D2 from Germany instead but I think he would still have a lot of the information, and some of the parts he was collecting went across to ConanTheLibrarian on here for his future use in the supercharged wide body S8 D2

[ainarssems]

depends if the manual box is all that much narrower than the auto, given there'll be a slave cylinder somewhere in the mix

Slave cylinder is on the other side and not taking much extra room. Just replaced flywheel and clutch on A6 C5, was not much of fun doing it on driveway but saved £300-400 in labour costs. Gained some expierence as well in case if I ever decide to do manual conversion. Pedal box is definitely the most complicated bit. S8 manual driveshafts and propshaft are rare and expensive, might be cheaper to modify C5 parts.

I wonder if there is electronic drive by wire clutch control available that could be used. Or mayby a samll master cylinder from motorbike or 2 in parallel if 1 is not pumping enough fluid.

[MikkiJayne]

The 0A3 is 30mm longer than the 01E so the proper manual prop won't fit either. I'll probably have a local company make up a spacer.

It also has 100mm tripod flanges instead of 130s so I'm thinking C6 driveshafts. The track is different by only 20mm between D2 and C6 so tripods should have room for that. Worth a try since they are cheap. If they're too long then B6 with spacers.

The 0A3 is quite bulky compared to the 01E, but only a couple of Kg heavier. Still much smaller than the 5HP24A though and 50Kg lighter

I think I may have seen Goran's thread on his plan - some quite useful info. I wondered why it never reached a conclusion!