My newish car has an automatic transmission, and I really miss a stick shift. It’s probably possible to convert it to a manual, but how much would it cost? It’s a 1997 Saturn SL2 with the DOHC engine (you never know, maybe there’s a mechanic on the boards).
Oh, for God’s sake, put an ad in the paper offering some schmoe who has the standard tranny two hundred bucks to TRADE with you. It’s GOTTA be less complicated. Some auto manufacturers have been known to put different styles of engine parts into the car, based on whether the transmission was automatic or standard. Why do you think the guy at Pep Boys asks what kind of transmission you have when you go in to buy a thermostat, or an air cleaner?
And yes I DO mean trade the whole car.
It can be done but the question would be why?
Just trade the car for the same model with a manual tranny.
You’ll save yourself a lot of money and hassle.
(bolding mine). I’m not looking for a new or used car because my credit’s in the toilet - I bought this car from my parents. That’s an interesting suggestion, kaylasdad99. Maybe I’ll give it a try. But I’m still curious about the cost to convert.
I’ve done this type of thing before, and trust me, unless:
- you have the ability to fabricate parts that don’t exist or are unavailable, and
- have unlimited time and patience,
DON’T try it.
Even if everything went well and you got the needed parts for free, the labor would be more than the car’s value.
Also, it might be in violation of your local emissions laws.
Pretty definitely cuts out that option. Oh, well.
By the way, I am aware that there would be a lot more to it than simply swapping one tranny for another, but I like to explore as many options as I can think of before commiting to one - I was pretty sure that this was a harebrain scheme.
Still, I think I’ll make a quick call to the Saturn dealer in the morning. I’ll probably get the same incredulous response, but maybe the car was set up for maximum interchangability within the same line.
What the heck. The most it can cost me is a few minutes of my time and maybe a little embarrasment.
In my experience (with Mazda, not Saturn), dealers usually know next to nothing. If there are technical differences between an automatic and manual car (other than the transmission itself), they won’t know what they are. I participate in a Miata owners forum, and we’ve got members that can give you a detailed list of which differentials have been in the various packages for different years and what it’d take to swap them (or to swap in a differential from an RX-7 or other car). They can tell you what type of engine can be swapped into a Miata and maybe even detail how to do it.
I’d look around for Saturn owner forums and talk to people there who can give you a run down on what’s involved, as well as where to get used transmissions and probably recommend mechanics who can do the work.
Good luck,
Eric
…But this has got to be the dopiest (no pun intended) question I’ve ever seen on these boards.
Well. maybe not the dopiest, but real, real close!
Quite honestly, if you have people do it for you, and you are unable to re-sell the automatic and its parts, it’s going to cost between $2000 and $3500, depending on how many engine management controls need to be replaced, and if you need a new dash and console in the car, or large portions of one to make it look “normal”. My guess is above $3000, parts and labor, unless you do a lot of the work yourself.
I had a friend who did this. He had a automatic in his VW Corrado. When the tranny went he replaced it with a standard. After a few bugs had been worked out he was happy with it. The cost was close to that of a new auto tranny.
You guys act like this is an incredibly stupis task and that it is unbelievably hard. Granted I’ve never worked on a Saturn, I have changed several automatics to 5-speeds or 6-speeds. Plus when I have done it, it was for the sake of performance and the need and desire for more speed in Mustangs. Manuels get roughly 10-15% more power to the ground and give the driver more control. What you need should be (Ive never done a Saturn, but shouldn’t be all that different I have done it on Civics and Integras) a full pedal assembly, not just the clutch pedal, Your cluth cable and quadrant, you need the transmission, you need to go with a manuel trans flywheel, you will need the shifter, shift linkage, and boot, and you will need the computer (ECU) from a manuel trans car. Plus odds and ends.
The only way a move like this can be considered practical is if your doing it for the sake of performance at you truly desire the manuel shift. It won’t be cheap or a walk in the park. But just for the record I know where you are coming from. I went from auto to a 6-speed in my Mustang.
It sometimes makes a difference, but a lot of the time, it’s because they just don’t know any better.
Geez, people, we’ve had people ask about making cannons big enough to launch goats out of, and this is considered stupid? This is a real, practical question. That said, and IMHO, Belgarath hit the nail on the head. While this isn’t a stupid thing to do, it’s something that will cost a lot in time and money and will be worth it only to someone who wants the particular car to be a stick shift. It will probably be easier to rebuild credit than to rebuild this car as a manual.
It’s not unbelievably hard, Belgarath, as I’ve assisted in many such operations. But it is very labor intensive, and unless you do a lot of the work yourself, it’s going to cost some serious money.
It also depends on where you get the parts from. How much is a brand-new Saturn 5-speed? The best source I have says $1000 for the tranny alone. Assuming all you need is a new flywheel ($120), clutch assembly ($110), linkage with shifter ($100 from a junkyard), and that you don’t need a different computer (if you do, add another $800-$1000), you can see that we still need a lot of money for labor, and our total costs come into my $2000 to $3500 range.
You worked on converting Mustangs - well, which kind? SN95 Mustangs? They are relatively easy to do this on, even the late model ones, due to their body design. Sometimes just hanging that clutch is a 2-day affair, at $20 per labor hour (or $160 per hour, if you hire me 
)