Manual to auto. Seriously.

[Binford]

Ok. So this SS I've got sittin' in my back yard needs a tranny. The 5mt that was in it is dis-assembled in the garage, with second gear stripped(imagine that!). The flywheel and clutch were lost before I got it, and I don't have much money to invest in this right now. It's officially winter here now, and I NEED this on the road asap! My question: how feesible would it be to slap an auto in this, just to get it on the road for the winter? I was told there is one in my local jy that I have a connection at, so I'm sure I could get it CHEAP! I don't know if it's awd or anything, but I figure even if it's fwd I'd throw it in(yeah, fwd turbo for the snow, I know) if I can make it work. I guess the main issue is the tcu. Is there an easy way around this? It's not perminent or anything, just for the winter. I'm aware of the different gearing(3.9 vs 4.11) and that won't be a problem as long as I match front and rear, and also aware of the different driveshaft lengths. I did search and didn't find anything about swappin' from 5mt to auto, so I'd like to know if I'm missing something. It should be alot easier than auto to 5mt like everyone else seems to be doing!

[vrg3]

There's no way around the TCU. You'd have to wire it in.

The TCU wiring is much simpler for our cars than for much newer cars, but it's still very complex. You'd be one of the first to attempt it.

I don't think it would easier than auto-to-manual. The wiring would be a very big deal that could easily exceed the effort of installing a new pedal.

Have you already considered swapping another 5MT in? Or getting a new set of gears to plop into the 5MT you already have?

If you could get your hands on a hydraulic-clutch 5MT from a newer car, you wouldn't even have to convert to a cable clutch if you got the slave cylinder to go with it.

Orrr... just put that 5-speed together, get a used stock WRX clutch and flywheel cheap off NASIOC, and drive this winter without 2nd gear.

If you do decide to wire in a TCU, I'll try to get you as much wiring information as I can.

[Legacy777]

I'll concur....going from MT to AT is a lot more work. The extra wiring involved is much more tedious and intricate.

[91White-T]

4EAT will work with no TCU, I know that for sure. It doesn't like it and its permanent 50/50 split but it will work.

[Legacy777]

how can it work without a TCU?

[Binford]

91White-T

It will work - for how long? Is this extremely hard on the tranny? Could I expect it to last through winter? Anyone elses opinion on this?

As long as I snag the harness for the tcu, and the plugs for the tranny, seems pretty simple to wire up a new harness in between 'em. I'm guessing the wire colors wouldn't match? Is that the hard part? I guess I should go take a look at the jy and see if the tranny is even "good" before I trouble you guys with these questions, but I'll throw 'em out anyway!

My original plan for going this route is so I could save up for some RA gears. I don't plan to build my engine too much so I don't think I'd have any worries with these gears. I just don't want to buy some stock gears, put 'em in, buy RA gears, and swap. Probably not much more work than where I'm going with the auto swap thing, though, but I'm curious about having an auto with the turbo. I have no set plans as of yet, except to do some more checking out what all my options are, and make a decision.

Thanks for your help, guys!

[91White-T]

I don't know how long it will work, and I assume its not good for it, but it does work, I remember I drove my old SS around the block with the TCU sitting in the pass. seat.

[vrg3]

Didn't your old SS suffer massive transmission failure at the end?

[QuickDrive]

I've got a TCU for an 92 turbo sitting around if you ever decide to do it.

[Binford]

Just want to let you guys know I deciced against the auto swap. I'm looking into either replacement gears ($500-$850 depending how much I replace) or maybe WRX "downgrade".