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I started a thread a few years back of my winter project when I refreshed Watson’s engine and bay. Some folks enjoyed following the progress, so I will be documenting this year’s winter project and it is the biggest to date!! A little back story for those that haven’t met Watson, he is a 1975 British Leyland Mini 1000. The previous owner brought him across the pond in 2000, and spent most of the next decade sitting in a garage. He joined our family in 2012, we have enjoyed him and making improvements ever sense. Previous projects have been and refresh of the engine and bay, the front drums brakes were also converted over to discs, and from single to a dual line system. Untitled by Corey Brown, on Flickr So what is this Year’s project? Watson is going manual, it is time for the auto to go!!! Untitled by Corey Brown, on Flickr In a classic Mini this requires a whole new engine, as the transmission is the oil pan. The oil gallies are in different locations from auto to manual, so you got to change it all. Also the manual has a narrower subframe, so that’s got to change too. So what all needs to be done? - pull engine/trans - remove automatic shifter and linkage - drop front auto subframe - give the bay a good cleaning while everything is out - swap all the suspension components over to the manual subframe - install manual subframe - install engine/trans - Switch out pedal box (might need a clutch pedal) - Install clutch master cylinder and plumb to slave cylinder - mount shifter and connect linkage - Cross fingers/toes and turn the key I will try you have weekly updates, so check back often. If you have any questions or want to see something in particular just let me know.