My 94 se (loved it) auto tranny blew January of this year (R.I.P. 181,000K)leaving me scrambling to get something else. Being that I basically had a weekend to find something before going back to work, and that it was consistently 10 degrees outside(not best weather for car shopping), I really had to go with the best deal I could find as soon as possible. I really, really, really wanted a 5spd, but wound up settling for a 99 gxe auto with 35,000 miles for 12 grand. It is pretty much flawless, but an automatic. I tried doing the drop resistor mod (NOT OFTEN), but I know that must be killing the transmission. I also manually shift the automatic (NOT OFTEN) when I need to put a ricer to shame, which is terrible for the tranny I know, but I cant help but feel cheated that I cant wind out every gear.

So my question is, what is the cost for the conversion? I've heard there is a good deal of fabrication involved. Also, how readily available is a 5spd to come by? I've tooled around on Ebay without much luck, and there arent too many 4Gs to be found in junkyards. I also cannot afford much downtime for my car being that I work full time and go to school full time.

I really want to do the conversion, but I just dont know if it would be economical for someone in my position. I'd also like to shut down my buddy's SpecV. I'd also like to shut down my other friends riced-out Lancer (non-evo), but I dont think I need a manual for that.

 

you paid $12,000 for a auto tranny with 32K miles??

 

no... he got a new car
just a guesstimate, i think it would be around 3000-4000 dollars.. i want to do it soooo bad, but i dont have the money

 

it can't be that expensive can it??

 

I'm also in progress of buying parts for 5 speed conversion.
but 3000-4000 is over estimation.
I'd say at most 2000 if you shop around.
good place to shop will be car-parts.com
instead of getting high mileage + expensive 4G transmission,
go for 5G transmission which is exactly same except when you
have it installed, the shifter will be in little bit different position
than 4G transmission.
5G transmission is much cheaper and less mileage.
remember only 00-01 transmission will fit on our 4G.

 

oh and 2000 is price for parts only.
I will be doing it by myself so no labor fee for me.
If you're letting shop do it for you,
around 3000-4000 is right price.

 

If you can locate a donor car that's got all the parts, it shouldn't run you any more than $1,200 for all the parts. If you have a shop do it, tack on another grand for labor.

~THT

 

I wish i can find one

 

Why do you feel that manuelly shifting an automatic is bad? I have been doing it since my car was brand new & have yet to have a single problem with the transmission. I have the drop resistor mod done to the transmission also & still no problem. you just need to make sure to hook the DR up to a full throttle switch. Firmer shifts are actually better for a transmission then slow shifts. Anyway, my point is you shouldn't worry about manuelly shifting your automatic, what you never want to do is manuelly downshift a automatic transmission. It's not the best thing to do with a auto trans. So stop worrying about blowin ricers off the highway.

 

Hey man, I couldnt agree with you more but you get FLAMED around here saying things like that. I guess I could understand that manually shifting an automatic on a regular basis would be bad. However, the most glaringly obvious issue with doing this would be that you are heating up the transmission a lot more than it was intended to. BUT, if you were to foresee this issue and install something such as a stand-alone tranny cooler (which I will be doing sometime this summer), that would give me a lot better piece of mind when doing so.

And... If I blow my auto, then I blow it. I'll just put the cost of the manual swap on my credit card. I mean what's another 2-3000 of debt? What else was I going to spend that on.... Retirement???

 

I have a conversion from auto to manual, go for it and do it get a fidanza flywheel when doing it you will love it.

 

how much did your conversion cost you? did u put it in yourself?

 

it cost me alot for parts because I couldnt find them any where around $1800 and labor was $900 also had to buy the ACT Clutch and Fidanza flywheel.