C5 swap- cable linkage problems

[Shran]

The original C5 shifter would work fine, it's just a problem of the floor cover plate from an old truck not fitting a new truck. The old ones (87? and older?) are smaller and although two of the holes line up on a newer cab, the plate won't fill the hole.

The solution here is to find a blank floor plate from an 89 or newer automatic 2wd or 4x4 electric shift RBV, remove all of the shifter hardware from the older floor plate, cut and drill the newer blank plate, and reattach the shifter. That is actually what I did for my C5 swap, I am using a C5 shifter, but it was broken and missing pieces so it's kind of a cluster at the moment but it at least shifts. I have a B&M Unimatic and yet another blank floor plate that will be the final solution.

 

[wildbill23c]

The original C5 shifter would work fine, it's just a problem of the floor cover plate from an old truck not fitting a new truck. The old ones (87? and older?) are smaller and although two of the holes line up on a newer cab, the plate won't fill the hole.

The solution here is to find a blank floor plate from an 89 or newer automatic 2wd or 4x4 electric shift RBV, remove all of the shifter hardware from the older floor plate, cut and drill the newer blank plate, and reattach the shifter. That is actually what I did for my C5 swap, I am using a C5 shifter, but it was broken and missing pieces so it's kind of a cluster at the moment but it at least shifts. I have a B&M Unimatic and yet another blank floor plate that will be the final solution.

Awesome, thank you for that insight. Never would have thought about using a different floorplate and doing some modifications to get it to work.

Really want to try this sometime, hopefully in a different vehicle than my current B2 LOL...I'd rather not deal with another transmission issue with it LOL. Once was enough and my wallet didn't like it. Trouble is if I get another Bronco 2 or Ranger I want a manual transmission...and most likely would go with a Ranger, don't need another SUV since I have the Bronco 2 and a Jeep Grand Cherokee, I kind of want...rather really want another 80's Ranger.

 

[crankyjew2d2]

I knew I would have exactly zero luck finding a factory c5 shifter anywhere close to me. I found a unimatic on ebay, used, for a decent deal.

Update: Trans cooler lines are in. Exhaust buttoned up. Picked up driveshafts from the local FleetPride this week.... and apparently they don't understand driveshaft measurements. Too long.... they made the dimensions I gave them the fully compressed length. So, maybe they'll figure it out this week. I also fabricated a new floor plate and mount for the unimatic shifter.

the floor plate is 14ga (.074") steel, vs the factory 18ga (.050") and is held down with seven 1/4-20 riv-nuts. a couple miss-drilled holes to fill.... the shifter mount is also 14ga steel and again the shifter assembly is held down with 1/4-20 riv-nuts. it's tilted back 25 degrees to accommodate cable routing and to make sure everything clears both the dash and the seat with no problem.

 

[Shran]

That is excellent work. I'm gonna have to copy that. I was going to use a ratchet shifter on mine for offroad racing but am leaning towards building another crawler rig so having a Unimatic won't be a big deal there. Keep us posted, I'd like to see the finished results with the shifter in the truck.

 

[crankyjew2d2]

ok so update!

My unimatic shifter is hooked up and functioning just fine. After considering my.... "return on time investment vs. effort", I ordered a b&m shifter cable bracket for $14. Yes I could have made one, no I didn't feel like it. Works good.

Kickdown cable is installed, not sure if it's doing anything right now, don't care right now. I used the factory cable, and the factory a4ld kickdown cable bracket. I flattened it out, cut it apart, and rewelded in an orientation that bolts to the two upper solenoid cover bolts on the c5.

After some driveshaft shop shenanigans, Front and rear driveshaft's are back in.

My truck has been sitting for nearly two years at this point.

Im'a drive the pig.

This past weekend, rechecked everything and put the thing into gear. It moves!

All gears move the truck. Took a spin down the road, all three gears engage when manually shifting. I have a 2-3 shift flare that's pretty pronounced. It doesn't seem like the trans is starting in first gear when "D" is selected.

As far as I'm concerned, it's good enough for a farm truck, for now. I want to see if the issues work themselves out as I drive it, get worse, or present new issues.

 

[wildbill23c]

ok so update!

My unimatic shifter is hooked up and functioning just fine. After considering my.... "return on time investment vs. effort", I ordered a b&m shifter cable bracket for $14. Yes I could have made one, no I didn't feel like it. Works good.

Kickdown cable is installed, not sure if it's doing anything right now, don't care right now. I used the factory cable, and the factory a4ld kickdown cable bracket. I flattened it out, cut it apart, and rewelded in an orientation that bolts to the two upper solenoid cover bolts on the c5.

After some driveshaft shop shenanigans, Front and rear driveshaft's are back in.

My truck has been sitting for nearly two years at this point.

Im'a drive the pig.

This past weekend, rechecked everything and put the thing into gear. It moves!

All gears move the truck. Took a spin down the road, all three gears engage when manually shifting. I have a 2-3 shift flare that's pretty pronounced. It doesn't seem like the trans is starting in first gear when "D" is selected.

As far as I'm concerned, it's good enough for a farm truck, for now. I want to see if the issues work themselves out as I drive it, get worse, or present new issues.

Sounds like its coming along good. Keep us posted what you find with that shift issue...may just be an issue with the valve body from sitting, may need a valve body or have it cleaned?