swap auto to manual - what parts?

JHetfield · Post by **JHetfield** » January 11th, 2006, 3:04 pm

one more question. does anything change as far as what year of parts care I go after? as long as its a GS (V6) with a manual tranny, I should be ok?

JWMX3 · Post by **JWMX3** » January 11th, 2006, 3:47 pm

for everything but the pedal assemblies it dosent matter what year..... go back a few posts and read what i wrote on the pedals

JHetfield · Post by **JHetfield** » March 11th, 2006, 10:04 pm

I'm struggling with two scenarios

1. do I go and buy 2.5L and a manual to swap in.

or

2. just find a 5 speed MTX and everything i need to swap it in with my K8?

is 1 a whole pile more work than 2? or just a little more...or is it any more at all?

JWMX3 · Post by **JWMX3** » March 11th, 2006, 11:16 pm

JHetfield wrote:I'm struggling with two scenarios

1. do I go and buy 2.5L and a manual to swap in.

or

2. just find a 5 speed MTX and everything i need to swap it in with my K8?

is 1 a whole pile more work than 2? or just a little more...or is it any more at all?

#1 will be a tiny bit more work, because technically you can leave your k8 in and do the tranny swap, but pulling the motor will make it a bit easier and its not alot more work then just dropping the trans.

imo go with a 2.5

JHetfield · Post by **JHetfield** » March 11th, 2006, 11:47 pm

any idea roughly what a KL swap is gonna set me back?

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » March 12th, 2006, 12:35 am

Depends on the cost of the engine.. I have see KLDE's range from about $400 to $700 US. Have also seen them go dirt cheap too (under $200) KLZE's tend to be in the $800 ballpark and its rare to find one dirt cheap.. and if you do its usually for a reason

Plus you will need either a ECU for the KLDE or a fuel management system for the KLZE.. you can get a ECU for the KLZE.. but best results are from a piggy back or stand alone fuel management system like Haltech or Megasquirt. MSD also makes some good systems (if not the best).

I am about to swap out my ATX for a MTX. I found a local junk yard that is selling me all of the parts in a "kit" for $600. This includes everything right down to the bolts that hold the flywheel to the engine. I am going to do this first since my K8 is still in good shape at only 92k miles. Then I will start buying go fast goodies.. like headers, ignition upgrade.. CAI.. etc.. cool part about getting all these things is.. they will bolt right onto a DE or ZE when my K8 final craps out.

Tunes67

JHetfield · Post by **JHetfield** » March 12th, 2006, 2:01 am

600 for the "kit"...does that get you the tranny as well? I checked a couple salvage yards around here...but nothing but 1 tranny for 600.00 nothing else with it though, i told they guy to keep it...

when you see guys on here partin out their GS do they generally keep the big stuff(engine/tranny)? I haven't seen too many trannys up except for ones who have fried ATXs...does the K8 5speed work with the KL?

you obviously know a lot about cars...I don't know FA, but do you think that if I have a guy who can tear out and rebuild a 400ci small bock at breakfast time and have the car running again by lunch, that I can get it done...my car guy isn't much for electrical stuff, but I think I can handle that.

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » March 12th, 2006, 3:16 am

In my case.. the Kit includes everything.. even the tranny. There are guys that will part out and sell such stuff to you from parts cars... but unless they are local or are cool enough to do it cheap.. shipping is usually a killer.

you obviously know a lot about cars...I don't know FA, but do you think that if I have a guy who can tear out and rebuild a 400ci small bock at breakfast time and have the car running again by lunch, that I can get it done...my car guy isn't much for electrical stuff, but I think I can handle that.

Its really kind of ironic that you ask this.. because I am a old school hot rod guy.. I built a sweet nova once upon a time.. gas prices and personal finances at the time forced me to sell it. And I can tell you that when I first got my RS... yeah.. it intimidated me quite a bit since its the first real computer controlled car I have ever had. But you know what? While being a bit more complex in overall number of parts.. its really just the same game.. bustin knuckles LOL Things come apart and go back together the same as they do with the old cars.. the only real difference is that everything is a bit smaller and crammed into a impossibly small space LOL

It takes longer to work on these cars than it ever did to work on my nova.. mainly because of space requirements. Example.. I could remove my valve covers and replace the gaskets on my 350 in about 10 minutes max. On my K8.. to do the rear valve cover.. you have to remove the Flex air intake hose, unplug all the vacuum lines connected to the intake, unplug any wiring connections (such as the TPS) and then remove the intake. Its a bit more expensive as well.. in the above example you have to buy a intake gasket set just to do the rear valve cover gasket.

The concepts are all the same.. it just seems like japanese engineers have smoked a lot of crack at times. But for the most part.. while its more time consuming to do any given job.. its not that much different. You and your buddy will do fine.

Tips I like to do to help me stay organized is to use Zip lock freezer bags and bag all my bolts and tag them from where they were removed. And I use my digital camera to take pics of how things were before I start tearing down. And finally.. I spend a week or more looking at what I am going to achieve and figure out what order parts should be removed and or replaced.. then I make a list and go off the list. This way I dont get side tracked and miss something. Yes these things can add a lot of time to any given project.. but the project is only successful if everything works right in the end

Tunes67

JHetfield · Post by **JHetfield** » March 12th, 2006, 1:10 pm

thanks for the advise Tunes.