6 gears > 4 [6spd + 3.2 swap]...completed.

RedRyder

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Re: 6 > 4

Thank you all for your support/encouragement! I appreciate it. :wub: Feel free to chat it up in here.


We jealous of your LSD:naughty:

el trutho

Chris is ballllinnnnn! lol still you are lucky to find someone to help you with the swap. How much are you looking to spend if you dont mind me asking? PM me!

Thanks Raul! Yes I am extremely lucky, the midwest is not a hotpad for custom work like this. I actually never thought I would find someone remotely close, but 5.5 hours is doable for me. I know Cali people can't drive 10 miles in any direction without coming upon custom shops that do this work...around here you can drive 10 miles and find nothing. lol

I expected to spend between $3 and $3.5k...so far I am on target so we'll see how it plays out. Of course this doesn't factor in gas or the hotel.

Damn I bet you are getting one hell of a deal plus you get to meet Rich and have him make sure your swap magic harness is done correctly.

are you going to be my 6 spd brotha at IA?:beer:

Yeah I am so excited to meet him. He's such a nice guy, patient, and answers my questions thoroughly and in complete sentences. Can't stand poeple that give like a 3 word answer that doesn't really address your question. lol

And yes, the swap will be done end of April/early May. Soo come IA we should both have 6spds under the hood. :hihi:

Yeah. For, Im assuming, a few grand, you can pretty much make this car an almost 100% reliable car. Might as well be brand new, too. :p Now all you need is a 3.2 ;)
Ive always said that the tranny is the one thing keeping this car from perfection. If the autos werent, literally, tragic I dont know that i could ever get rid of it. My fear is the manual itself. I know HOW to drive but have had little to no street experience and Id hate to put *MY* car through the trials and tribulations of a noob manual driver, lol. It might happen one day, who knows.
In the meantime, Ill live vicariously through everyone on here, lol. Good luck and I cant wait for the write up. :thumbup:

Ohhhh how I want the J32. It's hard to justify the money for it because the J30, though not a powerhouse, is reliable and well built...not to mention the 6spd releases its true power. Though a lower mileage motor sure would be nice, since mine has around 131k miles.

You're right, the 4spd slushbox is the one thing I hate about my car...other than that, I would have a hard time trading it for anything. Whether the auto in these cars lasts or not, is a crap shoot. But I baby the car, always drive differently depending on surrounding conditions, and change the fluid every 6k miles. This may or may not have something to do with why it's still solid, even with its current mileage.

It has been a long while since I've driven a manual. Last one I drove for more than one day at a time was a '93 VW Passat VR6 5spd, but that was years ago. So I will be relearning how to drive a stick because I myself know the principle behind it, but doing it is another story. At least for me, so I asked Rich for some lessons. haha So don't let this stop you.

dopppeeeee. once this swap is done, you'll be my fave
:jealousbow:

Thanks man, that means a lot coming from you. :)

Appropriate thread rating acquired, Chris.:peace:

YES. now your car is diamonds. well going to be. congrats man!

Again I say to you sir, congrats.

Thanks guys! In addition to everything else, I am not ready to give this car up yet. I am so excited to feel this transformation. People who have done it say it's a different car...
 
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SykVSyx

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Re: 6 > 4

AwesomeThread.jpg


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!
 

Geewiz

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Re: 6 > 4 [Six speed content]

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!
 

Mikey

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Re: 6 > 4

Ohhhh how I want the J32. It's hard to justify the money for it because the J30, though not a powerhouse, is reliable and well built...not to mention the 6spd releases its true power. Though a lower mileage motor sure would be nice, since mine has around 131k miles.

You're right, the 4spd slushbox is the one thing I hate about my car...other than that, I would have a hard time trading it for anything. Whether the auto in these cars lasts or not, is a crap shoot. But I baby the car, always drive differently depending on surrounding conditions, and change the fluid every 6k miles. This may or may not have something to do with why it's still solid, even with its current mileage.

It has been a long while since I've driven a manual. Last one I drove for more than one day at a time was a '93 VW Passat VR6 5spd, but that was years ago. So I will be relearning how to drive a stick because I myself know the principle behind it, but doing it is another story. At least for me, so I asked Rich for some lessons. haha So don't let this stop you.
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 IS 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. :)
 

Accordman722

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Re: 6 > 4 [Six speed content]

Good luck man! See ya at IA. I'm thinking about doing a V6 swap sometime down the road , where'd you find your tranny at ?
 

RedRyder

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Re: 6 > 4

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
 
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Mikey

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Re: 6 > 4

That's the thing Im afraid of. Doing a MT swap and barely knowing how to drive, lol. Ive seen vids on YouTube and it does look like a different car. Who knows, maybe in a few years, ill be one of the few with a 6spd J32. I can only hope, lol.

I stand tall every day, lol. This is my 2nd Honda while working there and I got **** when I bought "another Honda" after the first one, so Im used to it. It's ok, they can razz me all they want. If properly maintained, my car could make it to 250k, with minimal issues. GMs are lucky to last half that without major problems, lol.
 
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