How much does ut cost to do,a transmission swap from automatic to manual? i'm thinking about it but want to know the price before committing.

 

Probably more than the car is worth.

Trade the car for a five speed.

 

It can be done for very cheap if you do your own labor and grab parts from the yard..but that's assuming the clutch/flywheel are okay because that can cost a few hundred on its own.

Half off day at pick and pull should get you everything you need for $300ish

 

From the way you brought up the question it sounds like your trying to pay someone to do it, and don't be ashamed about that. swapping transmissions let alone a transmission that the car didn't come with is alot of work. I was in your boat too. I had a 97 auto and sold it for a 97 5mt. I got 2200 for my auto and paid 1400 for my 5 spd. I used 600 of the 800 dollar difference to replace pretty much the whole front end with alignment and am alot happier than I was in my auto. hope this helps your decision.

 

I also understood that the op was going to have the work done.
The word "committed" was used.

Having the work done on a car with low resale value does not make financial sense.

If you do the work yourself, using a donor parts car, the price might be reasonable.

It would still be a lot of work. It's not simply changing out the mechanical parts. The ecu differs. Not sure about the details.

 

well low resale doesn't mean anything really, you just pay the car off cheap, whatever you add to it is your choice and kinda the same concept of "Buy $1000 laptop at a store..Your not getting 100% of your money back"

Where as this falls into the same category.. "Swap to manual for $1000!, but remember your not getting 100% of your money back"

instead of you going to the store and buying $1000 laptop, you chose to buy a $1000 trans swap, if you love cars then you know it would be worth it, but to some people they don't really care and rather want the laptop even though their current laptop may be perfectly fine.

I look at it that way, Buy 10 pair of shoes @ 100$ ea = $1000, but no-one is going to buy it at full price, more likely they're going to go for $10 ea. 900$ loss.

Just perspective and choice people choose to do, its not any different really. just have fun, and do it! ya only live once.

Sure you can go buy a 5spd, but if you know yours well..and maybe the other may have problems and has more miles? if your automatic is in bad shape...then you find a good condition 5spd, then yes that would be the right decision to go ahead and buy the 5spd. but if yours is an automatic/cars in real good shape and you know the car really well..then its your choice to choose..

 

Josh, what you are talking about is a good concept.

The devil you know, vs the devil you don't know.

Agreed that if the rest of the car is in great shape, changing the trans yourself, or having it done makes sense.

If the repairs or upgrades keep someone fro.buying a newer car for a few years, the repairs are money well spent.