Auto to 5spd tranny, swap, can't afford it, Someone Help!!!

[Avalanche419]

I just bought the eclipse a week ago...Its got an automatic transmission, which doesn't bother me, I woulda rather got a 5spd, but the older models are hard to find here, and this one i got a hell of a deal on.....So, If i wanted to drag race, what could i do with an automatic, I know I'll never probably have the same response as the manual tranny, but I wanna be able to keep up....Can someone help me?????

 

[DSM4me44]

My car was automatic 2 weeks ago. I am just finishing up my auto to 5speed swap. My car was quick with the automatic. I just didn't think it was fun to drive after 3 years so i did the swap. It's not the fact that your car is automatic that might hinder you, its the fact its a non turbo. I would put a turbo in it and I don't think you will be disappointed with it being automatic, I really wasn't.

 

[mini zilo]

Automatic is fine for drag racing. Some say it is best because you don't miss shifts, and your times are more consistent. Some say it is worse because you have less gears and a good driver doesn't miss gears. This thread might get closed because of an argument much like that. Anyways, if you want to drag race the car, you will not be disappointed with an automatic.

 

[Afroclipse]

I'm doing a conversion on mine and i did one on my hyundai tiburon whose engine bay is similar to the NT, there are lots of NT eclipses in the junkyards so parts will be easy and cheap.

Tranny hopefully with mounts $100-$300
cables, shifter + base, and pedal $60
Starter $40 maybe less
Axles $50 a piece or possible trade
master cylinder $10 should come with pedal
Slave $10 should come with tranny

Its better to go to a do it yourself yard that way you know where everything goes and what it should look like.

It cost me less than $400 dollars to do my conversion on the tiburon and about $1000 give or take for my awd conversion.

 

[4SFED_GSX]

don't sleep on the a/t, our group is trying a bunch of new things with them right now and it is going VERY WELL. right now we are finishing putting together the "race car", , we are shooting for the fastest a/t dsm, looking for low 9's to high 8's in the 1/4 (owner wants 8's, i'm a bit more optimistic, ). he's runnin a level 10 built trans w/a 5500 stall.

we currently have a full weight, full trim (inc. a/c, ps and abs) 1ga street car that is runnin sub 7's w/a 1.5 60' in the 1/8 on street tires and it still has a stock trans and a 5000 stall. that stock trans has been it the car 1.5 yrs and has made many passes and pulls on the street. ppl say that is impossible to do on a stock a/t trans repeatedly with that much hp, we are here to prove them wrong. we've made our own shifter box using toggle switches instead of push buttons like another company is selling right now. the switches are hooked to the shift silinoids to eliminate the soft shift. the hard shift is easier on the trans, the soft shift of the silinoids is what kills the a/t when you start making power. there are several other things we are doing right now to help with that 6.8 that i can't exactly let out of the bag as of yet.
one night we ran an well tuned sti on dr's running a 50/50 fuel mix, at the time we only had a b16g on it (different motor too) running 28psi (3500 stall at that time too) on c16 and street tires, the guy launched the sti perfectly but it wasn't enough, we got a 1.5 car lead out of the hole. needless to say we won the $500 from him, but you know its just really hard to beat 20psi off the line, .
don't give up on the a/t just yet, they work quite well, heck i'm even thinking of switching over to an a/t.

 

[4SFED_GSX]

It cost me less than $400 dollars to do my conversion on the tiburon and about $1000 give or take for my awd conversion.

don't forget you have to change out your rear end too, the manual and a/t have diferent gear ratios.

and good luck getting an awd trans for $100-300 unless it busted up and your gonna send it to shep for a rebuild.

 

[Afroclipse]

AWD tranny with slave plus shipping $495 tigerjapanese.com
rear diff plus axles $200 dsmsource
cables, master, shifter+base, and centor console $30 from NT at my regular junkyard
ss clutch cable $30 extreme psi
Fidanza flywheel $160 ebay (New)
XTD stage 3 Clutch $130
I forgot name expensive gear oil $5.99 each
Dot 3 brake fluid good shit $2.99

Thats it i think and a little extra stuff here and there.
By the way i'm thinking of buying a temp Evo 3 from ebay do i get a or a from you guys.

 

[Avalanche419]

thanx for all the responses so quick...I've looked into the Turbo, and i found one at a local junkyard, the turbine seems to still be in good shape as well as the manifold, but i know hardly anything about putting on a turbo, I've done the supercharger, but i'm told this is different....I'm not giving up on the automatic quite yet, and as said by you guys and others I've talked to, Automatic for drag is not bad...I do agree with DSM4ME44, Manuals are fun to drive, every car up to this one i've owned has been a 5 or 6 spd.....I just wanted to try somethin different, I wanna stick with the Automatic i think...So My new question is, should i get a new Torque Converter and raise the stall to about 3000 rpms and throw on the turbo???? I want this to be a street car, so is this the way to go?? It seems like i don't get the most of my power until 3700-4000 Rpms, is this the right way to go?

 

[oldman]

http://www.dsmtuners.com/sub.php?page=2gntupgrades

 

[nates6969]

you need to remember you can't just bolt turbo parts from a 1g or 2g turbo to a 2gnt. Your car is running the 420a motor where all other dsms have some version of the 4g63. You can make any turbo work for your app. however you will need a custom exhaust manifold as well as a completely new fuel system including some sort of fuel management. There's kits available but come with a steep price.

If I were you, do the manual swap...this is what I did when I wanted my old 1g nt auto to be faster. I didn't regret the swap for a second once finished. I then later went on to turbo it anyways which was also wicked...ran high 13s at 9psi

in the end its your call, what you feel will be more enjoyable

 

[Avalanche419]

Thanx Oldman for the Website, and my ? for you nate, will that improve me for drag racing, or not, I mean, if i just increase the rpms on the automatic to 3000 RPMS wit a aftermarket converter will that help, or is the manual swap still the way to go, I'm not being cocky by asking, i just know that all of you sound like experienced mechanics and i can't do the swap by myself, dont' have the tools, the money, or the experience...If its really truly the way to go, I'll have to save the money and take it to the garage and get the parts from the junk yard, is this truly the way to go?????

 

[nates6969]

the high stall torque converter will indeed give you a bit better launch, thats about it...thats really the main advantage of a manual over an auto, that is you can slip the clutch at whatever rpm...you dont really launch a manual fwd dsm over 3000rpm anyways. so the torque converter would definetly help you out but I still think the 5spd would still be a bit quicker but probably not much. Also if you're going to install a torque converter, you will, in the end, have done 75% of the work thats involved in doing a manual swap. all thats left is installing the pedals and shifter...still a fair amount of work but if your confident enough to do a converter, i gaurentee you could do a manual swap using one of the vfaq guides.

converters go for like 500-1000, i did my 5spd swap for 500...you just need to find a guy parting a car...if you want a straight drop in upgrade though the converter is probably your best interest

 

[4SFED_GSX]

AWD tranny with slave plus shipping $495 tigerjapanese.com
rear diff plus axles $200 dsmsource
cables, master, shifter+base, and centor console $30 from NT at my regular junkyard
ss clutch cable $30 extreme psi
Fidanza flywheel $160 ebay (New)
XTD stage 3 Clutch $130
I forgot name expensive gear oil $5.99 each
Dot 3 brake fluid good shit $2.99

Thats it i think and a little extra stuff here and there.
By the way i'm thinking of buying a temp Evo 3 from ebay do i get a or a from you guys.

don't forget you have to change out your rear end too, the manual and a/t have diferent gear ratios.
.

^still for got this improtant step. + another $200-300.

plus when you get this done i want you to come back to this thread and tell us what you really spent because i will guarantee it will be more than your above projected prices. btw, good gear oil goes for$10-13 a quart, not $6. good luck with it none the less.

 

[Afroclipse]

Dude the second on the list is the rear diff plus axles, and just so you know, everything i mentioned has been bought and is almost done

 

[4SFED_GSX]

Dude the second on the list is the rear diff plus axles, and just so you know, everything i mentioned has been bought and is almost done

oops over looked that one .

and hey if you got most of that stuff for those prices then cudos to you for that.

 

[Avalanche419]

Yeah mayb your right nate, I probably could get the Manual Tranny from the Junkyard and it would be more fun to drive, the High Stall Torque converter would probablly cost just as much as all the parts from the Junk yard....So what will I need to do the complete swap out?? and is it a project that I will need to take somewhere else to do, or can I basically wing it and try to learn it myself.....What Parts should I look for in the Junkyard also? And will I have to change anything besides the tranny out as far as anything with the fuel system, ECU, Ect....

 

[4SFED_GSX]

the only things i can think of off the top of my head that are different than the already mentioned would be the ecu and the cams. the cams are not crutial, a/t cams are just less agressive than the manual cams, a/t cams are quicker for spool but less topend performance.

 

[DSM4me44]

I don't think a higher stall is the first thing you need. I had a stock auto tranny and can bust out 1.9s. I would check out getting a kit or the parts to turbo your car. I never did transmission upgrades while i had my auto tranny in and i was pretty happy with the performace and launch.

 

[Avalanche419]

Where can I find the kit for the 420a???

 

[Locke]

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=230980 for 2gnt AT -> MT swap.

http://www.hahnracecraft.com for a complete turbo kit. You can go turbo for much cheaper, but this kit is best for the novice mechanic.

 

[nates6969]

which ever you chose, they will both be about the same amount of work...if you buy a turbo kit expect to spend a lot unless you hand craft up half the parts. The turbo kit in the end will come with some challenges as you will need to tune it which can be difficult but is actually half the fun. if your cool with an auto then do the turbo, the car will be faster with the turbo then just a m/t and will still be pretty fun to drive...FWD turbo cars are so much fun as at the top of the first 2 gears the tires flame up!

 

[Avalanche419]

Thanx guys, but i really don't wanna spend like $2000 right now, I'm looking mayb for a small turbo right now, like i stock t25.....does anyone know where to get a turbo kit for real cheap??? I mean real cheap?? I would upgrade eventually, but being in college kicks your ass as far as work.....I'm thinkin mayb 5psi?? and If i did that, would i have to upgrade internals or anything else? Mayb the fuel pump?? I'm thinkin i can mayb find the intercooler and Turbo at the junkyard, and I could find the Manifold for the 420a on ebay...What else do i need for a full turbo kit if i wanted to budget the whole thing????

 

[Avalanche419]

I thought I'd add this too, I was also looking at keeping it naturally aspirated but adding Nitrous into the picture...I heard this could be dangerous by looking around the forum and reading, but what I'm getting from the reading is that Stock Internals can take a 50 Wet Shot and be fine...I was thinking this could be an option for right now until i get the $2000 to finance the turbo and parts...is this true, could it take a 50 Wet shot?? I was looking at kits and there about $600...Could this solve my problem?

 

[THE REAL DEAL]

i was gonna come in here defending the auto turbo tranny but now, seeing as how you have a N/T, your best option would be to either A. not race at all, B. do the swap, or C. sell your car and get a 5 speed. an auto N/T isn't really worth the work. not to mention who knows how long that tranny will last with nitrous or any kind of F/I for that matter.

 

[4SFED_GSX]

i was gonna come in here defending the auto turbo tranny but now, seeing as how you have a N/T, your best option would be to either A. not race at all, B. do the swap, or C. sell your car and get a 5 speed. an auto N/T isn't really worth the work. not to mention who knows how long that tranny will last with nitrous or any kind of F/I for that matter.

i opt for option (D) sell the n/t and get a turbo dsm, it will be cheaper in the long run.