I'm in the process of installing a new interior into my 66 S Type with a manual transmission. I purchased the kit that was uninstalled and sitting in a collector's home for quite a few years and was for an automatic trans car. The kit is in great shape however when I tried a test fit for the carpets on the front floors they are much different in shape than my original leaving a large gaps toward the back by the seats. The new ones are on top of the originals. I'm surprised to see such a huge difference. Anyone with an automatic have pictures to compare?

 

The tunnel for an automatic car is wider than that for a manual as the gearbox is wider. Also and correct me if I am wrong but I believe the tunnel for the Auto is welded in and the tunnel for the manual can be removed. My car with a BW35 Auto box is welded in with a removable inspection plate on the left side under the carpet so you can get access to the inhibitor switch and gear change cable.

 

The whole tunnel isn't removable in a manual car, only a section that covers the top of the gearbox.

It's not unknown for the tunnel to be cut out as a short cut to swap the clutch without taking out the engine. It's generally regarded as a disreputable way of working. However, if I recall correctly, one of the first documented cases was by Norman Dewis changing the clutch overnight without facilities for Paul Frere before a race that Frere went on to win.

 

I had a 1963 3.8 S Type back in the early '70s when I was a young lad (it stood out among all my mates' Zephyrs and Crestas) and I'm pretty sure I took the gearbox out to do the clutch without removing the engine. As I remember things, the bell housing bolts were really awkward and I had to remove the radiator so the back of the engine would drop down to let the spigot shaft clear the clutch enough. I had a small inspection pit in my shed but very limited equipment, just bottle jacks and a small chain pulley block hung on a timber cross beam, where it really shouldn't have been.

Maybe someone has done it more recently as I now have a '66 S Type that needs the overdrive doing and I really don't want to take the whole lump out at my time of life.

Ray

 

I know the auto box can be removed with the engine in place as I had to have this done. You take off the grills on the bottom of the bell housing and remove four bolts inside the bell housing that hold the gearbox to the bell housing. The gear box then comes away leaving the bell housing and torque convertor attached to the engine. Obviously different for a manual but others might know if you can split a manual gearbox away from the bell housing.

 

Thanks, Cass, but I'm sure I remember taking my old S Type's manual gearbox out, over fifty years ago, by unbolting it from the back of the engine and removing it complete with its bell housing. It's likely that, after wangling it back in, not all the bell housing bolts woukd have been replaced. We used to leave out the top two bolts from the bell housings on the big Mk 2 Fords back in those days, after replacinmg the clutch or starter ring gear..I did several of those back in the day.

Ray.