I've been working on a little bit of what remains on this project over the last week...
Shifter & Interior Installation
The new transmission is unique in that the shifter mounting surface is angled toward the driver and the shift pattern seems a little shorter. I'm not sure why the mounting surface is angled as everything else about the transmission mounts up perfectly level. I performed a few internet searches and others indicate they noticed the same with their T-5 transmissions. While strange, with everything installed, you would never know.
I used the same setup as before to mount the shifter which is a metal trim ring I made that has a sheet of 1/16" butyl rubber sheet glued to it with 3M weatherstripping adhesive. I then cut a hole slightly smaller than the shifter top. I then sandwich it between the shifter base and the top of the shifter. Before installing the shifter, I cleaned all the grease out and filled it with some Lucas lithium grease that I purchased at O'reilly.
A small piece of wood fits over the top of it and bolts into the stock shifter holes. The carpet is laid over the top and then the wood is what the Lokar shift boot trim ring mounts to. While this is a little unconventional, it works great.
With the shifter done, I was able to put the carpet back in place, the kick panels, sill plates, and floor mats. The interior is starting to look like a normal car again.
MDL Underdash Clutch Setup
I've left the MDL clutch linkage kit under the dash loose until this point. There is a considerable amount of adjustability. The goal is to have the clutch pedal fully extended and equal with the brake pedal without it applying any inward movement on the clutch master cylinder. Then you need to ensure that when the clutch is pressed to the floor, it does not bottom out the master cylinder. I worked the adjustments and everything is great on mine. There is no side loading and the whole setup is quite nice. It moves like butter and I expect it will be a significant improvement over the original setup.
Lower Bellhousing Bolts
There are two bolts that run through the lower portion of the block plate into the bellhousing. I know I installed them before in my original bellhousing but they must rattle out. I decided to buy a few ARP bolts (5/16-18) and put them in this spot. It is a bit much for the need but I like the look and will no doubt use the other bolts later.
Master Cylinder Reservoir
I made a small bracket to hold the reservoir to the export brace. I used 1 1/4" aluminum angle iron with two small provisions to zip tie it into place. Ultimately, I'd like to make the same exact piece out of metal and weld it to the bottom of the export brace. I don't need to go that far with it right now and want to get this going and fine tune a bit later.
Bellhousing Connections
I originally planned to run both of the hydraulic lines through a grommeted hole in the clutch fork cover. However, as I considered it, I thought it would be better to run it through the original clutch rod hole using a AN bulkhead fitting. I used an Allstar bulkhead (49-ALL500-93) with a matching nut. I used a very thin washer I had on one side but didn't use anything on the other. I expect it will hold up fine but it was a super tight fit.
Clutch Fork Dust Cover
Since the Daniel Carpenter clutch fork cover I purchased does not fit well, I figured I'd order a different one with the bulkhead fitting. I ordered a Lakewood model from JEGs. When it arrived, I found it was just the Daniel Carpenter model with a second sticker on the box. It does not fit right either and has the same problem as the other one. I'll mess with this a bit more later.
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