Transmission Swap

[broncoman]

Hey guys...need some advice. My car is the 86 TZ CS in the gallery. It's an automatic with 32,000 miles (mint). My problem is that I REALLY want a 5 speed. I used to have an 88 Shelby 5 speed and I absolutely loved it. I feel bad because this car is in perfect shape but it drives me crazy that it's an automatic. So, here are my options....
1. Continue to try and sell the car (which I will genuinely regret, I'm sure) and use the money to buy something else like a GLHS or a different Daytona if one comes along.
2. Swap the tranny. Problem here is this is not something I could do myself. I don't even know which tranny I could put in. It seems like the best way to do it is to find a compatible car with a five speed (preferrable another Daytona) and just buy the whole car. That way I would have all the parts. The only problem with this option is that If I swap the tranny then the car would lose some value because it wouldn't be original anymore.

This may sound kind of stupid but I seriously am losing sleep over this!! I need some words of advice or inspiration please. The car is in storage for the winter so I don't really need to make a decision until the end of April.

Thanks guys,
Scott (Broncoman)

[tryingbe]

The more you drive it, the less value you'll have.

Sell it, but a driver.

[turbocooled86]

Quote:

Originally Posted by broncoman Hey guys...need some advice. My car is the 86 TZ CS in the gallery. It's an automatic with 32,000 miles (mint). My problem is that I REALLY want a 5 speed. I used to have an 88 Shelby 5 speed and I absolutely loved it. I feel bad because this car is in perfect shape but it drives me crazy that it's an automatic. So, here are my options.... 1. Continue to try and sell the car (which I will genuinely regret, I'm sure) and use the money to buy something else like a GLHS or a different Daytona if one comes along. 2. Swap the tranny. Problem here is this is not something I could do myself. I don't even know which tranny I could put in. It seems like the best way to do it is to find a compatible car with a five speed (preferrable another Daytona) and just buy the whole car. That way I would have all the parts. The only problem with this option is that If I swap the tranny then the car would lose some value because it wouldn't be original anymore. This may sound kind of stupid but I seriously am losing sleep over this!! I need some words of advice or inspiration please. The car is in storage for the winter so I don't really need to make a decision until the end of April. Thanks guys, Scott (Broncoman)

do the swap keep the orig trans that way you could always sell it with orig trans to go with it.i am looking into swapping my 86 daytona also.its not as bad to swap as you think it would be plus theres alot of us here to help you along.i will be doing myswap as soon as i get my taxes back.as far asfinding a trans look around junkyards for another daytona:)

[broncoman]

Hey thanks, that sounds like really good advice. I never thought of keeping the original tranny in case I sell the car. Just out of curiousity, what manual tranny is in an 86 TZ? I was thinking if other models or years might have the same one in case I have trouble finding the same car as mine.
Scott

[turbocooled86]

Quote:

Originally Posted by broncoman Hey thanks, that sounds like really good advice. I never thought of keeping the original tranny in case I sell the car. Just out of curiousity, what manual tranny is in an 86 TZ? I was thinking if other models or years might have the same one in case I have trouble finding the same car as mine. Scott

u can pretty much pull outta any 2.2L but you do have to do a small amount of weilding to the k frame not that big of a job though should have money to do my swap within a month can let you know how things go

[Jakecs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tryingbe The more you drive it, the less value you'll have. Sell it, but a driver.

Thats not exactly good advice in my opinion. It just a car. Jay Leno himself said that he recommends to anyone who ever gets a hold of a nice car to just simply drive it and have fun with it. What's the point in owning a car if you simply let it sit under a cover its whole life and collect dust? And besides, anyone who buys a TD certainly shouldn't expect to get any money out of it. Most people on here loose 1000s on their projects.

My advice is to do the swap, but like intercooled says, keep the numbers matching trans and you could put it back in someday, nobody'd ever know. Remember that its just a car and have fun with it. If you need a 5 speed to do that, then by all means, put away the auto trans.

[turbocooled86]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jakecs Thats not exactly good advice in my opinion. It just a car. Jay Leno himself said that he recommends to anyone who ever gets a hold of a nice car to just simply drive it and have fun with it. What's the point in owning a car if you simply let it sit under a cover its whole life and collect dust? And besides, anyone who buys a TD certainly shouldn't expect to get any money out of it. Most people on here loose 1000s on their projects. My advice is to do the swap, but like intercooled says, keep the numbers matching trans and you could put it back in someday, nobody'd ever know. Remember that its just a car and have fun with it. If you need a 5 speed to do that, then by all means, put away the auto trans.

and get a nasty gear ratio while your at it

[turismolover22]

To do the swap, you will need the following

From interior to exterior - starting at the console

Remove console, replace auto gear indicator with rubber boot (stick consoles were different)

Remove shifter, replace with MATCHING manual shifter (there were 4 or 5 different shifters, more on this)

Replace pedal assembly for a manual set with clutch pedal

Remove plug in firewall and install manual clutch cable

Remove auto trans cable and replace with manual trans cables

Remove automatic trans and torque convertor/flexplate

Install flywheel, clutch, Pressure plate

Install transmission

Install new axles

Install new wheel bearings/front hubs

Install tab at k-frame for bobble strut mount

Like stated, there are 5 manual transmissions, in order from weakest to strongest (all transmission numbers are superceeded with the letter A)

525,520,523,555,568 (two different 568's, one 1990 only, and one 91-93)

The 525 uses it's own shifter, unique to all the rest (84-86). The 520 and 555 use the same shifter (87-89) and the 523 and 568 use the same shifter (90-93) The same info goes for shifter cables.

The 525, which would have been your stocker, would use the same axles as your auto. If you don't plan on beating the crap out of the car, just swap it in, as these are usually abundant, and dont tear on it.

Any other transmission, uses bigger axles, so you need to source axles for it, as well as swap the wheel bearings, at the minimum.

So, you'll need -

Shifter - matches transmission
Shift cables
Transmission
bobble strut tab (not necessary)
clutch cable - for a daytona
pedal assembly
clutch/Pressure plate
Flywheel
Axles - if not using 525 trans
wheel bearings/hubs - again, if not using 525

Also, one last thing. Because the car has a neutral safety switch, you will have to take that wire (the center wire on the reverse light plug on top of your transmission) and ground it to the battery/block, otherwise the car wont turn over (so I was told)

I am not sure if the sensor will see you are in neutral if it is installed in a manual or not, never tried it.

That should be all you have to do.