Automatic to manual swap. How hard is this? Anyone done it?
 

I am looking for an FD, but every time I find one that is "perfect" I get to the end of the description and its an automatic. I will not drive an automatic sports car, no offense to anyone that does but it defeats the whole purpose of buying a fast car that can handle.

If I was to buy an automatic, what would be a good price for a used 5 speed, master and slave cylinders, lines and pedals? Do used auto trannys have any resale value in the rx7 community?

Also, has anyone done this swap? Was it worth it? How hard is it to get the pedals in?

Thanks,
-Charlie

For one... this is i believe the third post this week...

Secondly... Your not gonna do the swap....

Thirdly... There is a vast amount of information out there... Asking a question as vague as "How hard is it?" will not get any serious replies, because it is somehting that hasn't been done to often. Especially not by any individual... Most have been done at a shop.

As of right now I know of two other people besides myself who are in the process of converting. I purchased everything for about 700-800 bucks.

As of right now i have got everything, out... Transmission, convertor, driveshaft, PPF, Auto Brake Pedal, and the whole top half of the engine. I bolted in the Manual Brake pedal and clutch pedal, and am waiting on some more hydraulic line and the sensors on the transmission, to begin experimenting with a harness that will work for the swap. I am doin this on jackstands in my driveway, by myself. I will be writing a how to at the end. It will not be full of pictures, more a article on what is involved, and what will work. And a step by step layout of the process. This will take me a few weeks, as I am a full time college student and work full time.

Now that we got that covered, go find yourself a car with a manual trannsmission in it, and be done with it. If you would have been serious about converting you would have been able to find the threads that are lurking around the board that actually have information about doing the swap.... No one wants to repeat themselves...

I know a guy in town who just finished the auto/manual swap in an FD. He claims it wasn't too tough. He is on the board, hopefully he will see this thread and comment.

His car is running very strong and is having no tranny problems.

k

There is not anything to a conversion, everything bolts right up. The only difficult thing is rewiring the engine harness, but the easier way (and more expensive) is to simply buy an engine harness from a 5 speed.

I know a guy in town that did his by himself on his own time, and I had mine done at www.mzmperformance.com (Austin, TX). www.sevenspeed.com has done a number of conversions, and they are located in PA.

Hw much it will cost will vary wildly, just depends on how patient you are in looking for good deals on parts.

Before you go knocking auto FDs though, test drive one. It has a quasi manualmatic that I miss.

Definitely do a search, there is a lot of good info out there about this since it's been discussed many times. All the info that I put together on my swap is here - http://jrx7.rx7life.com/auto5speedswap.htm Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

Thanks for the feedback guys. You make a good point dcline, I've never driven one so I really don't know what its like.

Thanks for the offer jr, if I end up trying i'll be sure to keep you in mind.

-Charlie

Listen up.

Part of the reason the automatics are in such good condition, is because the people that own them don't drive them as hard and the AT computer (at least with mine, anyway) shifts very conservatively and I actually need to floor it in order to get anywhere neer the red line. I still don't know what the red-line buzzer sounds like. I hope it's just the transmission, but more times than not, I really don't feel like racing the car. When I drive my dad's 5-spd sub-100HP isuzu hombre, I routinely approach the redline.

soo exactly how much did it all run u?? cuz my local shop wants to charge 2500 which is a lil too much for me id like to buy everything on ma own and let a shop dat i trust give it a shot.

spoken like a true cajun...where you at?
pm me if you want your manual tranny overhauled before you drop it in...(is your FD silver/black?)

Learn to use the hold button and not only will redline visit you frequently, but the ass end will happily step out and remind you the powers there if you really want it. How can I say this you ask ? My first 3rd gen was an auto and I had now problemfinding redline, the buzzer worked fine for a shift point and it had no problem breaking the rear end loose in 1st,or second. Don't under estimate the auto. it can be quite fun to drive and more than pleasureable around town (not having to lay on the clutch)

How much did it cost me? I really can't remember, but it was a little more than the cost of dropping a tranny and related labor. $600 in total labor, I want to say? I'd have to dig into my receipts folder, but I rather not become depressed knowing how much I've actually have in the car to date.

Sounds like your local shop is charging you the 'we've never done a swap like this ever before, so we're going to charge you a crap load just to be safe' fee. Take it to a rotary shop that knows FDs, and knows exactly what is involved.

I've done the conversion.

Everything bolted up, and the only rewiring required was to bridge the inhibator switch for the automatic transmission.

My converted car worked without issue on the automatic ECU.

The hardest bit of the conversion is the pedal boxes.

The Automatic transmission weighs at least twice that of teh automatic box, so there are weigh saving advantages too.

you mean the auto weighs twice as much as the manual?

Yes, sorry...

REALLY??? No issues running with a manual with an Automatic ECU. What was the hardest part of the pedal box conversion? Do you know if the JDM pedal works in US cars?