So how many people have done the Auto -> Manual Swap
 

Trying to make this a worth whiel post with all the documentation of people that have done it. If you need anything hosted to be archived let me know.

Please post:

Was it worth it?
When did you do it?
Approximate Cost?
Web Site "how to" or any documentation you made or used or any tips you have?

Yes

Summer of '01

~$800 (after selling off parts)

http://www.springfieldmortgage.net/eric/howto.htm

Well I am still in the process of gathering parts. So I don't have any tips on the install yet. But here is where I am at so far.

New parts (stock parts from Malloy)
94 clutch master $70.92
clutch master gasket $1.08
clutch slave $66.96
clutch release Fork $68.04
hard lines 2 @ $7.20
pilot bearing seal $1.56
shift boot $70.68
shifter bushing $3.36
Total for stock parts $297.00 shipped @ no extra charge.

Other new parts.
ACT prolight chromoly flywheel with auto counter balance(which I found out later I didn't need) $375.00 shipped, E-bay
ACT Extreme clutch kit. $530.00 shipped, E-bay
B&M shifter $159.00 shipped, E-bay
Goodridge stainless clutch line $36.50 shipped, RX-7trix.com
Momo shift knob $ 78.95 shipped, E-bay

Used parts from Rich @ Gotham. Drove 4 1/2 to 5 hours to pick up.
Tranny $400.00
Starter $50.00
Pedals- $100.00 don't forget the brackets for the clutch lines (one on the tranny and one on the firewall) removed from parts car myself.
Drive shaft- $100.00
For a grand total of - $2126.45 so far.

I still need my fliuds and some various nuts and bolts. And a rear diff or just the compantion flange( unless I can make my auto flange work).
And Rich from Gotham racing is going to send me my neutal switch for my tranny which was missing. So make sure the tranny you are looking @ has all the little sensors and hole covers ect...

What else might I need? Thanks,

Brady Mahoney

Was it worth it......... Totally. Now by see first hand the differnce from a auto to manual. Hands down the car was meant to be a manual.

I did my conversion about June 03

My costs on the auto to manual conversion!
This is what i spent on parts

*Tranny - $555 its a 95 with 33,000 miles and 90 day warranty
*driveshaft - $97
*4.1 diff rear end - $255
*93 5 speed ECU - $60
*Guage cluster,brake and clutch pedal,master and slave cylinder,hard pipe - $250
*New ACT Street/strip clutch and 9.5lbs flywheel- $900
*Mazdatrix short shifter - $218

Total parts =$2335

There is also bolts ,rear main seal and o ring, inner boot for shifter
And i have to supply diff fluid and tranny fluid,brake fluid

I ended up paying $1000 for labor

Total cost is around $3500

Where did you find that tranny?
Which inner boot are you talking about? I probably still need that.
Do you know which bolts you have to come up with? I know I will have to find the ones that bolt the clutch to the flywheel.
I will be doing the labor myself so I can save that $1000.00 :)

Ejmack1,
Thanks for starting this thread. I hope it turns out really informative.

Hey BradyMahoney... if you could take some pics of the install process. specifically removal of the auto tranny, if you haven't already done so, and the installation of the manual tranny :)

THanks

I found the trany at www.car-part.com they have everything.

I had the mechanic pick up the inner boot, since i didn't know about it. Not sure what it looks like,but
www.mazdatrix.com has it cheap.

The bolts that hold the tranny on with the automatic are to short. You'll need manual bolts to mate with the manual tranny.

I will do that, I will have my brother there helping with the install. So he can hold the camera. :)

ever get any pics?

It is funny that you post now. I am in the process of jacking up the car right now (just taking a break). I am working on a dirt floor. :( man is it a bitch to use a jack in the dirt. The jack can't roll so it pull the car in the direction you are jacking. So I can only jack it up a little bit at a time. Do you have an e-mail address I can send the pics to. I suck @ posting them.

And I have been fighting my floor jack. I bought one of those jack with flames on it off E-bay. It is a POS :( Do not buy one. The spring under it bent and popped off and it has fluid squirting out all over the place. And this is the first time I have used it. Luckily I have another one or I would be SOL.

damn, I was in Oklahoma a few weeks ago ;)


http://www.springfieldmortgage.net/fastrides/

thats my personal upload directory, just register there and upload pics :)

I finally finished a couple of hours ago. I got a couple of pics when I first started, but after that I was sooo stressed out I just hoped I could actually finish the project. :)

Still need help getting the cruise control to work.

Anyone else getting ready to do this. Make sure you have the tranny bolts handy. They are a pain in the butt to find ( at least they were around here). You need four 10M 1.25 pitch 55mm lenth, and one 10M 1.25 pitch 90mm lenth.

thats some good info ;) i forgot about that

I got mine done early this year. It cost me alittle over $5,000. But I'm very happy with it.

You could have flown me out there and I would have done it for free... hahaha I used to live in South Sac and still have family out there, so that would have been good enough!

And don't forget the U shaped clips that hold the flexible clutch line to the brackets. They are the same as the clips used on the brake lines. None of the local auto parts stores carry them.

I also cut my B & M shifter off a little more than 1/2 inches. The Momo ball fits right in the palm of my hand with my arm resting flat on the console. :)

If you use the auto harness, you have to connect pins 8 & 9 (to each other) on the inhibitor switch harness to get the car to start. I just cut them and used a 12 guage connector to crimp them together.

Pins 2 & 7 hook up to the reverse switch.

And I am going to test this theory, I think you need pin 4 for DRIVE hooked up to pin 7 ( which is just a common ground ) in order for the cruise to work.

Well, my theory for cruise did not work. :(

Ok, I figured it out. You cut the blue/white wire @ pin G on the Cruise control ECU connector. :)

The only two links you need to do a swap,

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...auto+to+manual

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...06#post2569106

Good luck!


__________________

Those two links and this thread. :)

All right I'm about to do a Auto to Manual swap on a 93 Rx-7. I've got the parts on the way. I just want to know if I have everything I need.

Transmission
Driveshaft
Rear End
ECU
Clutch
Flywheel
Clutch Lines
Master and Slave Cylinder
Shifter
Clutch Pedal

I know I need bolts for the transmission, Clips for the clutch lines, Gauges (can I still use my automatic ones temporally? I've heard the speed is off, if so does anyone know by how much?)

So far this is what I have coming. If there are any parts I done not have listed please let me know including any bolt, gaskets, clips,ect.

In my search for information i came across this site
today:
http://beyondtheredline.fd3s.net/owners_5spd.html

It talks about about how the manual transmission has a different bolt pattern and something needs to be fabricated so the transmission will bolt up. Ive read pretty much everything I could find and this is the first ive heard of this.

Any information, suggestions, or comments from someone that has personally done this swap before, would be very helpful. Thanks

The manual tranny will bolt right up you just need some longer bolts. I have the sizes listed above.

You need the 2 brackets ( one for the firewall and one that bolts to the tranny) and the clips for the clutch lines.

As far as the speed being different, if it is it is not by very much. I can't see any difference in my car.

Don't forget the starter the auto and manual are way different.

And the clutch kits don't come with the pilot bearing seal, but you need that too.

And depending on what kind of clutch/pressure plate you got. You will need the bolts and lock washers to bolt the pressure plate to the flywheel.

If you didn't get a lightweight flywheel that uses the auto counter balance. You will need a 2 1/8 inch socket and a BADASS impact wrench. A cheap one will NOT work.

And don't forget the diff and tranny fluids. I went with Redline. The cheapest place I found was from summit.

My post above should have just about everything listed.

Good luck. :)

you guys did the conversion youself, or took it to a shop

This is the clutch/flywheel i purchased.

http://www.rx7store.net/product.asp?0=206&1=290&3=236

Where can i find the Pilot bearing seal

As far as the brackets to mount the tranny and fire wall do i need to fabricate them or can i buy them some place?

I do have a starter coming also, forgot to add that to my list.

Other than the pilot bearing seal are there any other gaskets or seals i need?

Thanks for the help.

doing my conversion this week I cant wait!!!! costs me $3000NZD (US$1500 or less) inc all parts.

I do all my shit myself

Check my second post.. the how to has everything you will need ;)

Brackets?
 

The two brackets i need that connect to the transmission and the firewall, are they a factory part or do i have to fabricate something? If i have to make them what material should i use and where do they bolt to on the transmission and firewall?

OK.

So I actually got kinda ahead of myself and haven't read the entire thread yet cuz I got excited and probably have ADD:p: Anyway, I'm actually almost done with my auto to manual swap and have a few things I should mention about the problems I faced:

-There is a triangular flange that mates the clutch cylender to the tranny... A bitch if yo don't have it cuz it's approx. 40 bucks from dealer.

-(this is a big one) If you're dropping a rebuilt motor at the same time, MAKE SURE THE REAR CASING IS ONE FROM A MANUAL FD!!! I can't stress this enough, the only reason I really had ANY motivation (other than having a manual fd ;P) to do this project was becuase the rear casing of an auto FD's motor WILL NOT mate to the bell housing of a manual tranny. Why hasn't anyone else had this problem!? Well, I haven't heard of it happening to anyone else anyway. I just didn't want to re-port another rear side-housing and buy new seals, etc.

-And finally, remember that the wiring loom behind the dash (the harness is called X-03) for an auto is very different from a manual's. So much so that, after installing a power FC and finally starting the car, there was no power going to anyting! (except teh abs motor.. odd but whatever). The car wouldn't crank I was soo bummed. Now we're faced with taking off the dash and installing the wiring harness from a manual FD. headache headache headache.


I'm not gonna say that it wasn't worth it, but I'll never do that again. And I'll always reccomened to someone that buying a manual fd is better. I bought the car at a steal (3000) and so it was well within reasonable expense. Just soo much headache. Please post and tell me if I'm not alone in the problems I'm facing/have faced. Thanks.

bolt the tranny and firewall?? umm, well my tranny bolted up with no problems using the stock locations and everything. the only problems I've had are the one's I mentioned

The auto rear housing WILL mate with the manual tranny ;)

I have a Power FC with the stock auto harness...


Please dont litter this thread with false information

There is nothing that bolts the tranny to the firewall...

Do i or dont i need brackets like the above post says?
If so can i buy them or do i have to fabricate them?

sorry to keep asking it but no ones really answering my question. I just dont want to get half way through this project and have to stop for a week to wait for a part.

I'm not trying to litter... wow I guess I should listen when I was told you'll get your head bit off quickley on this forum. I'm just trying to express what had happened to me. In my experience with this project, the rear housing did NOT mate to the manual tranny. Now this can be becuase of two things: Either the rear casing was from an auto FD and it in fact does not mate to the bell housing of the manual tranny OR the rear casing was from a turbo II which I suppose could happen if the motor was put together in someone's back yard (which it might have, I only bought it to have something to rebuild). I contacted Racing Beat on my rear casing situation and they saw a difference in the auto fd to manual fd's rear casing. Please don't flame me on this you can contact them yourselves and find out what I did. I still own the auto rear casing and when I compare it to my motor that is currently in my car it is different. ejmack I know you're an expert on this but what I saw is what I saw. Perhaps you could explain why they were different? Again, I'm not trying to "litter" false info and I resent the quickness to assume I was. But I guess that's what threads seem to advocate, so I'm not that frizzled :)

Another thing, that harness situation really did happen and according to the guys at rotary reliability here in so cal the harness was the problem in even starting the car (no power whatsoever). Is there perhaps another reason for this? it's the only harness besides teh one that goes to the injectors that is different from the auto to the manual and is the most appearant reason for the lack of power to the ignition, gauges, air conditioning controls, etc. Thanks for your feedback and ejmack, please respectfully counter everything I just said so that I can at least get some solutions to what I've seen come out of this :P

ohh, and yeah I know there's nothing that bolts the tranny to the firewall... hehe which is why I kinna glazed over it :D

Alright nevermind sorry about the about posts. I miss read the post thinking that the brackets where something other than the clips for the Clutch line. My bad.

Also on the site ejmack1 posted
(http://www.springfieldmortgage.net/eric/howto.htm)
Says i need 1-2 Gear Switch...what is that. Probly a really stupid question.

I did mine myself.

You do not need the manual harness. Read some of my earlier post. It tells you how to get the car to start with the auto harness. You just have to connect two wires. It is really easy.

And my manual tranny bolted right up to my auto engine. :)

What I was trying to say is that you need the brackets and the clips for the clutch line. ;)

The clips are just like the brake line clips. And the brakets are sorta L shaped. Putting on the new lines and brackets is like putting a puzzle together.

Wasn't trying to come down hard, just trying to keep information straight in here. The rear housings on the Auto and Manual engine are different. I think there is one hole that doesn't line up. So technically you will have one less bolt to put on, but I believe there was still 5 bolts holding it together which is more than enough.
I wish you coudl post pics of the rear housing you are atlking about so we can compare it with a normal auto rear housing...

Out of the 4-5 Auto->Manual swaps that I have helped people with, no one has had an problems mating the manual tranny to the auto. :)

lol, at the last sentence... anyway!

Again the cars that I have helped in the conversion including my own have worked fine with the Auto harness. BRADYMAHONEY posted the proper wires to jump in order to get the car to start. Question: Did you do this conversion yourself or did you have a shop do it? Also if you did it, there are a lot of grounds that need to be hooked up in the engine bay in order to get the instrument panel and gauges to work properly. At one point I missed a ground near my coils and I had no power at all, including interior.

Eh you don't REALLY need it, but I got it so I could hook it up one day when i get bored....

I have still not heard an answer to what it actually does, it is a one of the three (not including the speedo sensor) that is on the tranny, and oil will come out of the location it is mounted if you do not have it installed or blocked off.

ejmack1,

check your PM's man...

any of your bolt holes not match up?

email me, im not gettin any PM's from you...

ejmack@insightbb.com

All the ones that are needed (5 total for the manual) line up. The auto just uses 6 bolts instead of 5. Probably because it weighs a ton. :)

I wonder how many pounds my car lost getting rid of that heavy ass auto.

Hi,
A while back Raptor asked the following questions:Does the 5 speed bolt up to the rear of the automatic engine block? The part numbers are different between an automatic rear plate and a manual. So are the part numbers for the eccentric shaft, counter balance water pump and housing etc. and I also heard that the bolt pattern is different. Any truth to this?
I never saw an answer and hopefully as you're going through this now you'll know. Thanks in advance.

Jim

Do any of you guys have a 3.9 auto rear end that you would like to get rid of?

Please PM me if you do.

I also have a manual drive shaft, 5 speed transmission, master/slave cylinders, and a 4.10 rear end I may want to get rid of. :)

Seriously read the damn thread... Not only has it already been discussed in this thread... but many others ;)