2014+ TC Manual Conversion

[dotmaster206]

Been a while since I last updated.

A few items:

The clutch pedal from the ST has been swapped over to the TC. It fit perfectly. The cutout for the clutch lines was already in the TC, as were the bolt holes to mount the pedal. All hail Ford's manufacturing efficiency and platform sharing!

They also pulled the center consoles out of both vehicles to see how the shifter mounting can work. One option is putting the ST center console into the TC and having the shifter sit on the floor. 

They mocked that option up:

The console doesn't line up perfectly, as you'd expect, so there'd be some fabrication to pretty that up. But the shifter itself does mount there and the e-brake works there as well. 

Vaccar is going to make some calls to the UK this week to find out what we'd need to order to get the shifter to mount and work from the original shifter location without swapping center consoles. Depending on the cost/availability of those parts, it is my preference to go that route instead of mounting it to the floor. I like the idea of keeping the van-ness intact in that sense, and it will look more OEM that way as well.

Here's a picture of a UK van with a 6 speed shifter. 

 

[G B L]

Nice. If you can get the OEM Part you should have them put the console in the  box also.  The direct fit will pay for itself!

What are you doing with the Old Power plant?

[ralphjjr]

On 5/4/2017 at 9:05 AM, dotmaster206 said:

I have to give you a little credit, actually. Your posts about buying a TC a while back probably added to the bug in my head about them. 

It's definitely a great car, it's a bummer that the turbo, manual model is not available here in the states.

Perhaps Ford will see that there is a market for it here... although, I'd love a 4x4, manual transmission, turbo-diesel too... long wheel base tho - I need the extra room

Seriously tho, I'm so blown away by your drive and progress. Can't wait till you can take it for a test drive. 

 

 

[dotmaster206]

On 5/8/2017 at 6:22 AM, G B L said:

Nice. If you can get the OEM Part you should have them put the console in the  box also.  The direct fit will pay for itself!

What are you doing with the Old Power plant?

I agree, it may end up being cheaper and better - win win! 

The old 2.5L duratec and transmission will get sold; either to a salvage yard or an individual. Vaccar actually threw out the idea of putting it into the FoST shell a while back, but I am doubtful it'd be a higher net value to me to sell it that way. 

 

[dotmaster206]

A question for any Europeans on this board, if there are any active members: how do you get Ford parts generally? Do you have to talk to an individual dealership or is there an official/reputable online dealer that I might  be able to use?

I've been able to easily find shifter cables (they call them gear selector cables I guess) for the last generation of TC, but not the 2014+. Any idea where I should look for that? 

[mrtn]

10 hours ago, dotmaster206 said:

A question for any Europeans on this board, if there are any active members: how do you get Ford parts generally? Do you have to talk to an individual dealership or is there an official/reputable online dealer that I might  be able to use?

I've been able to easily find shifter cables (they call them gear selector cables I guess) for the last generation of TC, but not the 2014+. Any idea where I should look for that? 

There are not many B-category parts available for the new shape yet.

I would contact Paul Leepu Hayes in facebook who does a lot of body mods for Connects, he can probably lead you to mechanical parts as well.,

[G B L]

Keep me posted on the Drive train

Can't wait for more pictures!

[J_Westy]

On 5/15/2017 at 1:27 AM, dotmaster206 said:

A question for any Europeans on this board, if there are any active members: how do you get Ford parts generally? Do you have to talk to an individual dealership or is there an official/reputable online dealer that I might  be able to use?

I've been able to easily find shifter cables (they call them gear selector cables I guess) for the last generation of TC, but not the 2014+. Any idea where I should look for that? 

I'm an American in Germany for 9 months. I drive at diesel 6-speed.

I haven't really looked for online sellers, but if you're desperate, PM me and maybe I can help you out at my dealer. His English isn't awesome, but we can usually figure things out.

[dotmaster206]

Another update and another question: I did get in touch with Paul Leepu Hayes as suggested by @mrtn. He offered to get me some part numbers as he has access to the Ford parts catalogue which was great. 

On my own googling around I sent an inquiry to FordpartsUK.com and they got back to me yesterday - very helpful. They got me pictures from the catalogue and are willing to ship to the US for me, so I will probably be ordering from them. 

My question to the Euro folks out there: have you ever seen/heard of someone swapping the shift knob from a Focus ST into the Transit Connect 6spd? I ask because I can order one of two versions of the shifter assembly; a cheaper one with a plastic shift knob and a more expensive one with a leather shift knob. If I can swap the Focus ST one on easily, I'll just get the cheap plastic version. If I'm not sure that is possible, I'll get the leather one so it looks/feels better. 

A thanks as well to @J_Westy for the offer to work with his local dealer in Germany on my behalf. 

 

[Beta Don]

On two previous cars I've had, the OEM shift linkage was so imprecise that my very first mod was to buy a shifter kit and that improved driveability 200%.  If it appears you're going to have to buy the OEM shift linkage, you might want to consider getting something better and it might even be cheaper than buying the factory parts  -  The last kit I bought (for a Mazda) was less than $75

Since we don't have any TC's this side of the pond with manual transmissions, maybe a few of our European owners who have manuals in their TC's could tell you what the factory linkage is like  -  Is it great, or do you wish there was something better?  Is there a shifter kit available for a manual trans TC?  What do they cost?

Don

[dotmaster206]

That's a good point. I haven't been able to find anything in shifter upgrades/aftermarket stuff for the manual TC yet. Nor have I seen any complaints, though. It is a very simple cable system, so if it can be upgraded later I'll have no problem doing it I'm sure. 

[J_Westy]

17 hours ago, Beta Don said:

Since we don't have any TC's this side of the pond with manual transmissions, maybe a few of our European owners who have manuals in their TC's could tell you what the factory linkage is like  -  Is it great, or...

Well, I came out of a Fiesta ST 6-speed in the US into the 1.5 diesel 6-speed Grand Tourneo Connect.

I would say it's quite good and worth starting with, but for sure I'm not speed-shifting it ;-)

For whatever reason it's way better than some of the Ford rental cars I've had over here - Focus, B-max, etc... those might have been 5 speeds though, I can't remember exactly.

I'm enjoying this build though! Keep up the posts!

[G B L]

Is the shift assembly a cable set up as on most Transverse engine installs?  If so the Aftermarket shift is less available.

[dotmaster206]

Yeah it's a cable shift, same as the Focus ST. 

Vaccar has ordered the OEM shifter that I found from Ford Parts UK. I wasn't able to find proof that anyone swapped an ST gear knob onto a TC shifter, so I bought the whole assembly with the leather knob just in case the ST one won't go on there. Cost an extra $50, so not a huge deal. I expect that to take 2-3 weeks total to get to Vaccar. In the mean time, they're going to start on the engine installation and then move to the wiring harness. 

Last week they installed the brake and gas pedals from the FoST, they fit perfectly, just like the clutch did. 

 

The LSD was at a transmission shop last week and got installed, and they took the opportunity to take a look at the clutch to make sure it was in good shape. It is a Spec Stage 3+ clutch, which is pretty aggressive and a lot more race oriented than I would have chosen myself. Vaccar test drove the ST before pulling the motor and transmission though and didn't think the clutch was annoying or difficult like you'd expect from such an aggressive setup. So, I'm going to leave it like that for now and see if I get used to it. If not, I'll swap in a more OEM type organic clutch and sell the Spec one. Based on what they said it felt like driving the FoST though, I think it will be fine. They didn't experience any chatter or anything. Spec also looked at pictures of the clutch and said it was very new looking - just broken in. So lots of life left there. 

 

[G B L]

Great call on the shift, If that is not right the whole job will suffer.   Looks like the pressure plate and the flywheel  and the pressure plate will get buffed up. The extra cost when put against the whole project is very small. 

This project is not  a necessity . If it comes out correctly the cost will be worth it. 

Good show keep us in the loop

[dotmaster206]

Got a sweet update today - the ST motor is in the van.

 

 

It bolted right up with no complications. The clutch lines are hooked up as well, but that's all for now. Big milestone!

[dotmaster206]

Been a while...but fear not! The project rolls on...

I ordered a shifter assembly from a Ford parts supplier in the UK:

It looks awesome and I'm pumped about it. 

I also ordered a Mishimoto radiator to replace the OEM ST unit. My original radiator in my 9-2x was the same design as the OEM ST one - crimped on plastic end tanks - and cracked open on my one day. I'm not going to see that happen again.

This week, Vaccar will be swapping the complete wiring harness from the ST into the TC. They are very close, but not quite close enough for comfort, and this will make sure we don't end up with some crazy electrical gremlin that is impossible to understand due to a mix of systems. 

[G B L]

Nice !!

[G B L]

Hey dotmastetr206 any progress?

 

[dotmaster206]

Yeah, I've got some progress...

 

Take yourself a little gander at this sweet action: 

 

 

It runs. The ST motor is in the TC and it starts and runs like a dream. So, this is the top of the hill. Nothing after this point is totally wacko - it's all been done before. 

I did the thing that you see so often where a super crazy project is posted with lots of updates for a while and then it just goes dead forever. Well, I'm back and this thread is going to end in an absolutely glorious way. It isn't done now, but it certainly will be. 

[johnnyvanbone]

Hello  i have two transit connect this is my first post. I just joined your this cool site 2 days ago. to see if any one has done manual swap. My 2011 I bought new has gears sticking  out side of trans 2 nd time it only  has 365000 miles.still runs great.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                I a am independent contractor i use my other  T C  2012 daily. so any how i was  looking for parts on e bay and i found a 2006 focus front clip complete. shift linkage 6 speed manual, engine, dash ,wires, key  , ecu every thing i hopefully  every thing i need. my search was for a diesel.so its engine is a 2.0 TCID (euro specs-german ) it is suppose to be arrival date on 7/26 already had trans out took motor out last night. I noticed it has bolt in stead of nuts on axle. ? does any know if i can get axles that fit with nuts. mite be a while till I get working on it. I am in the middle of putting a toyota 2c diesel in my 4x4 toyota van.Complete-Front-End-Nose-Clip-Diesel-Engine-Suspension-Lights-Dash-Ford-Focus-06-282604970597.jfif

[mrtn]

2.0? Hmm.

 

Mk1 TC only came with 1.8 litre turbodiesel in four variants:

 

1.8 TDDi 75 hp (old style diesel, I had this)

 

1.8 TDCi 75 hp (common rail diesel)

1.8 TDCi 90 hp (common rail diesel)

 

1.8 TDCi 110 hp (common rail diesel with a different geometry turbo and talle main gear of 3.80 IIRC)

 

All models can be remapped for higher output.

Edited July 22, 2018 by mrtn

[Chris Rogers]

On 5/2/2017 at 6:42 AM, ralphjjr said:

subscribed!!

It's great to see a fellow saabaru owner (tho I sold mine) with a TC, and accomplishing some amazing things. I was just joking with a friend about doing a swap with a 2017 Ford Focus RS, but that was just a pipe dream. You are definitely blazing a trail!

seeing  a 2.0 turbo was dropped in theer that tells me that the base floor of these is Focus . Perfect for me as I am in the process of working out a B pillar forward literal swap of the Focus RS.
these vans are plentiful in the auction yards as are the Focus Variants.

current train of thought is the 2.3 turbo in stock guise, 6sp manual, brakes,wheels, full dash and seats. disable a few things that are not going to carry over.

 

On 5/25/2017 at 7:22 PM, dotmaster206 said:

Got a sweet update today - the ST motor is in the van.

 

 

It bolted right up with no complications. The clutch lines are hooked up as well, but that's all for now. Big milestone!

this post is what sealed it for me.
I came from a Opel Combo C that I dropped a full Corsa C SRi into many years ago (I bought the van new in 2006) and that was a fun thing to drive and work from. I did some suspension work on it so that when empty I could toss it around in the mountains..









the goal with this one is similar . work van ( I am in the 12v automotive industry with a EE degree) that I can go have some fun with should I decide to.  Focus RS related stuff seems to be readily available and surprising the kid with the mustang beside you at the traffic lights with a bog stock looking van with a light sneeze is my idea of fun at times.
I already have a 'wet' van so next is to find a side /rear hit Focus RS.

Edited June 9, 2019 by Chris Rogers
revised images

[Beta Don]

9 hours ago, Chris Rogers said:

Focus RS related stuff seems to be readily available and surprising the kid with the mustang beside you at the traffic lights with a bog stock looking van with a light sneeze is my idea of fun at times.

Good luck with that!  There are plenty of very potent Mustangs out there and they're all rear wheel drive  -  If you had 400 HP in a TC you'd still be no match for most of them from a standing stop.  The guy in the Mustang might be surprised by your cloud of tire smoke in his rear view mirror  ?

 

Don

[Fifty150]

He could easily have beaten up my Mustang II.