430 Another gated Cambio Manuale success story

Hi all,

I just finished my gated conversion and I am very very happy. I want to thank @modificator in particular for his help and support during the conversion and the patience he had.
I very highly recommend his kit and his company if you are thinking of doing it; I have done it on my own and everything almost clicks in, very well made.

It is not an easy task at all though, you will have challenges, you will have places where you will hurt your fingers and lose skin, you might have stubborn screws that won't come out and you will need to cut, but all in all it is do-able on jack stands in the garage.

My goal was to bring the car as close as possible to the way a factory manual was made, which meant keeping the E-diff; and I achieved it. The pump does not cycle so much anymore, and there is no pump starting when you open the doors.... I really love the non F1 version of the F430. The clutch works really well, engages about half way , the gears just click in like no other manual car I have driven, and it is a pleasure to use...

If you are thinking of doing it, do no hesitate. I am happy to share my experience and tips in private if you need them, I have learned a few things.

Cheers
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Looks great ..congrats

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What was the cable adjustment process like? A lot of back and forth with road tests or did you nail it on the first try?

 

Congratulations!

Wow, seems like you did that pretty quickly. Looks fantastic and knowing exactly what was done is a huge plus, in addition to having such a great kit.

just major kudos!

 

Congrats Mario., enjoy

 

Funny you ask; that was the main thing I was mostly concerned with, and it ended up being the less problematic of the whole lot. I just followed Dr.S instructions he provided in the manual ( to the letter, must be very careful there) , and I have no issues in any gears, it shifts nice. So first go. Might need slight adjustment once it wears in a bit, but nothing major to be done.

If you connect the cables in the cabin kind of mid way ( you will understand what I mean when you do it); you will have enough reserve in the back to just adjust from the gearbox end; which means it can be done with just the diffuser off .

 

Wonderful job! Congratulations.

 

awesome, how long did the process take?

 

I hit some problems where I had to cut bolts, etc. so it was a fairly long process. By my calculation about 51 hours. I am pretty sure now if I had to do it again, I could maybe do it in under 40 hours .

 

Awesome, love the interior color scheme too. What did you do about the ECU and flashing, and also the instrument cluster?

 

It is all provided as part of the kit by Cambio Manuale

 

Can you describe the ecu and cluster programming process? Did you do it at home or send things off?

 

Congratulations!

Do you miss anything about the F1?

 

Awesome job.

I’m in the middle of this right now, but I’ve only been able to dedicate a few hours per week so I’ve chipping away at it slowly. I’ll echo what you’ve said about George being an excellent resource for questions with install as they pop up.

If you can share any pointers with bleeding the E-diff that would be great. That will be my next step once I get the wiring done.

 

There is nothing to be sent off; all done at home. I am afraid that the solution is proprietary to Cambio Manuale, so if @modificator wants to describe it, he can. I am not opening a can of worms

 

To be honest, I did not bleed the ediff. It sits very low in the stack, and if you hurry up when you remove the F1 connectors and plug the holes with the plugs provided, you don't get to even empty the F1 fluid bottle. You will make a mess on the floor and on our hands, but I had several rugs and a oil jug there to collect the stuff.
Ediff works like before, no bleeding needed.

.... but if you need to bleed it, you will have to leave contact on ( so pump starts when pressure drops) , and apply 12 V and max 1 amp to the power solenoid, and open up the bleeding valve as you do that. You need an adjustable power supply which can limit the current, so you don't damage the solenoid. Don't do it like those super smart guys on Youtube using a car battery....

 

Thanks ! Well, too early to tell, barely drove it for 15 min around my neighborhood to test ( too much salt to go far out) , but I really doubt I will miss the flappy paddles. Not a big fan of any of that to be honest. Sure, it was great on the track to shift at full throttle in race mode, but nothing beats a manual gearbox in my personal opinion.
And btw, I did not change it as some here do, to get rid of the F1. I think F1 can be reliable once you get the nick of it ( mine was at the end) . I just like manuals, I grew up in them (we had no autos in Europe), and there are not many left

 

Anything of note in keeping the E-Diff intact? It's my understanding that most of the previous installs did away with it because it was just easier. Was it a chore to keep it active? Wiring/etc?

I'm going down this road this coming fall finally and glad to see others with the DIY method.

 

Absolutely no reason to get rid of it ..simple wiring change

Remember that the manual factory version has a ediff as well with the same ediff ECU

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What @flash32 said.. just a bit of wiring to give control for the pump relay to the ediff ecu and take over some other functions from the TCU which you remove. I can assist when you get there..

 

Awesome!

 

I finished up the wiring last night. It wasn’t too bad after triple checking the diagram and reading the microscopic harness numbering before each splice.

Do you happen to remember what size stud extractor is needed to remove the studs on the side of the transmission? Thanks.

 

I bought a set and the 6mm matched.. but the set I bought was crap and only pulled out the long stud. I did all others with vise grips. Slowly but surely...

 

Don't buy this style don't work

ABN Stud Extractor Set, Broken Stud Removal Socket 8-Piece SAE & Metric Stud Remover Set – Stud Puller Sockets https://a.co/d/621S2nJ

 

Thank you!

I was going to order this set…
https://www.amazon.com/XEWEA-Extractor-Extraction-Rounded-Off-21-Pieces/dp/B0B2WCN8RG/ref=mp_s_a_1_18?crid=2QXA83F8U4SQU&keywords=6mm+stud+remover&qid=1707695652&sprefix=6mm+stud+rem%2Caps%2C243&sr=8-18#aw-udpv3-customer-reviews_feature_div