REVscene - Vancouver Automotive Forum

PuYang · 10-08-2010, 10:58 PM

Hello, Im new here, so im not 100% where its best to post this question. Honda/Acura section? or Vancouver section? so i apologize in advance if this is the wrong place! ;p

Anyway...

I have a 1999 Honda Prelude, Auto SS (Sport shift) trans. And im hoping to find trusty mechanic(s) who can do a 5Speed swap for my car in the Vancouver region.

for something as complicated as this, I am hoping for a mechanic who has done many manual trans swaps for hondas/acuras, and hopefully 5 Speed swap SPECIFICALLY for 5th Gen Preludes (97-01), because from my research, some parts are very tricky for this car.

I have talked to a place called Drive Hard in Richmond. and they tried talking me out of it (understandably), however, from their tone, it sounds as if they wouldnt be able to do it even if i had paid them.

Thanks for your time!

Bender Unit · 10-08-2010, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PuYang

I have talked to a place called Drive Hard in Richmond. and they tried talking me out of it (understandably), however, from their tone, it sounds as if they wouldnt be able to do it even if i had paid them.

DH tried to talk you out of this idea because it is not worth the trouble and money.

Once upon a time, I was in plan to a tran. swap for my Acura TSX as well (AT->MT).
My friend talked me out of it since it won't be my last car.

He was right and now I ditched the TSX and own 2 MT cars.

my 2cents

saveth · 10-08-2010, 11:16 PM

garage5

satek · 10-08-2010, 11:46 PM

Sell your current autotragic prelude and buy a 5 speed one.

PuYang · 10-09-2010, 12:19 AM

hi, thanks for the replies.

i understand its not "efficient" to do a 5 speed swap. however, i am currently working 7 days a week... which means shopping for another prelude would be rather difficult. (also, incase it wasnt obvious, i still want a prelude ;p)

money... obviously is an issue, but... to me, time = money. the time i spend looking for another decent, clean, well taken care of, prelude may end up taking longer than the time i make the money to do a swap.

HOWEVER, i WILL be shopping around on the internet for any potential decent manual preludes to buy.

I will check out Garage5 too.

Thanks again guys! if anyone else has any other shops too, please feel free to post. the more places i can quote for prices the better ;D

cityvanluder · 10-09-2010, 02:17 AM

Do it yourself...not very hard. LOTS of guides and manuals, and these sites will help www.preludepower.com www.preludeonline.com in the end you will get to know your car alot better and save a ton of money.

RabidRat · 10-09-2010, 03:08 AM

A friend of mine went with Garage 5 for his Prelude AT/MT swap; seemed like they did a pretty good job and I think their pricing was reasonable.

That said, if you can possibly spare the time, selling and buying an MT is honestly a lot more cost effective. The few thousand dollars you would save has to be more than you make in the couple days' worth of time you'd have to dedicate to showing your old car to sell, and checking out a new one.

I think it only really made sense for my friend because he felt that his car was pretty mint and that he'd probably never find another like it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cityvanluder

Do it yourself...not very hard. LOTS of guides and manuals, and these sites will help www.preludepower.com www.preludeonline.com in the end you will get to know your car alot better and save a ton of money.

You're kidding me right? If he doesn't even have time to sell his car then how would he possibly have time to do a tranny swap?

Ontop of that, he might not have a garage, he likely doesn't have tools, and he likely has little experience working on his car. It'll take him 1-2 weeks to do it if he has none of these. And he'll likely fuck something up in the process and wind up taking even longer and incurring even more expense if he doesn't have a mechanic buddy he can consult.

!SG · 10-09-2010, 07:52 AM

basic conversion would require:

- 5speed tranny
- 1 new axle (forgot if its driver side or passenger side)
- ecu (dont remember if they can manipulate the automatic one to work)
- clutch pedal assembly
- clutch master, clutch slave, line that runs between them
- clutch, flywheel, pressure plate (usually comes with clutch as a "clutch kit")
- manual shifter assembly w/ shift linkage cables
- plugging the mini auto tranny cooler part on the auto radiator

they would have to disable the P lock, which shouldnt be too hard.

additional parts if u want to look oem or upgrade while ur at it.
- new gauge cluster, otherwise ull have the PRND in the cluster, most ppl dont care.
- better clutch kit
- optional oem lsd tranny, or even an aftermarket lsd.

Nicotine · 10-09-2010, 09:49 AM

just sell ur lude and get another one.

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/rd...994560367.html

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/bn...994322526.html

Mz3X · 10-09-2010, 09:50 AM

Just sent you a PM.

underscore · 10-09-2010, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by !SG

basic conversion would require:

- 5speed tranny
- 1 new axle (forgot if its driver side or passenger side)
- ecu (dont remember if they can manipulate the automatic one to work)
- clutch pedal assembly
- clutch master, clutch slave, line that runs between them
- clutch, flywheel, pressure plate (usually comes with clutch as a "clutch kit")
- manual shifter assembly w/ shift linkage cables
- plugging the mini auto tranny cooler part on the auto radiator

they would have to disable the P lock, which shouldnt be too hard.

additional parts if u want to look oem or upgrade while ur at it.
- new gauge cluster, otherwise ull have the PRND in the cluster, most ppl dont care.
- better clutch kit
- optional oem lsd tranny, or even an aftermarket lsd.

don't forget interior trim bits around the shifter.

cityvanluder · 10-09-2010, 12:06 PM

Selling his autotragic would take a longggg time, anyone whos knows anything about auto ludes will stay away lol

PuYang · 10-09-2010, 12:18 PM

hi guys, thanks for the replies!

yes, im aware some people do the swap themselves. but rabidrat is correct. i dont have a garage or the necassary tools. and of course time is limited. i am very ok with just paying someone lol...

@Mz3X: thanks for the PM, i emailed you.

currently awaiting garage5 to reply my email.

i have found lists of everything required for the full swap, so thats fine.

selling my prelude would also take a long time, i agree. swap is probably the best way to go right now for me. not to mention how picky i am about color. (i only want black/white), mine is currently black.

selling and buying another prelude kinda sounds like a hassle due to going through insurance etc again. not to mention i JUST bought my prelude in JUNE. (i was rushed to buy it for job hunting). however, i wont rule out rebuying, i WILL still shop around just incase. and maybe sell my car to a dealer? (and take a larger loss, but save time?)

thank you again everyone, for your comments/suggestions!

hopalong · 10-09-2010, 06:41 PM

call kevin at evolution auto performance in maple ridge. they did my auto/manual swap and they did a great job.

PuYang · 10-09-2010, 10:11 PM

^hi, thanks for the referral!

this may be a dumb question, but is your car a 97-01 prelude?
just want to be sure, as i prefer mechanics who have done the swap for specifically 5th gen preludes.

thanks!

DiiCii · 10-09-2010, 11:02 PM

hm, how long do you work a day? perhaps if you've found another prelude that satisfies you, maybe you can find time before or after work to take a look/insure? or even try to ask them to come to your workplace so you can take a look at it on your break or something

i understand you want to save time and money, but the swap will burn both! wouldn't it be better to take 1-2hours out of your day to get that prelude? cause an auto>5spd conversion takes much longer than 2 hours

. instead of blowing a few grand just for the conversion, you can spend a few hours to get the prelude you wanted. you'll also get some money back once you sell the prelude that you currently own

good luck though!

PuYang · 10-10-2010, 12:27 AM

^thanks for the feedback ;D

i work 9 hours (8 with a 1 hour lunch) on weekdays. i get off work at 6pm, get home at 6:30s, plus fall is here, and it gets dark pretty quick now

~6 hours on saturday (1 student, then drive to the next student). and 4 hours on sunday (2 hours +~2 hour driving to and from).

sundays may be the only time i get to shop... however, sundays are kinda... family time. plus its sunday... no one does anything productive on sundays xD im getting lazier and lazier, not to mention super tired from all the work, to want to go out and shop for cars on the weekends ;[

i was hoping to maybe ditch my car at a mechanic for the swap, and pick it up whenever they finish. if they take more than a weak, i may take transit to where i need to.

i am still weighing my options. i have emailed garage5, and evolution auto, currently awaiting their reply. still looking at local ads etc for any decent ones. (however, from experience i shopped alot before i bought my current prelude, and most advertisements are BS, "good condition" is actually "not very good, but not horrible" ;s

tofu1413 · 10-10-2010, 01:41 AM

still not worth it for swap.

just get a buddy to shop for you..?

illicitstylz · 10-10-2010, 07:23 AM

it sounds like you already know that selling the auto and buying a manual is a better route to go. you're just trying to find reasons to justify not doing so. something this major on a car is not something i'd " settle " for (in regards to the swap)

Tillerz · 10-10-2010, 01:13 PM

a guide to the parts you will need:

http://www.preludepower.com/forums/s...d.php?t=302157

PuYang · 10-10-2010, 04:25 PM

^hi, thanks. i'll definitely keep that in mind, if i proceed with the swap.

so... i know this sounds "bull" and too "scripted", but JUST today, when washing my car, the tranny started showing its first signs of dying. when i went from D to R, it CLUNKED really hard. from my research, thats one of the signs.

what are the odds of it happening RIGHT when i decide to change it? ;( its like my prelude is psychic and is punishing me...

on that note, i think selling my car is gonna be harder than i thought... if i sell to a dealer, i gotta pray they wont notice it (lol... yeah right). and i would feel to guilty to sell it to non dealers, because its like purposely selling a broken car ;s

now i gotta pay to repair this, and sell/buy new one. or swap...

ASKJDHASKJHDAKSLHDAKSHDAKLSJDHSLAK no one has replied my email regarding the swap yet ;(

dark0821 · 10-10-2010, 05:46 PM

its the long weekend.. be patient man =.=

PuYang · 10-10-2010, 06:17 PM

^yeah i know. *awaiting patiently!*

it just... kinda hit me really fast. didnt think it would start dying on me so soon. to be honest, it was running perfectly for a few months, and i was only "planning ahead" for when the day comes that i need to switch to manual. this is my first car too... so it hurts twice as much. worked my ass off to pay for the car too ;s

i bought it from a honda dealership. so im gonna contact them on tuesday (when long weekend is over), and HOPE *HOPE! they will consider that a "warranty" situation. even though second hand cars are often "as is", a dealership hopefully will maintain some kind of decent customer service ;(

Expresso · 10-10-2010, 06:35 PM

Any warranty should have been disclosed when you bought the car. Other than that it is sold as is. They aren't the salvation army lol.
If you plan to keep this car for awhile, just do the swap.

Tillerz · 10-10-2010, 07:10 PM

if you use it as a daily driver, be carefull as sometimes the transmission will "lose gears"

this is what happened to my 97 auto lude before i converted to manual.
I was driving and all of a sudden i noticed my transmission lost 2nd gear. so it would go from 1st to 3rd then 4th. and then later down the road, about a week later, i lost reverse! it was so hard planning my day without having to use my reverse gear. sometimes the gear would come back and be used by the transmission, but would end up going out again.

by the time i had it swapped, i only had 1st gear left. i could only go from 0-60 km/h in a forward direction, it was horrible, and 60km/h was revving at like 7k rpm.

if you depend on it a lot, get it done before it becomes a pain in the butt.