ZF 5 speed swap questions

[Pat B]

So I have my used S5-42 sitting on the stand waiting for me to make up my mind...
A couple questions come to mind,

Should I change out any seals prior to assembly?

Any thoughts on what to do for the upper shifter arm? i.e. heat and bend the hell out of it?


Thanks,
Pat

 

[fordtrucksrule]

the shifter i heated it up and twisted and bent it down worked awesome. are there and leaks if no then i would just install it to change 3 out od the 6 seals it has to be dis assembled

 

[Wyo4x4er]

I am building a gear banger/remote shifter as we speak. But i also dont have a body lift so bending the shifter was out of the question.

 

[hmh800]

I found it easier to make my own shifter out of 5/8" solid rod. I made an adapter (not hard) to mount it to the trans, and then just heated and bent it as needed. With a 1" BL, the large Hurst shifter boot covers the hole nicely.

 

[broncokak]

I used the stock shifter and built an adapter. It was just a couple peices of steel and some washers to try out but it worked so good in stayed there for 10 years.

 

[StJamesAuto]

Will the stock early flywheel work with this swap? I guess you use the stock clutch master cylinder off of the ZF truck?

 

[Ranchtruck]

Early flywheel will work, however you may need to clearance a rib inside the bellhousing if you use the old coil spring and finger pressure plate instead of the newer diaphram spring clutch.

The stock shifter can not be bent, it's got a bonded rubber vibration damper inside the stick.

I took apart the shifter base and bent and twisted that. Care has to be used not to melt the plastic bushings inside the swivel, but keep soaking it with water while you heat and bend the stub and it will work fine. I twisted it so the shifter was straight to the centerline of the truck and bent it down a bit to clear the dash.