F40 6 speed install
 

So sadly 2 weeks after buying my Cobalt SS with 68k miles I managed to break 3rd gear completely. I knew the trans was glass with a 3.82 ratio but dang I didn't think a stock car with trifecta could bust it. That being said I do believe this tune is a little to wild for a nice daily.

So there I was running an STI which had to be stock because I won. He lines up again says one more time. Slow roll from 2nd with brake boosting, I spun like crazy but had pulled a car or more. Without any need to at all I NLS into 3rd and well it blew the trans all to hell. 3rd didn't exist and by the time I made it home all I had was 4th and reverse. Unfortunately about a mile from home trans fluid got on the clutch and ruined it....All and all I was looking at 1200 or more for a good used 4.05 ratio trans, clutch, resurfaced flywheel and flywheel bolts. In all the thought and scare of blowing another trans mission, I decided to go with the f40.

The bad part is that I missed the black Friday sale on the conversion kit. That tacked on 400 dollars I didn't have to spend. I sourced a good low mile trans from an 08 Saab 9-3 for 700 bucks. All together I spent about twice as much but with an optimistic outlook hopefully this is way stronger and better in the long run.

On to the photos!!! (Were taken on a phone in really cold weather)

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cob...328b257dea.jpg


Mmm she's so clean

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cob...bee1bded12.jpg

Time to start this swap

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2k worth of parts with no guide lines what so ever...Ryan pretty much said good luck. After a night of attempting the install Kyle sent me directions and seemed blew away that no one sent directions when I requested. I realize most of its self explanatory but it is nice to review a little guide ahead of time. The only other thing I can say was a bad experience IMO is that ZZP sales an f40 alignment tool but it is not included in the conversion kit. To me if your selling a conversion kit with a clutch and flywheel then the clutch alignment tool should be included. It's a piece of plastic worth maybe 5 bucks. It was not fun eyeballing this clutch then torquing it down and installing a 150lbs trans onto it without a transmission lift. Would have been way easier if the clutch was already centered, and for 2000 dollars I don't feel adding that tool is going to make or break the profit.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cob...10f8f4f545.jpg

There's the holy grail...Let's hope so<br/>



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First time pulling a cradle out....This was fun -_- should be easier next time.

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Poor things bleeding


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Comparing the 2 the f40 seems slightly bigger

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cob...104bc73a6.jpeg

Was a clean transmission till I got ahold of it.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cob...e3ab9d6aa.jpeg

Was told the car had a clutch masters stage 3. I was almost sick when I pulled the trans and found a oil soaked exedy hyper single....In all honesty though I hated how this clutch grabbed and it was rediculously heavy on the pedal. I wouldn't rebuy this clutch considering the pedal and price.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cob...33e26904b.jpeg

Busted case just lower and left of the input shaft. This is why the clutch was ruined

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Better photo


Well at this point I still don't have the upper trans mount in or the shifter and cables. Didn't understand the mount that night but had to move the car outside the garage. Soo the next day I have off I'll be lowering the trans to install the upper miunt. Install shifter and cables. Fill the trans up and change engine oil.

I'll be updating as progress happens.

The hypet single is known for breaking transmissions

Haha crazy I'm about to start my swap for the f40 but my f35 trans is still good. Mine did come with picture instructions maybe they forgot to add them with you package, and yeah I agree the clutch alignment tool should be included but I did order mine.

And don't worry I bought my kit 5 months ago and just got it before black Friday, long wait and I was kinda pissed when I saw the kit on sale when I had just gotten mine after a wait so long all I got was a free goodies (stickers,lanyard ect) would of been nice to have seen some store credit or something but oh well.

Even though you had pretty low mileage, you just never know how it was driven before you got it. Nice call on the f40, I hope it lasts a long time. Let us know how you like it once you get it done. Can't imagine trying to stab that trans in, f35 is bad enough and it only weighs like 110lbs.

I had the same issue with my trans. I brake boosted second and shifter into third and boom. Mine had 76k miles. I limped it home with only fourth and reverse. my case cracked and fluid was pouring out. luckily I didn't ruin the clutch. what sucks is my car was stock tune with a intake and catback lol

Making me scared. I've got 100k miles and beat on my car almost daily. NLS's and all.

I hear a bomb ticking, question is-when does it go off....

I'll be sure to update guys!! Only thing I can say is I had a 458whp 08 SS with a 4.45 and it never gave me a problem. I'll be sure to update though!

i swear these trannies either last forever with beating and NLS them or else they die with low miles.

I do know that the kid that was the original owner of my sedan wasn't the best at taking care of his stuff. Reason being that I bought it with 0psi on cylinder one, I knew I was going to run into other problems. Once I got it running the tranny grinded third on hard shifts so I knew it was a ticking time bomb lol

Dang Royce I hope you got a good deal on it

lets just say my wheels on my other cobalt cost more than I paid for my sedan :lol:

Nice nice lol..

So I do have an update ZZP hooked me up with instructions, I got everything in the car but now I'm at another hard place. The throw out bearing will not disengage the clutch it's too close to the floor. So I'm pulling it all back out to install a spacer and a new throw out bearing while I'm at it. My kit didn't include any of this stuff nor a clutch alignment tool. My humble opinion it should have but the kit is a very nice setup with parts that make this possible so there's not much I can say bad about it. The clutch shutters really bad but all in all seems to be a good kit

Here's a video of the clutch shuttering really hard. I don't understand why it's so loud but it's worse than the exedy was.

http://s1064.photobucket.com/user/es...sc8pb.mp4.html

I just used a half inch drive 9/16" socket for an alignment tool. see my thread.

But your running the stock f35 trans right? Given you do have me thinking one of my sockets should do the job.

You used the F40 specific TOB correct? And also, the sound appears to be coming from inside the trans when you engage the disc and input shaft starts spinning. The F40 trans can be a little noisey if you use the race clutch instead of the dual mass flywheel. But it shouldn't ever sound like that.. I'm afraid you may have trans issues or something is not aligned.

Yea I have the same sound but it's an f35 transmission and I have put everything new in there and still have the sound so if u figure it out please let us know

You have bad input shaft bearings inside the trans most likely.

Yea that's what I figured just hoping for something cheaper lol