Auto to Manual conversion help?

MagelloMagello Band Wagon
in Engine & Drivetrain
Hey guys,

Was wondering what I need for an auto to manual conversion? I'm planning to get a motor with a box on it so don't need the box.

Will any pedal box from any car work or must be off a EF/DA/EE?

I'm guessing same mounts and everything as this is a 56i (is that what you call for fuel injected wagons)?

Thanks in advance

Comments

  • bikewrenchbikewrench Wagonist
    pedals are wagon specific

    get ready to be told to search
  • bam-bambam-bam Council Member
    Well, I'm not sure there's a definitive writeup on the trans. swap. The only one I've done was lil'ghost's- check her build thread. We ran into some difficulty because her 1988 didn't have the hole in the firewall OR the reinforcement necessary for the clutch cable.

    So, to answer your question about what you need:

    Transmission
    shifter
    shift linkage
    floor/tunnel section if you wish to seal it up and use stock boots
    clutch cable
    pedal assembly
    manual ECU
    manual instrument cluster

    The mechanical part is fairly straightforward. Electrics will depend on what year your auto is, i.e. whether it has shift interlock etc. On the '88 I just had to jumper 2 wires to defeat the neutral safety switch. (If you're really picky, use this same circuit to wire clutch safety switch).

    The only other thing that comes to mind is that the auto. engine harness doesn't have 2 wires for the reverse light switch. If you care, you'll have to extend the green wire from the plug under the (auto) shifter.
  • MagelloMagello Band Wagon
    Thanks for that bam-bam. Will definitely use check the build out.
  • jameskjamesk Wagonist
    I had the 5 speed conversion done and my pedals came from an EF hatch. I didn't do the work, my mechanic did, but ALL of my parts for the swap (short of shift linkage) came off of an EF hatch donor car.
  • MagelloMagello Band Wagon
    Were there any modifications needed to fit the pedals from the hatch? Or bolted straight on?
  • wag-oh-vandrewwag-oh-vandrew New Wagonist
    Just curious, I need two new axles yet eventually want to swap to a manual. will I need to buy new axles once I convert it or will they work the same
  • Gringo Van flipflipGringo Van flipflip Band Wagon
    bumping an old post eh!
    Depending on year of your car, if its 26 spline they are all the same auto and std, And also if your AWD or 2WD.
    If 2WD you should be good.
  • Mr GMr G Wagonist
    Gringo Van flipflip wrote:
    bumping an old post eh!
    Depending on year of your car, if its 26 spline they are all the same auto and std, And also if your AWD or 2WD.
    If 2WD you should be good.

    What are you talking about? :shock:
  • CIVEILCIVEIL New Wagonist
    From my research on here, its been explained that the passenger side motor mount also has to be swapped out for a manual. Is that not true?
  • 90 RT4WD (Cody)90 RT4WD (Cody) Senior Wagonist
    Yes the passenger side motor mount bracket has to be swapped, (the part spot welded to the frame)
    There is about an inch and 3/4 difference in height... The manual 4wd is higher
  • CIVEILCIVEIL New Wagonist
    Nice, I thought that was true. Here is another question...Does the 2wd civic wagon or hatch motor mount match the passenger side motor mount on the rt4wd manual transmission?
  • ilgasilgas New Wagonist
    90 RT4WD (Cody) wrote:
    Yes the passenger side motor mount bracket has to be swapped, (the part spot welded to the frame)
    There is about an inch and 3/4 difference in height... The manual 4wd is higher

    No, match only RT4WD mount. it's quite special.

    Here you are my photo from my build what is difference between auto vs manual RT4WD bracket:

    Drilled out mount of automatic gear box, and welded in bracket from manual RT4WD gear box.
    The difference between automatic and manual gear box. (red one are from automatic).

    www.civicwagon.com
    www.civicwagon.com
  • wagoneer77wagoneer77 Band Wagon
    I bought another mount on my conversion. come to find out the auto and 6 speed Rt4wd have the same mount bracket... so I wasted some time working on that... Just and FYI
  • CIVEILCIVEIL New Wagonist
    wagoneer77 wrote:
    I bought another mount on my conversion. come to find out the auto and 6 speed Rt4wd have the same mount bracket... so I wasted some time working on that... Just and FYI

    Are you sure? It was just explained above that the mounts are different. This might confuse some people. Can you clarify? Have others been wrong in the past?
  • marklmarkl New Wagonist
    wagoneer77 wrote:
    I bought another mount on my conversion. come to find out the auto and 6 speed Rt4wd have the same mount bracket... so I wasted some time working on that... Just and FYI

    Are you sure? I bought a parts manual RT4WD. The owner before me changed a auto RT4WD to a manual using this parts car. He took the trans mount.

    Mark.
  • bam-bambam-bam Council Member
    The auto and manual frame brackets for the RT4wd are different, as pictured above.
  • 90 RT4WD (Cody)90 RT4WD (Cody) Senior Wagonist
    wagoneer77 wrote:
    I bought another mount on my conversion. come to find out the auto and 6 speed Rt4wd have the same mount bracket... so I wasted some time working on that... Just and FYI

    They are different, the manual mount is about 1.75" higher than a auto, I just cut the auto one off mine and welded to manual bracket to finish my swap..
  • SiWagonSiWagon Council Member
    What kind of swap are you (CIVEIL) doing? Auto AWD to:
    a)manual AWD?
    b)manual 2WD?
  • wagoneer77wagoneer77 Band Wagon
    I am doing an auto 4wd to manual 4wd....My mount brackets were identical once I got them off and compared them...only way it could be wrong is if the salvage yard sent me the wrong clip...anyway swap is in and bolted up with no real issues so far. Thats just my scenrio...each could be different. I read somewhere awhile back that auto and manual 4wd used the same bracket but 2wd were different
  • FakeJDMEF8FakeJDMEF8 Senior Wagonist
    Can anyone confirm that for the wiring harness, the reverse switch is the only thing that is different? I'm in desperate for an 89RT harness and can only find an auto one....
  • superhatchsuperhatch Moderator
    Bringing this back from the dead to ask another question about rear mounts.

    I have an 88 trans, and a 91 body. My rear mount doesn't seem to be lining up. Wondering if this is an auto-manual issue, or an 88-89/90-91 issue. Any thoughts would be helpful!
  • PoozMcgueePoozMcguee New Wagonist
    I think that the rear engine mount is different auto to manual, not just the bracket. It's got 3 bolts to the subframe on the auto the mounts to the left, and on manual it's off to the right about 2" difference.
  • superhatchsuperhatch Moderator
    Well I had to get a new mount because my old one was shot, so that part got replaced, and it's a different position for sure. I think the 3 bolt bracket is probably also different and I need to track one down. Just need to determine if it's the same from 88-91.
  • superhatchsuperhatch Moderator
    So Majestic Honda verified that the bracket I have is for an 89-90-91 trans, not for an 88 trans.

    I didn't take that bracket off the car...it's crushed at this point. FAAAAAAK.
  • bikewhorderbikewhorder New Wagonist
    superhatch wrote: »
    So Majestic Honda verified that the bracket I have is for an 89-90-91 trans, not for an 88 trans.

    I didn't take that bracket off the car...it's crushed at this point. FAAAAAAK.


    Can you get a new one? I would imagine the old one was junk anyway. I was surprised how many of these parts are NLA when looking for parts for my recent manual swap. My donor car was an 88 and I had no idea how different those first model year cars are. You might need to fab something up.
  • superhatchsuperhatch Moderator
    bikewhorder wrote: »
    Can you get a new one? I would imagine the old one was junk anyway. I was surprised how many of these parts are NLA when looking for parts for my recent manual swap. My donor car was an 88 and I had no idea how different those first model year cars are. You might need to fab something up.

    Yeah, I think were gonna weld up the holes and drill new ones. Faster than searching for an 88 probably.
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