so i am debating on converting my FD to a 20b, i have only found them with an automatic transmission. are they all auto? or can a 13b 5spd tranny mate up to the 20b and hold the power?
what about the ECU is it even possible to make the 20b a 5spd?
thanks for reading, sorry for the brigade of questions.

 

use the search button and good luck affording a 20b conversion

 

The 20B was never released with a 5 speed, only automatic. The JC Cosmo was a luxury cruiser, had some pretty fancy electronics inside and was meant to compete with the SL Mercedes.

That said, most 20B FD's have manual transmissions so im going to say, yes, the 13B 5 speed will bolt up.

 

How do threads like these even stay open. Quit wasting everybody's time and do some of your own damn research. This has been covered so many times its pointless to go over again. You could find the answers to all of your questions with a few good searches...

 

i was just looking for a simple answer to my simple question. so you could have just said use the search button and not act like a ***! or you could have just not added your 2 cents cus it didn't help anything. fyi i have been using the search and i was doing research as i posted this so i could just get those specific answers instead of sifting through pages upon pages. (which, once again, i've already been doing)

 

now, since the 13b trans does mate up, what do i do about the ECU? since it's an auto and all? how could i make it work with a 5 spd?

i found the whole conversion for 4000 but im stuck with the ECU issue? any one HELP?

 

You dont understand. Sure I could answer your question very quickly, but if I did that would promote more newbs like yourself to post chicken **** questions because they know they will get reasults. Now when I come on the forum and the first 10 threads are total bullshit like this one that gets frusterating for people who have invested time into the forum. And guess what, eventually senior members get sick of dealing with that so they leave. And what does that leave us with?? A bunch of dumb ***** asking what bov they should get, and asking if this sick fd they saw was a TT or not.

Why dont you just do some damn reasearch like most of us do. This forum is a resource and its questions like yours that **** that resource up by polluting it with wastes of time such as this.

 

look i understand where you're coming from and what your saying but seriously quit acting like a complete ******* ***! you can be cool and level headed about this! i am on page 12 of 51 on the "FD 20b Pettit Conversion" thread. so i am doing some of "my own damn research" as you put it. if you just want to keep attacking people take your ball and go home, but if you want to help i would love to get some input.

 

No, its having to sift through posts like yours bashing on newbs that clog this forum up.

Searching is not as easy as typing in your question and having the answer displayed before you, and some people just don't understand the concept of how to use key words here and on search engines. And then if you know absolutely nothing about what you are searching, it narrows your chances of finding the proper threads tremendously, For instance, type in "mystery connector" and search ,and tell me how many posts a guy would have to sift through before he found a thread that actually was useful, if any at all.

I know we get new guys posting the same questions every week, but seriously, they don't know. Best thing is to ignore it if it bothers you that much. And sometimes after searching and reading for 5 hours, you crack and just start a thread and ask, only to find that the topic had been covered, you just weren't using the best key words in your search....been there, done that many times.

JLC, are you a member of idaho rotary?

 

thanks man i tried making the same point, no I'm not part of Idaho Rotary. honestly i didn't know we had one here. i will defiantly check into that.

i found out the 6spd out of an rx8 would work on the 20b tho.

 

it would be most advantageous for you to read thru all the threads in the 20b section... even the FC ones, as there are a lot of similarities between both 20b swaps... these threads will contain the answers to your questions and many questions you haven't even thought about asking yet..

what sub frame to use... what ECU to use... what coils to stay away from... what about the extra weight... this bump steer is killing me... the hood won't close... can i use the FC water pump... which tranny is better... is 3" ok, or is 4" exhaust better... does anyone make a single kit for the 20b... what about the size of the turbo... what do i do about the radiator and oil coolers... what about power steering and A/C... if street porting is good why not a Bridgeport...where should i mount my coils and what about sparkplugs and wires... anyone ever use the stock ECU, why not?

They will also have pictures and videos


the short answer is.. if you have to ask our opinoin wether you should do a 20b swap or not.. then you probably shouldn't do one

 

as of right now my car is a roller, so i was going to build a mean street strip, but not go excessively overboard.

 

Why do we have so many "********" on this forum. This guy asks a question and you hammer him. Are we all here to do this stupid **** or help each other. Think about it. If you don't have anything good to say then Shut the **** up..

 

That right there is my all time favorite comment.
I mean, we all know how much this guy makes and if he can afford one or not...

 

gotta love the search ****'s.
The one good point that he had was that you will need to do a ton of research before starting this project up. You will learn a ton along the way, but the more you know at first, the better off you'll be. This conversion does take a considerable amount of time, energy, and unfortunately, money.
We are starting to have quite a few 20b FD's up and running now days, so there are guys with first hand experience on the conversion that can help.
You should really talk to the guys at Idaho Rotary also. There are a few guys in Idaho with running 20b's, actually i think they're in Boise, lucky you. Chuck is even running E85 on his.
My advice is keep the research going and understand and realize what you're getting yourself into. I spent hours and hours going over the forum, following various links, online searches, magazine articles, phone calls, etc. I also had alot of buddies that are experts in their fields to help me sort out problems and get stuff done.
Good luck with it, most of us are here to help.

 

I totally agree. If you don't have a minimum of 20k don't even think about it. That's to do it right. I have around 25-30k in mine.

 

the reason people say search is because all of this has been covered probably 10 times just on the first page... which shows lack of interest by the op... if the op was really interested in such a project they would have read the different threads in the 20b section. There is a " i want to do a 20b swap" thread created at least once or twice a month... in the end, the thread poster disappears when they find out how much work it is and what it will cost

 

Hi JLC,

I'm the guy with the "Pettit 20B Conversion" thread. PM me if you are interested in chatting about the 20B conversion. As Gordon has said, it costs a lot of money and you'll need to do much planning to avoid all the pitfalls I encountered. To have a good setup and assuming someone else will do it for you, plan on $50,000. To do it yourself, it's more like $20,000 - $30,000. And yes, ECUs exist to run the 20B with a 5 speed.

 

see i didn't think it would be that bad, i found a whole front clip of a cosmo 20b auto, and it was only 4325.00 without shipping. and i was going to do it myself with my dad he's a mechanic and im the "helper/monkey in training/body tech". from what i understand the 2 major problems with the swap is the front subframe and the shifter then the reservoirs. i figure to make up for the shifter prob. couldn't the FC trans work?(not the internals tho)
and wont the subframe from the cosmo fit with minor fabrication?

 

fd tranny will bolt on , subframe is the issue , and bumpsteer
there is another method that requires cutting the LIM , oil pan mod , and using the rear plate of the FD , that should work without any bumpsteer issues

i have not tried this , but i doubt the cosmo frame will fit , or i dont know if it would be worth the headache

but be warned !! this conversion has a lot of little things that pop up , every little bracket , has to be custom made , shure sounds simple but sometimes it gets to be a headache
this swap is not for the meek, there are a lot of gremlins waiting for you try to avoid them all and your`e good

 

what is the reason for the outrageous cost associated w/ the conversion? u can do a swap in a honda for less than 10 g's beside the cost of the motor

 

Yes, and you'll still have a Honda In a nutshell, the motor costs about $4,500. You then need to rebuild it so throw in another $5,000 (add another $2,000 for ceramic seals). If you want to balance it and stud the engine, that's another $2,500. To put the engine in, you'll need a conversion kit of some sort or at least a subframe. Defined Autoworks makes a nice kit but you can't keep AC with it so a lot of guys use the Pettit/Rotary Specialties subframe. This is about $1,500.

Now how about the turbo? The OEM twins will get you to 400 WHP so you'll want something else like a GT 42R. Combined with the piping and ungraded intercooler, this will set you back another $6,000. To run the turbo, you'll need to upgrade your fuel system, including the pump, fuel rails, and injectors, etc. This is about $1,500. Now how about the electrical/ignition system? You'll want to ensure proper spark so new coils and ignition amps can set you back at least $1,500. I added in a Jacobs Accuvolt unit for another $1,500.

Now how about the ECU? You need to replace the stock unit with something tunable like a Microtech or a Haltech. This will run about $1,800 for the ECU and wiring harness. Personally I would also throw in a big brake kit to ensure you can stop. These are $2,500 minimum.

Where does this leave us? Over $20,000 minimum without including the labor to get it all done. And labor in the rotary world is expensive so plan on at least doubling this cost and that would be on the cheap, if $40,000 can be on the cheap.

Yes, you can do it for a bit cheaper if you do the labor yourself and then scrimp/cheap out on some of the parts but you'll ultimately pay in the long run by having to redo the work or have it redone.

Trust me, I know. Read my thread.

 

Throw in another $5K for the "Oh ****, I forgot about that." fund. And another $5K for the "Yeah. That's nice, but *insert something more expensive* would be nicer." fund. I'm $60,000ish into mine, but who's counting.

 

is there any market for a used b13 so i can make a little of the difference?

 

Idk, my bff Jill used a tii trans iirc lol imho rofl lmao, bbq at my house byob or I will say wtf!