This may sound like a crazy idea to some, but given the scarcity of good used transmissions for the Magna why cant a transmission from another make/model be adapted to suit?

I was having a beer on the beach and the idea came to me.
If theres another more recent/common transmission out there that has similar characteristics then couldnt someone engineer an adapter, brackets and the ECU programming or whatever to fit it to a third gen?

By far the best option would be to purchase a quality fully rebuilt standard transmission.

Depending on who does the job, you are reasonably certain to get a satisfactory result.

Ballpark $3k-$4k icluding fitting as a rough guess.

Otherwise, you will be paying development/fabrication/tuning costs, without any guarantee of the final result - or the ultimate cost.

The closest, I believe, is that Mitsfix has attempted to adapt a 380 transmission - which is a "bolt in" swap as far as bellhousing/shifter etc, but which needs further tuning work to get it to operate correctly in a 3rd gen.

Ask him directly if he has made further progress, but AFAIK, it has not reached finality.

if im on the right track here,

im running a 5 Speed out of a KL with a 6G75,

you can mix and match but it is a lot of work but the boys @ mitsfix will be able to help you out.

thanks matt.

By far the best option would be to purchase a quality fully rebuilt standard transmission.

Otherwise, you will be paying development/tuning costs, without any guarantee of the final result.

The closest, I believe, is that Mitsfix has attempted to adapt a 380 transmission - which is a "bolt in" swap as far as bellhousing/shifter etc, but which needs further tuning work to get it to operate correctly.

Ask him directly if he has made further progress, but AFAIK, it has not reached finality.
I dk what the availability of 380 trans is, but i assume its also poor and no new ones?
I was thinking that a current trans in mass production could be selected and adapted.
If a business did that and developed a solution for installation then that would be a popular product they could offer, especially as theres a lot of these cars still on the road.

Of course we can always rebuild the trans but i assume at some point the housings supply will drop or the kits will stop being supplied. Haha if my KL is going to do 2 or 3 hundred thousand k's then i will be driving it for another 10 years and theres only two parts i worry about; transmission and drive shafts. It would be nice to know that theres a solution to fit a new tranny if necessary, lol.

if im on the right track here,

im running a 5 Speed out of a KL with a 6G75,

you can mix and match but it is a lot of work but the boys @ mitsfix will be able to help you out.

thanks matt.
Different topic, but does the 6G75 do well in the KL and how was th improvement in power?

Different topic, but does the 6G75 do well in the KL and how was th improvement in power?

Cool No Worries,

Yeah it's Fantastic man you get so much more power with the 5 Speed and 6G75,
Great combo in my opinion it's worth doing.
in your case all you need is a 6G75 ;).

Cheers Matt

Rebuilding an auto is not difficult....you can keep doing it forever.

But what about the parts? How much longer will they supply them?

Cool No Worries,

Yeah it's Fantastic man you get so much more power with the 5 Speed and 6G75,
Great combo in my opinion it's worth doing.
in your case all you need is a 6G75 ;).

Cheers Matt
Thats what i've heard and I'd do it tomorrow ...except... my motor only has 90K's on it now. If i can find a 6G75 with similar genuine k's thats been well cared for I'd do it.

Rebuilding an auto is not difficult....you can keep doing it forever.


My auto transmission guy mentioned when I took mine in after it's issues and he told me not too stress it can be repaired "stop listening to what people say".

My auto transmission guy mentioned when I took mine in after it's issues and he told me not too stress it can be repaired "stop listening to what people say".
What were u stressing about? The repair?
I'm just wondering how long the parts will be available to rebuild them.

Why not buy a 6G75 and build it to your own spec, in effect a new engine. It should last you for the next 10 years.

nobody makes an adaptor for the magna's because they arent worth anything.
Simple as that. And thats not having a go at anyone or anything.
Look at the redbook value of an average magna to get a ballpark figure, now realise that the adaptor, machinework/casting, development costs are about triple of that redbook value.
There is no viable business case to make it worth while, especially when a stock transmission can be rebuilt for $2-3k with new parts.
A modern transmission out of something else would be $4-5k just for the box, with potentially the same availabilty issues in 15 years time that there is with the magnas.
They are a very well built car that has lasted the test of time superbly, but they are a disposable car.

What were u stressing about? The repair?
I'm just wondering how long the parts will be available to rebuild them.

It's flaring into 3rd and jumped into limpmode twice so far.

A modern transmission out of something else would be $4-5k just for the box,
Well what do you base that on? I'd expected that a current tranny for a car this size would be much cheaper than that, but if I'm wrong then I agree that it would be infeasible from a business case perspective.

We need a solution with a reliable, but cost effective box, and an adapter, (some sort of coupling), mounting kit and ECU/TCU adjustments, (which would not be trivial but only needs to be engineered once).
If it cost around $3000 including installation that would be competitive with the rebuild option while also delivering a new tranny.

Of course the idea to adapt another transmission to a Magna is probably moot; because I also expect theres some safety legislation somewhere that prevents modification of a car that far from its original spec. anyway lol

As for the rebuild business case; if the rebuild option with new components is not going away for at least the next 5 or 6 years then that would see my KL out. I average 15-20k per annum and currently sitting about 92k's, so this option will be fine so long as its available IF the need arises. I have no idea what the parts supply is like but I presume that its dwindling like all the other parts.

Well what do you base that on?

Experience turning spanners for a living.

a new transmission for a reasonably new commodore/falcon (under 5 year old) is around $4-5k And they are very common = lower average price.
Obviously youd want a fwd box, so your looking at japanese or euro vehicles as donors, for the sake of reliabilty. no point spending big to put in a junk box.
Just for a laugh, call up your local VW dealer and price up a new transmission for a VW Golf thats a couple of years old. Dont be shocked when they tell you its almost $10k
To feasibly match something up from something else you need to have engines of a similar torque capacity, correct orientation, ability to run the TCU as a standalone (no CANBUS interface, good luck there)
Then your getting into custom driveshafts which are stupidly expensive ($2k for a set to be built, seriously) not even starting on adapting the torque converter (Either the magna converter into the foriegn box, or the foriegn converter onto the magna flex plate) and the whole package needs to fit onto the back side of the engine without fouling on the chassis rails.
Dont forget, unless your capable of doing all this yourself, you will be paying $120p/h for mechanic labour costs and easily close to $200p/h for engineering/machining labour costs.
Taking a guess, you'd be looking at 50-60 hours in building all the required adaptors, mounts, fidly bits ect. at least 10 hours in mechanical installation, and maybe another 10-20 hours in wiring and diagnosing all the electrical side of things.
Then there is the engineering costs after its all completed, reasonably between $1-2k for the engineer to inspect and sign off on it all, providing he doesnt want things changed.
For the time, effort and cost involved you would be better off buying 'parts cars' if you wanted to keep the magna, or just outright buy a brand new cheap car. They can be found from several manufacturers for under $20k on road. Cheaper again if your happy to buy ex demo or ex fleet cars.
It would be more productive to take that cash and throw it off a bridge in handfulls.

It would be more productive to take that cash and throw it off a bridge in handfulls.

Agreed. We're talking a 10+ year old Magna here for Pete's sake, not a new or particularly valuable car by any stretch.
If you want the most peace of mind get your gearbox rebuilt properly, using revised components (wave spring, etc); or a reconditioned one built with the same.
If you want the reliability of a newer car, get one. The chances of a company outlaying a substantial amount of cash in research, development and engineering for a solution to satisfy a small sample of people who own a largely disposable model, is buckleys.



I'd expected that a current tranny for a car this size would be much cheaper than that, but if I'm wrong then I agree that it would be infeasible from a business case perspective.

We need a solution with a reliable, but cost effective box, and an adapter, (some sort of coupling), mounting kit and ECU/TCU adjustments, (which would not be trivial but only needs to be engineered once).
If it cost around $3000 including installation that would be competitive with the rebuild option while also delivering a new tranny.

I think you are grossly underestimating the cost of modern transmissions and custom engineering costs. For example, a reconditioned Aurion transmission will fetch about $4000, less fitting (an obscure example, but a common gearbox and one of the few prices I had on-hand) . Even a reco TF-TJ Magna box will fetch $2000+ outright, less fitting. These are reco boxes, remember, and for the sake of argument, the price of a brand new Mitsubishi 380 auto transmission is over $5100 alone.
Then you have engineering costs that need to be considered (mounts, adaptors, electrics, etc - even if they are one off development costs, they still need to be passed on/absorbed into the price), new - assumedly custom - shafts (again not cheap), plus the fabrication of the many other parts to make something thats not designed to fit, fit. Then, you have the costs to keep these fabricated parts on the shelf, let alone in production - keeping in mind that almost certainly these parts will need to be manufactured in large batches at a time, rather than manufactured on a demand basis)
$3000 in parts alone will not be enough by a long chalk.




As for the rebuild business case; if the rebuild option with new components is not going away for at least the next 5 or 6 years then that would see my KL out. I average 15-20k per annum and currently sitting about 92k's, so this option will be fine so long as its available IF the need arises. I have no idea what the parts supply is like but I presume that its dwindling like all the other parts.

If its keeping you up at night, why don't you just buy a rebuild kit now while they're still available and store it.
Mitsubishi is not alone in obsolescence practices, every manufacturer does it.

Ah, ok, I got the picture now. I had no clue how expensive a transmission is. Lol
Wow, I am not going to worry about tranny rebuild costs again ever! Actually seems cheap now.


If its keeping you up at night, why don't you just buy a rebuild kit now while they're still available and store it.
Mitsubishi is not alone in obsolescence practices, every manufacturer does it..
Actually that is a good idea!

As for a new car, even with the money i've spent on the car to date (wave spring replacement, exhaust, HM head, leather, sat-nav, suspension) its still cost me far less than a new AWD would have.

It's flaring into 3rd and jumped into limpmode twice so far.


probably just needs a set of clutch plates and steels.

fairly basic work for an auto transmission...you can even google it on youtube.

how does a 380 motor+ 380 5 speed auto transmission go in a magna?

how does a 380 motor+ 380 5 speed auto transmission go in a magna?

Read the second post... :neutral: Premise would be similar whether it had a 74 or 75 bolted to it.

ok, thanks