auto to manual swap how hard? how many hours
- Thread starter fgrossi
- Start date
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1968FormulaS340
Well-Known Member
Want my real opinion……..
If you can't do this kind of work yourself……… Leave it an automatic.
If you are really going to have a shop do it be prepared to pay whatever the final bill may be… Could be $1,500 could be $6,500…………
Custom work is custom work and the price could land anywhere.
If you can't do this kind of work yourself……… Leave it an automatic.
If you are really going to have a shop do it be prepared to pay whatever the final bill may be… Could be $1,500 could be $6,500…………
Custom work is custom work and the price could land anywhere.
'64 Cuda
Well-Known Member
I kind of agree with 1968FormulaS340. I had a friend who did it & he had both cars side by side. A 67 auto trans Barracuda & a 69 4 speed Barracuda. I don't think it took him all that long as it's mainly a bolt in except for the floor hump, BUT he was mechanically inclined & determined to do it. When I was younger I wouldn't have been afraid to try it myself if I had both cars together so I was sure to have EVERY LITTLE PART necessary, including the pedal assembly under the dash & the brace for the ball stud on the body, all of the linkage for the clutch, the CORRECT flywheel for the engine, etc. I think I'm too old for it now. I would hate to think what a shop would charge for the work.
racerbob
Well-Known Member
I don't think an experienced tranny shop would take on that type of job.
They normally remove and replace transmissions and rework them while they are out. The easiest part of this job would be the R & R work. The real Painful part of this type of project is removing the front seats and interior to cut a huge hole in the transmission hump section of the car floor and weld in a new reproduction (means it sorta fits!) tranny hump. More like body work there.
This job is more suited to a shop that does restoration work.
I have done this a few times to Brand X cars (back in the days when I was foolish enough and go to the dark side and drive Nova's and Chevelle's) and I always found it easier when I had a complete parts donor car to get everything and then go back to get what I forgot to get the first time!!
I am attempting this exact project with a 67 barracuda and have found it to be very complex compared with the chevys I dealt with in the past. I would not trust a shop to do this unless they were Mopar guys who have done this before on a similar MOPAR!! Doing this on an old chevy or a Fox body mustang is not the same as a 40 year old A-body Mopar!
Best not to try unless you can do it your self!!
Bob
They normally remove and replace transmissions and rework them while they are out. The easiest part of this job would be the R & R work. The real Painful part of this type of project is removing the front seats and interior to cut a huge hole in the transmission hump section of the car floor and weld in a new reproduction (means it sorta fits!) tranny hump. More like body work there.
This job is more suited to a shop that does restoration work.
I have done this a few times to Brand X cars (back in the days when I was foolish enough and go to the dark side and drive Nova's and Chevelle's) and I always found it easier when I had a complete parts donor car to get everything and then go back to get what I forgot to get the first time!!
I am attempting this exact project with a 67 barracuda and have found it to be very complex compared with the chevys I dealt with in the past. I would not trust a shop to do this unless they were Mopar guys who have done this before on a similar MOPAR!! Doing this on an old chevy or a Fox body mustang is not the same as a 40 year old A-body Mopar!
Best not to try unless you can do it your self!!
Bob
GTGrinly
Well-Known Member
I've done it several times on old chebs, it takes some time, probably 8 hours to remove all the parts and reinstall the new, that's after you have spent 4 hours removing them from the donor. The only real difference on the Mopar is you'll need to swap the entire pedal assy which is also the dash and column support, on a cheb you just changed the pedals. It's not a job most shops would take on and most would probably quote liability of altering the car from its original.
Its not really a hard job if you have the tools and some ability.
Its not really a hard job if you have the tools and some ability.
moper
Well-Known Member
I'd say closer to 12 hours with removing the seat(s) and carpeting plus the refinishing of the welded areas assuming the car is restored now. There's the welded floor, the welded reinforcement on the drivers wheel well, plus the mechanicals, and the new drive shaft. Swapping the hard parts is nothing. Drilling the dash frame for the rev light and re-finishing under the brake likes under the hood is a *****. Or is this more of a "stick it in and make it move" deal rather than a true swap?
Almost forgot.. going from column to floor? That's another couple hours to swap locks and columns.
Almost forgot.. going from column to floor? That's another couple hours to swap locks and columns.
I agree with above, if you can't do it yourself then leave it alone.
I've done it several times and it is an easy job if you can work on cars but it is the type of job that a shop will break it off in your back side.
You also need to make sure your crank is drilled for the pilot brg and input shaft.
I've done it several times and it is an easy job if you can work on cars but it is the type of job that a shop will break it off in your back side.
You also need to make sure your crank is drilled for the pilot brg and input shaft.
abodyjoe
Well-Known Member
clutch
Well-Known Member
Frank i did this swap recently.All the holes were there from the factory on my car(67barracuda).Look down at your frame on the drivers side by the front tire,if you see a threaded hole that goes into the frame then yours is probably set up for a 4 speed.That threaded hole is for the bolt that holds the bracket for the clutch pedal assembly (z-bar) in place.The tranny mount is the same for a 4 speed or auto so you can re-use that.If you have a console auto car then you can use your existing steering column to.They make a bushing now so you dont have to drill your crank any more either.If you need some one to do the swap check with your local mopar club i am sure there will be someone who wants to make some extra cash.This is a very common and easy swap to do nowadays.Dont hesitate to ask here for help,feel free to pm me anytime.Brewers performance will have any part that you may need.They will also have the answer to any question you have.When its all done you will not regret doing the swap.8)
mrtires24
Well-Known Member
Where did you get all the parts? If its a complete donor car, than you do have everything...But If you have bought it all yourself seperatly, you may want to show us a list of what you have. You may not have Everything.
If you can't do it yourself, then get a mopar guy in your area to do it...not a shop. Your going to spend alot of money. + they may not care what the end result is going top look like, so if it won't bee seen, they may cut corners. Just my opinion.
Its really not hard. Most everthing should bolt right on. I don't think many of these cars didn't get made to accept a manual or an auto I could be wrong. You do want that square peice on the inside of the drivers fender for suport on the Z bar. I am pretty sure only manual cars had this, and the sheet metal is not strong enough. this is one part that is often overlooked.
If you can't do it yourself, then get a mopar guy in your area to do it...not a shop. Your going to spend alot of money. + they may not care what the end result is going top look like, so if it won't bee seen, they may cut corners. Just my opinion.
Its really not hard. Most everthing should bolt right on. I don't think many of these cars didn't get made to accept a manual or an auto I could be wrong. You do want that square peice on the inside of the drivers fender for suport on the Z bar. I am pretty sure only manual cars had this, and the sheet metal is not strong enough. this is one part that is often overlooked.
Optik
Well-Known Member
you could always rebuild the automatic with a good shift kit and a manual valve body.
MoparJoe20
Well-Known Member
The guy that bought my 73 Duster had it swapped to a 4 speed, he bought the kit from brewers and had a resto shop do the work as it's way over his head, it ran about 8k to complete the swap but he also swapped a factory 4 speed column, new carpet,etc, it took the shop about 2 weeks to complete the swap- I sold him the car for 7k so I guess he really wanted a 4 speed.
My Dart is the other end of the spectrum, it took me a weekend and I have almost $0 invested- I bought almost everything used and flipped what I had 2 or 3 of. One example is I picked up 2 bells, 3 flywheels, a clutch fork, shifter and linkage of craigslist for $150- he threw in a 4 speed console too that he found while digging out the other parts- there were enough extra parts there to cover the cost of the trans, new clutch and some gaskets/seals from brewers.
My Dart is the other end of the spectrum, it took me a weekend and I have almost $0 invested- I bought almost everything used and flipped what I had 2 or 3 of. One example is I picked up 2 bells, 3 flywheels, a clutch fork, shifter and linkage of craigslist for $150- he threw in a 4 speed console too that he found while digging out the other parts- there were enough extra parts there to cover the cost of the trans, new clutch and some gaskets/seals from brewers.
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