Chris, glad to hear this is finally becoming a reality for you.
I am looking forward to the finished product, and to hear your review of you new appreciation for the V6 all over again!
Congrats, I hope to have similar good news over time as well![/QUOTE]
haha thanks Derek. Things really were expedited when I began speaking with Rich. He is very pleasant to communicate with.
I plan on updating this a lot, in fact by the time I'm done I'm quite certain people will hate updates. lol I talk with RJ on Facebook sometimes and he is always so enthusiastic about this swap, and how it changed the car. I will definitely have a new appreciation for what the J30 is capable of.
I very much look forward to the day you jump in. ;)
[quote="Geewiz, post: 750943"]I'm getting ready to do a 5spd swap on my 4-cyl and I was happy with that. Now I read this and I'm now going to cry. lol No, I can suffice and be happy with going manual. No more slipping auto-tragic and better mpg for me!
Good luck with swap and I should get mine done about same time as you![/QUOTE]
Meh they're two different cars so you can't really compare them, ya know? The 5spd swap is the best thing you can do for a 4cyl. Thanks and good luck to you too! Congrats on buying the swap, you will love your car even more. Lucky you had nearly all the parts gathering done for you. lol
[quote="Mikey, post: 750951"]I know it's probably out of the question but I saw a complete J32 on CL, in STL, for $750. Had 114k. Ive got that money and maybe even the money to do such a swap but, again, the auto is in my way. I know it's not much more power, but the J32 [I]IS[/I] a different monster and I dont want to put the extra stress on my tranny. :(
I work at a Chevy dealership, so Im always getting **** for my Honda, but a few of the guys have complimented me on it's cleanliness. Not to mention, Ive heard a few guys at Honda say its one of their favorite gen Accords. Ive had mine for probably around 8k miles and have yet to change the fluid. Im afraid to, lol. So many people have told me that doing so can mess with things and if my tranny isnt doing anything funny, not to mess with it. Now are you flushing or just draining/changing fluid? Ive heard that doing that wont hurt, but its the flushing that gets in there and messes things up.
I drive manuals at work but its around the lot, so i *rarely* leave 1st and most of it is just idling the clutch, lol. The only manuals Ive actually DRIVEN was my buddy's '91 Saturn, around a parking lot, like 10 years ago and my buddy's BB4, on the street. I only killed it once but I was still scared ****less, lol. I know enough people that I could pick up some lessons. Ya know what, I might just do that this summer. :)[/QUOTE]
The J32a2 is 60 more hp and 37 more torques. But the motor is much more robust and responds to mods more than a J30 does. It really is an incredibly designed motor. But yeah, if anything, I would do the tranny swap before the motor. From what I've read, the 4spd robs around 20% of the J30's power, so mating a nice 6spd up with it harness all that lost power, and makes a big difference. Matt (allGo) has the 6spd mated to his J30 and I've ridden in his car...it is a beast.
NEVER flush the auto tranny. All you need to do is drain and fill. It's weird but in a way a lot of what's wrong with the auto keeps it running "right" when all the particles, etc that have broken off inside the housing are left there. People say that not flushing lets the tranny grab gears better thus making it slower to slip. But this creates a little more friction inside, which is why some people recommend the cooler. I decided to take it easy on the car, accelerate reasonably, drive in D3 when I don't need 4th gear, so that the thing isn't always gear hunting (depending on the road of course), and change it every other oil change or 6 months. Like I said, this may have helped, or may not have. But my tranny is still solid so perhaps what I've done helped.
Yeah I was a bit embarrassed at first to say I'm doing a MT swap, but that I can't drive one. lol But whatever, I just need a refresher course, which Rich is happy to do. I almost asked my fiance's friend to teach me in her Scion xD.
Always nice to get compliments on your car. Stand tall at that GM dealership! lol