Im lookin at a 93 FD with 71k miles but it's automatic. How much do you guys think it would cost to do a manual tranny swap.. parts and labor?

thanks
-chris

 

how tall are you?
I'm 6'3" and drive an automatic fd cause my legs are too long to drive a stick in a fd

leg room was not a problem in my 5 speed 2nd gen, automatic was the only way i could go in the 3rd gen.......................

not that bad though, i don't have enough road without cops to go wot anyway

 

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/so-how-many-people-have-done-auto-manual-swap-258966/

 

Damn, I'm 6'6", 36" inseam, fit in an FD fine. Actually, an FD with no sunroof - the sunroof cramps my headroom too much.

I'd saw my leg shorter before I owned an automatic, personally .

Anyhow, to answer the original question, see the link Mahjik posted. It's not TOO bad as far as 5 speed swaps are concerned, but it is some major work. You're gonna need plenty of tools and some good mechanical know-how to get it done.

Dale

 

i have an automatic and i like it. i live in san diego and traffic is hell. but you gotta remember a stock automatic is going to get up and go faster than a stock manual because you are going to boost through all your gears. but if you want to drift, your S.O.L

 

that's cool the pickup is better... i just get the feeling the drive will feel like mommy's Accord

 

You have got to be kidding me. There are pros and cons to both Auto's and Manuals, but stock for stock, off the line, a manual will beat an Auto. Where are you getting your information?

 

The ONLY reasons an Auto FD should be purchased is:

1. You will drive it EVERY day in commuter/rush hour traffic.

2. You are too tall to drive a stick FD (which I read in your other post, but it still baffles me)

3. If you've unfortunately had your left leg amputated.

 

why wouldn't you boost through all the gears with a manual again?

 

Somehow, having the ability (advantage) of launching off the line at 3500 rpm,...instead of 950 rpm, would tend to make the 5-speed equipped FD a teeny tiny bit faster!

But hey,...I love the smell of napalm on a thread.

 

I dont understand! You guys flame a guy that ask simple questions on the reliability of a FD telling him to search when he is new to the board with 3 post and this guy has 60+ post and still hasent figured out how to search.

Is this becuse pepole like to argue about the auto-v-manual?

There are many post in the arcives about this. Trust me I have done the search about three times myself.

Now to the subject. I would expect about 3k depending on what parts you go with and where you get them. I realy liked my auto the only thing that it needed was a stall converter about a 3000 would have been perfect. With that I would bet $$$$ that the manual (stock for stock) couldent touch it.

The only reason I am going with the T56 is that the manual is funner to drive. If were to hardcore drag race I would find a way to adapt a C4 or a T400 (well with the LS1 it would be the 4L60E).

 

But we're talking stock for stock here (seeing as he posted no mods done to the automatic). Stock for stock, the manual will beat the Auto, any day of the week.

With serious mods, yes, the Auto is a serious DRAG contender. But to A LOT of us, drag isn't the only thing out there. And a manual is 100X's more fun to drive.

 

That's a bold statement!

 

Put a halfway decent driver in the FD with the manual and I would take that bet. The automatic saps a bunch more power than the manual does. The manual car will put more power to the ground, and will accelerate faster. Unless the driver really messes up the shifts (which certainly does happen sometimes!), the manual will still be faster.

-Max

 

What power? And yes the auto dose take a little more power but not that much more. Also you get torque mutipliers with a auto and we all know that torque is what gets you moving. With that the auto will put more torque to the ground the the manual. And let me clearify it that is a stock auto with just a 3k rpm stall -v- a stock manual. And thats not even taking into the fact that the auto will always make the perfect shift as where you will alway miss by a x amount of rpms.

Start doing the math and let me know what you come up with BIG $$$$$$.

 

You said put a high-stall convertor in the auto and a "manual (stock for stock) couldent touch it". I disagree, and have good reason to do so. A well-driven manual will be faster because the transmission saps less power than the automatic (and its torque-convertor), leaving more to accelerate the car. The manual also has better gearing. I did the math, and I can't see how the auto could be faster (barring driver error).

-Max

 

Thats right I must have been mistaken, a auto could NEVER be faster than a manual (yeh right). So what mods does a auto have to have before its faster than the manual, thaaats right there is no mod you can do to the auto to make it faster than the manual.

Obviously you havent done the math yet you have shown me no numbers. Dont get me wrong the manual is fast very fast I will not argue that with you. Many people knock the auto becuse they think or want to belive they have the better of the two. Have you riden in a moded auto? They are every bit as fast as the manual if not faster from a roll. The only prob with the auto FD is that the motor produces no power without boost and the stock stall kicks in to early and bogs the motor down. With a 3k rpm stall the motor is boosting when the stall kicks in and since the motor is turning higher rpms for the actual speed the fehic is moving you create more torque at lower speeds. Im not saying that the manual is not worth having just look at the numbers. I dont think you understand the differance between torque and horsepower, or how a torque converter works and advantages of a auto in a drag race.

Why are there so many drag cars that use the auto? Why is the powerglide a popular tranny in dragging?

But then you do cover your *** with "(barring driver error)". If we but cash on the race how many drivers will you need befor they get it right. Would you have to pay if the driver missed a shift? Its not how you cross the finish line its who crosses first. Nobody cares what you have under the hood and the next day everybody forgets who lost anyway. A payday is a payday.

I am in the middle of the LS1/T56 conversion. Why a V8? for the torque the LS1 creates more torque at a idle than the 13b does peak power. Why the T56 6 speed tranny insted of the 4L60E for the fun of driving it on the weekends, Im not building a drag car And dont think I will race it much but if I where damn right I would go with the 4L60E.

 

Bias check: Yes, I prefer manual transmissions, but even with my bias I think I am being resonable here.

I have driven a modded manual and a modded auto down a drag strip. And I have been present for dyno runs on both (similar mods between the two). The FD doesn't have a lot of power to spare (=spin tires) in stock form, and the auto saps enough more power to give a real advantage to the manual in my opinion. The auto is great for consistency, but it isn't going to outrun a manual driven with moderate skill with the FD. I absolutely believe that lousy driving could result in the auto winning the race (read: I don't think the manual's advantage is that huge), but I also think that you would have to botch something rather noticably to lose in the manual (read: but the advantage is real). The reality (in my opinion) is that the auto does tax the system a good bit more than the manual, and the gearing of the auto puts the last nail in the coffin for the 1/4 mile race. I'm not saying you have to be a great driver to win in the manual; just a reasonably competent one.

On a positive note, I think an FD with an LS1 would be absolutely fantastic to drive (and own), and I applaud your decision to go with a manual just for the fun of it.

-Max

 

Gearing is all realitive even in the 1/4. The auto can maintain a higher gear ratio due to the fact that it runs off the stall. One advantage to the auto is that you can drag out first gear alot farther than you can a manual. By the time a auto hits second the manual has already shifted pushing the clutch in and losing momentum by no longer putting power to the wheels for that tenth of a sec shift (assuming you can shift that fast, but I doubt it). The auto hits second instantaniously no lose in power to the wheels and shortly after the manual is shifting AGAIN to hit third (losing more momentum). The manual is going into forth (shifting again) when the auto is going into third right befor the 1320' mark still no tlosing any momentum. That is one of the compermises that you make when you have a manual. Yes the manual has shorter gears witch result in faster times compared to taller gears but the auto never has even a tenth of a sec where there is no power going to the wheels where the manual it happens 4 times in the 1/4.

 

3rd is good for 105 MPH on my car (and thus every manual FD)! Maybe not quite in the power band, but I wouldn't shift if I was stock.

-Max
Okay, I'm going to bed now.... MAYBE!

 

its these types of GOOD arguements that real knowledge is gained by the less experienced (me)

 

and im a lil bias as i have an auto and any upside i can hear about it i like to hear since a stock auto will fall short to a stock manual

 

i agree with svt squasher. and i ask this question to anyone who has a manual(and i am seriously asking) what rpm do you shift at in a drag. because when i punch it my car will shoot to at least 8000-9000 before shifting, and then my car shifts to second gear (to the perfect rpm might i add) and i am still boosting through second and so on so forth. but i would have to admit though, that a manual is going to have a higher top end, but by that time the 1/4 mile is over

 

Actually the auto has a higher top end speed due to the diff. gearing (Auto -3.90 vs. Manual - 4.10).

Theoretical for the Auto is 192mph and I believe the Manual is 184 (correct me if I'm wrong here on these numbers).

 

unless you want an auto, its not worth it to buy an auto and do the conversion unless the fd cost only like 2k to begin with... just find a good manual for a bit more