if anyone has done this before i would appreciate your help. how much money and what all is needed to swap an automatic tranny with a 5-speed in an 90 GTU. just need some tips on estimated price and parts.

 

I just finished the swap 2 days ago. Big, fat, huge difference. DO IT! I bought a parts car from an Insurance auto auction for a total of 150 bucks. Pulled everything off (including a lightened flywheel) and did the job. Be aware that you have to get your year or after, the 86-88 flywheel and stuff is different than the 89-91. I swapped the rear-end also to get the LSD. You will need; pedal assembly, clutch master and slave assemlbly, starter, tranny, driveshaft, and about 20 hours to do by yourself. You'll also have to do something about the bracket, they don't match up. Let me know if you have more questions.

 

thanks for the info. i'll have to find a parts car out here. i'm in the middle of nowhere in lemoore CA. lots of open road though

 

Hi guys, You were stating that the bracket does not match up, does the parts car have a bracket you can use? I am also planning a swap soon on a 90 vert .

 

No, tranny crossmember must be custom fabricated. The actual pickup points on the body are about 8" further rearward on A/T cars than on M/Ts. I bought two cars with this done. One had a custom-made aluminum plate which replaced the stock crossmember, while the other had extra brackets welded onto the stock crossmember. This is really the hardest part of the conversion, and is enough of a deterent that most people won't mess with it.

Ren

 

welding huh? that sucks. how about labor costs if a professional does it. 20 hours is a very long time considering my work schedule. also is a new drive shaft absolutely nessesary or can i get away with my current one.

 

no u will need the other driveshaft. i paid 850 parts and labor for a guy that works at mazda to do mine on the side. the parts were used but i have yet to have a problem with it in over 5k miles. he did put a new clutch in though.

 

thanks for the price quote. 850 isnt bad for parts and labor. is that the going rate at a azda dealer or did you get a special deal there?

 

special deal, he did it on the side im sure mazda would have charged more than double that. good luck with it it is more than worth the 850 drives like a completely different car.

 

Do yourself a favor and save some money. It only took me so long because I was by myself, and no one had a good write up on it. It's really not all that hard. The bitch was the pedals, no room to work. Anyway I hope this helps


[IMG]A:\tranny mount.JPG[/IMG]

 

i figured the pedals would be a problem. thanks.

 

I have also done this conversion. I have a 1991 NA FC that I put a 5-speed from an 87' TII in. You will need all that was previously listed, AND if you go with the turbo tranny, you will also need the half shafts. Also, be sure to keep your counter weight from your automatic flywheel because you'll need it. To mount the tranny, I used all the stock mounts, except for the one previously mentioned that doesn't line up. For it I used a tranny mount from a Benz (not sure of year or model, but have pics of it I will post soon). It fit perfectly, and as previously stated is well worth the money. In the process, I got an 87' TII differential (with LSD) which I had a 4:30 ring and pinion set (that I purchased from Mazdatrix) compressed into. It cost me about $1300 parts/labor to have the differential compressed with 4:30 gears, and about $1300 parts and labor to get a new clutch, the turbo tranny, the previously mentioned TII diff., the driveshaft, halfshafts, starter, master and slave cylinders, the necesarry pedal set, and a lightened 18# steel flywheel installed. Don't let the part about the mount discourage you. It really isn't as big a deal as people make it seem. It just takes a little creativity. I'll post the pictures of the mount I used, and you could go to the junkyard and look through their Mercedes for a similar one. If you guys have any questions that I could answer, feel free to email me at derek_fullerx@hotmail.com

PEACE,
Derek

 

Wow! Glad this is up. I would also be doing a tranny swap in the future with 2 rx's.. since my 89 is smashed, I'd be pulling everything and dropping it into an '87.. and since the 87 has a p.o.s. auto, my dad and I were gonna yank it and drop my 5 speed in.. But from what you guys are saying, I'm just looking to make sure I have my info right, but the auto tranny is longer than the manual, and I'd need some kind of extention to fill this void I'm gonna have? Cuz if so, I'm about to say **** it, and just find another car to swap everything into... The car I'm swapping to just might not be worth my time and effort.. considering I was planning on swapping the entire interior, which is carpet, dash, seats, everything. and not to mention bring over my engine and tranny... I'm about to say **** it. It's an 87 anyways.. I should just get another 89+ to swap to... or should I go for it?


-Kanaida

 

No, you don't need anything to "fill the void," but rather a custom fabricated mount or something that would hold the transmission up where the mount would usually go. It's up to you what year you want to put it into, but it would work though. I just don't know whether or not I'd go to the trouble unless I were getting a stronger tranny and diff. (like one from a TII), unless of course you plan on leaving it stock anyway. Good Luck.


-Derek

 

I'm a little confused. Are you saying you spent $1300 parts/labor all together or $1300 parts for tranny work, then ANOTHER $1300 for all the parts/components?

 

I stumbled upon this while digging around for other stuff:
http://hypntyz.rx7life.com/5spconversion.htm

 

I did the whole thing for under $700 with the tranny and all the parts.

 

heh

i started this thread months ago under that viper7 name. funny how its being brought up again. im about to buy all my parts(finally!) for about 300 bucks from thepartstrader.com. thats also where i got my turbo. if all goes well i'll have the conversion done by the end of august. then i can start work on my turbo.

i think the biggest thing will be the wiring(reverse lights AT control by-pass). as for the pedals and not having any room, i'll just remove the driver seat, should work out........

cant wait...

 

Ya, the wiring is a bitch.. I just gave up on it, rigged my own starter switch. If it was my baby I would have took the time to fix it .. but I did the swap on my daily, and I needed it for work come monday.

 

i dont think that the wiring for the bypass will be that bad. but im really confused on how im supposed to rewire the reverse lights

maybe i'll just take into mazda and make up some excuse, or something.....

or take it to an aftermarket place...... might be cheaper

 

How much will all labor and parts cost for someone whos a complete dumbass when it comes to RX-7's and rotary engines. THere's a shop that is exclusive to rotary engines but they charge $60/hr labor. At this labor rate, how long would it take to get a conversion done?

 

ive heard that it takes about 20 hrs or so. im sure that its no more than that if you work like a madman, like i plan to do

 

Yeah, but the difference between you and me is

1) I don't own an RX-7

2) I just gained an interest in them over the weekend but have been reading this message more more than Billy Graham reads the bible...

So I'd say not only do I not have a clue about RX-7's, but I wouldn't even attempt to do it myself. I'm better off looking for manul to begin with.

My uncle has an 87' that I can turn into a PJ car, but its an auto. I already have an auto and I want 5-speed for my PJ car.

 

well first things first...... buy a rex
and yeah, try to buy a manual, i ended up with an auto by some ironic twist of fate. but if you cn save youself the trouble of converting then do it

unless you like to tinker or work with cars in your spare time like i do if you find yourself about to do the swap anyway then go to hypntyz.rx7life.com. he's got an excellent write up on the entire process as well as a list of parts.

 

well, I picked up my '91 for $3k, and considering it's in pretty damn good condition (the int. needs some work, but it's in great mechanical cond), I wasn't gonna argue that it was an auto, although ever since I got it I have been wishing and hoping that someday in the not-too-distant future I'll have the money to do the swap (not that I wouldn't LOVE to do it myself, but I'm 17 and my dad is a psycho, it's a wonder I even talked him into letting me BUY the thing! besides, I don't have 20 good hours to work on it, it'd be like 2-3 hours here, 1-2 hrs there, and with school coming up I doubt I could have it done by then, and I gotta drive to school, F*** the bus). Oh well, it'll prolly be christmas vacation before I can afford to do it.