Auto to manual tranny swap, worth it?

C3 Forum Rookie Joined: 25 Aug 2009 Posts: 29

Hey guys, I have been toying with the idea of swapping out my Camaro's auto tranny for a manual one. As it is now, my transmission is a 4 speed 4l60E. I would have it swapped for a Borg Warner T5 5 speed transmission. I can get the transmission used/rebuilt for under $500, but my research is failing me as to what are all the other parts I would need, such as a clutch pedal assembly, flywheel, etc. I would have to find a shop that would be willing to do it, as I don't have the tools or most importantly the know-how. If you have any shops in mind, let me know. I expect to pay at least $2, probably closer to $3k for the swap. I ain't keen on selling it yet to buy another one with a Manual already equipped, I already have money in this one, and the car runs strong, only 65k miles.

Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 3:31 am

Personal opinion...if you can't do the work yourself, don't bother. You will end up eating the 2-3K in the end. You can just about have yourself a complete LT1 6speed early 4th gen nowadays for that money. My uncle just bought a 96 Z28 conv. in real nice shape for $3200. I really can't see dropping that coin in a V6 car. Just drive it for now and make your next one a stick bomb.

ps...FWIW, you will need flywheel, bellhousing, hydraulic clutch assembly, pedal assembly, a center console, cut a hole in the floor tunnel to clear the shifter, you will have to buy a shifter as well (stockers are garbage!), perhaps a new driveshaft (not sure if T5 is the same length as the 4L60), and various other hardware. You will also need to eliminate the auto tranny cooler setup (at least plug the lines off). I'd be lying if I said it was a quick and dirty deal. I did it on my 87 back in high school and it wasn't too bad, but everything is tight on these 4th gens...they're a bitch to work on.

C3 Forum Rookie Joined: 25 Aug 2009 Posts: 29

I hear ya, thanks for the reply. Second plan of action was tossing in a TransGo shift kit. Believe me, if I could, I would have a LSI Z28. I have found a few local ones for around $8k that would be within my price range, but the kicker is I am still on my parent's insurance, and it is a bitch, even with the sixer Camaro.

Do you have any experience with TransGo shift kits? In particular their reprogramming kits.

.:Ryan · Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 11:40 am

One of my friends put a shift kit on his grand prix sse (sc'ed) and it really transformed the car! I would def. recommend it as a cheaper alternative. the shifts are much more confident and not lazy like typical gm transmissions. It also seemed more responsive to hard launches.

C3 Forum Rookie Joined: 25 Aug 2009 Posts: 29

By shift kit, are you talking about the one that acts like a manual valve body? I was looking around on Google, and Transgo has two kits for my 4L60E tranny. One that supposedly replaces the automatic function of the transmission and instead gives the driver control of all 4 gears via the shift selector. It would basically replace my D and OverDrive and gears 3 and 4, I assume. The other kit that I found info on was a shift kit that reduced the time between gears. I was moreso looking at the manual valve body type kit, they call it their reprogramming kit. Thanks for the help Ryan.

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 1:07 am

This all depends on what you're looking to get accomplished. Do you want the tranny to shift harder and faster? At a higher RPM? Do you just want the ability to shift it yourself?

C3 Forum Rookie Joined: 25 Aug 2009 Posts: 29

I was looking more into their reprogramming kit; the one that would give me control and remove the automatic function.

Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 9:43 pm

My personal opinion is that I should never have to modify a car to make it the way it should have come from the factory. So a auto/manual conversion seems out of the question for me. On a side note, if you have any questions about doing that stuff in a camaro, lmk, I've done pretty much everything in the world to a stupid fbody. I'm so glad I'm out of that now.