I did this swap abotu 3 years ago and have not had any problems to date with the swap other than normal wear and tear. I had the slave cylinder go out a few years back but I reused my old one instead of getting a new one.
1. Remove auto tranny, cooling lines, and the cable running to the t-body, and flex plate.
2. I used an AX-15 which came out of 93 XJ. It was a complete bolt in with all factory Jeep parts for simplicities sake. I know you want to get a 95 year AX-15 so you can have an external slave cylinder. The older AX-15s have an internal slave cylinder which means you have to drop the tranny when they go bad.
3. Get a flywheel for the same year as your vehicle. The CPS sensor reads marks off the flywheel. I got a flywheel out of a 91 because my Jeep is a 91. I at first used an 89 flywheel and it didnt work. I think that all HO flywheels are the same but just for safeties sake, go with the same year flywheel as what year your Jeep is.
4. On the interior, it helps if you have the carpet out to get access to the tranny hump. You will need to make a new cover plate, as the 5 speed only needs a 4 or 5 inch diameter hole instead of the 12" diameter hole that is there. If you look at the shifter boot from the manual you will see what I am talking about.
5. As for the auto tranny wiring, just pull off the connector that is located way up on the firewall next to the map sensor towards the passenger side. The TCU or transmission control unit is located under the dash on the passenger side. I removed mine with out any problems. If you are unsure what to cut, start the Jeep after the manual tranny is installed, and one by one cut the wires going to the TCU. If the motor dies, then reconnect the wire that you just cut
I know a guy over on the Speed Freaks section of JU cut out his wiring harness. It might be worth it to surf over to the speed freaks section and search for what he did.
6. The clutch and brake petal are an assembly. Pull out the brake from the auto and toss it and get the petal assembly from a manual XJ. It will bolt into place. There are punch marks on the firewall so holes can be drilled for the master cylinder to fit through. Bolt everything together and swap over the brake light switch from the auto petal to the new manual assembly. It helps to have a parts Jeep to grab stuff off if you can get one cheep enough.
Parts from other vehicles may or may not work. The shifter linkage is different on the TJs so that is something to watch out for. I used parts from a XJ just to keep everything simple but you should be able to use parts from other models. If in doubt, compare them. You can always go to the dealership and crawl underneath and look.
Good Luck,
AARON
