5th gen auto to manual swap

[Li0nHe4rt]

Hi guys, nearly 160,000kms and my 5th gen box is on the fritz, very hard shifting and slipping like crazy especially from 2 to 3. So I'm considering a manual swap. I am located down in NSW Sydney area. I gave Hannys a call and they recommended Good Performance down at Yennora.

They are offering a full standard conversion with everything supplied for around $3500 or a manual box with LSD, heavy duty clutch and lightened flywheel for about $4500. Also based on the forums, a rebuild or replacement of the auto would cost around 2-2500 and would surely fail again. I could repair the box and try sell the car but most likely wouldn't get much for it.

Just wondering what are your thoughts on those options and consider that i may or may not plan to do some more work to the car in the future which is pretty much based on the amount of cash i have lying around.

Any advice or if there are other mechanics around the Sydney area that i should look into for comparison would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys

[Wru]

Try BYP or Shift Performance if you're in Sydney.

Best bet is to buy yourself a Jap spec H22A that comes with shift linkages, ecu, clutch cable etc and just drop that in, labour for a full engine install will be around the $2000 mark regardless where you go to.
Prices for a JDM H22A will be about $3000-$4000 for one that is in good condition with low KM's.
Before the engine goes in you can get it fully serviced quite easily as well.

[ECU-MAN]

as above

Get yourself a front cut to get all the parts you need and get a good mechanic to perform the convertion. It can be done.

[Li0nHe4rt]

Thanks for the reply guys, much appreciated. I am learning for the conversion with the LSD box as it will hopefully save me time and money if i do work the car later. The cost of going with a half cut and getting the shop seems to be similar, but wouldn't the added warranty from the shop on the box and labor be the better option? at least with the box they supply based on their words is one they rebuilt themselves and so they can warranty it where as a box from a half cut which may be low kms but doesn't necessarily imply its in good condition so if i put it in and it dies i'm shit out of luck. In the end i don't mind shelling out a bit more for the piece of mind considering a job this big.

I really don't want to repair the box, sell and buy another eitherr because ive already got some mods (exhaust system, teins) and it also takes me into the world of used cars again and i don't know what may be wrong with them where as with mine i know what is and what isnt.

[ECU-MAN]

if the front cut has low KM's you should be fine. MTs are pretty strong

[nnt]

Would not recommend buying a H22A if you do research you will understand there won't be much gain if you swap over, with that price tag you can spend on bolt on or light head rebuild and you can achieve better result. Anyway I recently did a auto to manual swap it cost me 3.2k but I did all the part collection myself and did buy a few stuff that ain't needed as you can modify your existing auto part to run on manual. So I think it would not cost more than 3k. If your interested I can hook you up with a mechanic that can do it. Be careful with clutch install, firewall tend to bend and crack if you don't reinforce them.

[Wru]

Would not recommend buying a H22A if you do research you will understand there won't be much gain if you swap over, with that price tag you can spend on bolt on or light head rebuild and you can achieve better result. Anyway I recently did a auto to manual swap it cost me 3.2k but I did all the part collection myself and did buy a few stuff that ain't needed as you can modify your existing auto part to run on manual. So I think it would not cost more than 3k. If your interested I can hook you up with a mechanic that can do it. Be careful with clutch install, firewall tend to bend and crack if you don't reinforce them.

Why would he go with building his head and keeping a auto transmission? Also it's an opportunity to get a fresh engine in there with much lower KM's and JDM H22A's have a higher output.
Why would he modify the firewall if he is bolting in the engine designed for the chassis in the first place?
Also if you're going to spend 3k or above why not go the extra distance and buy a half cut from japan and slap that right in?

[nnt]

What I meant was if he going to buy a half cut consider the price for labour of putting it in 3-4k for half cut how much to put it in? While you can modify the head and change to manual for the same price

[Li0nHe4rt]

UPDATE: I went with the LSD box. Got an Exedy HD clutch, full seal replacements, changed all belts and water pump etc and a repair of my power steering pump which was making knocking sounds for a total of $4600. The car is better than it has ever been i am very happy with it!!!

Edit: Washed the car..its like i just picked it up from the dealership but unable to clean the rocket cover of grease and residue that has set in for quite a while, any suggestions?

[curtis265]

degreaser and elbow grease

[Li0nHe4rt]

Tried that but it doesn't really get out the deep stains. Guess ill give it another go

[zedries]

remove rocker cover
apply paint stripper
remove crappy paint with said elbow grease
paint on pimping design

Smile :-)