Corvette503

Ok guys,
Looking for some input on swapping my automatic for a manual trans.
Not interested in selling my car, so looking for an 89 with a manual is not an option. My car is a completely stock convertible.
It appears that Keisler stops offering kits after the 1988 model year.
I am thinking Tremec or a ZF swap.
So, here are some questions.

What trans would you go with?

What else would I need to do to the car to make a manual work?

How much$$ would the trans and labor cost?

I appreciate your feedback!

rodj

If doing a ZF6 best to find a donor car that has all the swap parts you need rather than trying to source them piecemeal

http://members.cisdi.com/~anesthes/zf6/

blue94

You are probably looking at $1800 to 2k for a used "kit" or parts from a yard and if having a shop do it you are looking at least that much again. I would say you will approach 3k in labor if you want the trans tunnel replaced with a manual tunnel and not just "patched up". You may get lucky and get someone to do the labor for $1500 but I doubt it.

In addition, if you are still running the stock rear D36 you may want that upraded to a D44 with a minimum 3.45 ratio and another $900 to 1200 in parts (pumpkin and batwing).

Bob1985z51

In my experience it's not worth it if you have to pay for the labor since parts for my swap was over $2,500 plus the $1,500 for the tranny.
Another thing to remember is if you take it to a shop they might not know what they're doing and mess up a perfectly good car. I doubt many people walk in and want a tranny swap in a c4.
Just my .02

Cliff Harris

One of the guys in my Corvette club swapped his '89 700r4 for a ZF6 (his 700r4 is in my car right now).

I'll ask him how he did it -- whether kit or part by part.

Corvette503

Thanks for the info guys.
If there is any doubt that the mechanic is not capable, there is no way I would have it done. If I am going to do it, It has to be done right for sure, therefore, I will have to do some research as to who can do the swap correctly.
Cliff, any additional information that you can gather from your friend would be much appreciated.

856SPEED

there are countless threads on this outlining the procedure/parts involved.....do a search on that subject and see what you might find.....seems this topic always pops up every so often

Cliff Harris

I'm pretty sure he did it part by part. He's an engineer (owns his own consulting company) and he told me he did a LOT of research for this project. Being an engineer myself, I can relate to that. Engineering involves a lot of time searching for solutions and then picking the best one. He has a lift at his company, so that made things a lot easier.

He did have a problem with the clutch he used initially. He was autocrossing the car and the clutch overheated and stuck to the flywheel. I know he has a dual-disk clutch in there now (heavily modified 383 engine).

anesthes

I got mine piece by piece. The swap is easy. A caveman can do it.

You won't use 6th gear with the stock 2.59:1 rear end ratio.

http://members.cisdi.com/~anesthes/projects/stick-swap/


-- Joe