Convert Auto to Manual Transmission

any ideas on cost and work involved in converting a ’96 del sol auto
transmission to a manual?

 

Sell the car
Buy a car

 

It has to be a very special car to be worth it. Go to
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com and check the prices for:

- Pedal assembly
- Clutch master cylinder and associated plumbing
- Clutch slave cylinder
- Transmission shift linkage
- Transmission
- Various smaller items that I have forgotten

It certainly is doable for a somewhat advanced shade-tree mechanic using
parts from the junk yard. If you have to pay for new parts and pay labor
to have it done it will be way too expensive.

 

It has to be a very special car to be worth it. Go to
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com and check the prices for:

- Pedal assembly
- Clutch master cylinder and associated plumbing
- Clutch slave cylinder
- Transmission shift linkage
- Transmission
- Various smaller items that I have forgotten

It certainly is doable for a somewhat advanced shade-tree mechanic using
parts from the junk yard. If you have to pay for new parts and pay labor
to have it done it will be way too expensive.[/QUOTE]

I agree. It's really expensive to convert from Auto to Manual or from
Manual to Auto. In most cases--esp. with older cars--it's cheaper to trade
it in on a car that already has a manual transmission.

 

I did this a while back with a '78 Accord. I bought a parts car for $500
and stripped it of the parts I needed. I was fortunate that I ran into only
one problem that was easily handled. The parts car had manual steering
while my car had power steering. This meant that the steering columns were
different and I do some cutting and welding to my pedal cluster to get a
clutch pedal bracket onto it as the parts car's pedal cluster wouldn't
work. Everything else bolted up. In general, this was a lot of work and
took several days but it was worth it in the end since the '78 Accord had
the two speed Hondamatic which required shifting and the low gear had gone
out. The age of the car probably helped to make the work go smoothly since
this was when the phrase "Honda makes it simple" was still true. With a
newer car such as a '96 Del Sol there could be any number of small
differences that would make this conversion much more difficult (even if you
did have a parts car available). If you're seriously interested in this
project, then get a parts catalog for the two cars and start comparing which
parts are different and which are not. Also check your car to make sure
that it has the necessary mounting bolt holes available for any parts which
are on the manual which are not on the automatic. In the end, unless you
have a well equipped shop available to do the work in, you may find it
considerably easier to buy a new car and then sell your old one.

Eric

 

Eric,
You are 100 per cent correct. If someone in your town payed you to convert
his old Honda from Auto to Manual--how much would you charge him?--just
for your labor?
Jason