OK basically I have an 03 KJ GTVi verada with a 5spd tippy. I want to change it to manual legally. this includes engineers cert. I guess the question im askin is exacly what parts are needed for the conversion and what are the approx costs of each part. At this point all labour will be preformed by myself and a couple of mates.

ur best off finding a manual wreck, using the parts from there and seeing there they all go and put all that into your car.

you'd need the manual gear box, shifter cables, manual brake pedal, clutch pedal, master cylinder, clutch fluid/hydrolics(?) reservoir, hydrolics line, manual engine plate, manual starter motor and the half shaft on the auto magna's are 2mm longer which can lead to damage of your gearbox so using the half shaft from the manual magna's are recommended. Then to get the car running you must short two wires to trick the ecu into thinking it is in Neutral which will allow the car to start. The for the reverse to work you must connect 2 more wires again.

oh... also to be able to use Cruise Control again you must purchase a switch that goes under the clutch pedal which will cut off the cruise when engaged.

i may not be 100% correct but i should be damn close., ahha.. wait til some of the experts arrive. and as for prices.. it varys alot

OFFICIAL Member - AMC /// Manual Conversion - 8hrs and $850

damage of your gearbox so using the half shaft from the manual magna's are recommended. Then to get the car running you must short two wires to trick the ecu into thinking it is in Neutral which will allow the car to start. The for the reverse to work you must connect 2 more wires again.


hmm sounds a little dodgy. How did you $850 conversion from auto 2 manual

hehe.. dodgaY!!!! haha.. well unless you want to pay another few thousand for a new ecu and loom along with locks and keys and all, you gotta do it the "dodgy" way. I did it for 850... how? found someone with ALL the parts for 700 bucks.. then i gave em my auto transmission box and 150 to help me put it in!

hehe.. dodgaY!!!! haha.. well unless you want to pay another few thousand for a new ecu and loom along with locks and keys and all, you gotta do it the "dodgy" way. I did it for 850... how? found someone with ALL the parts for 700 bucks.. then i gave em my auto transmission box and 150 to help me put it in!

1. Y would i need new locks/keys
2. Im happy as long as its gonna be able to handle what i throw at it. i wanna put a decent clutch and flywheel.
3. 700 for all the parts you must be a good negotiator. How much would I get if i sold my 5spd tippy.
4. I dont think your in SA or Id ask if you wanna help me.

13. 700 for all the parts you must be a good negotiator. How much would I get if i sold my 5spd tippy.

he could have sold the auto for ALOT more, but it ended up being a bargain and i dont think he cbf tryin to find a buyer for the auto anyways.... i know i cbf

by my guesstimations..... parts alone will cost you about 900 ish.... i think:D

hows about goin from auto to tippy ?

yeah choonga is pretty much on the ball with the parts list, altho the auto starter motor will fit

tricking the ecu is the only viable way other then buying fresh ecu's...no one has been able to give us an honest 100% answer about whether you can just plug in a second hand ecu and loom...that would make the job twice as big as if you did it the way most people have.

its soooo worth it tho!

hows about goin from auto to tippy ?
The reason auto's are slow is because the gearing, not the shifting. An auto geared the same as a manual will be faster than the manual.

The tippy's are more fun to drive than your boring old auto though, but still a far cry from a manuals performance.

oh really i didn't know that. theres a reason i wanna keep it auto (for the mrs) but i also wanna have some fun with tippy

oh really i didn't know that. theres a reason i wanna keep it auto (for the mrs) but i also wanna have some fun with tippy


yeh i have been looking into changing my auto to tippy aswell, mate if you end up getting your manual box then let me know how much your after for the tippy!!!


also turbo charade, is it even possible to change the autos shifting or gearing to actually make it keep up with a manual!!

The reason auto's are slow is because the gearing, not the shifting. An auto geared the same as a manual will be faster than the manual.
I thought it was also because the auto overlaps gears?

also turbo charade, is it even possible to change the autos shifting or gearing to actually make it keep up with a manual!!

The shifting itself only really contributes to about 1 tenth over the quarter mile, its mainly the ratios and diff gearing which kills the performance. Diff gears alone should really liven up an auto and make it on par. You would need to work out what ratio you need the final drive (diff ratio) to make it use all 4 gears over the quarter mile and be almost peaking 4th at the top of 400m. It would be crap for top speed and probably add about 1L per 100km fuel aswell though, but worth it for the performance.



I thought it was also because the auto overlaps gears?

They engage two bands at once. Band two slips while the the first band powers the wheels until the second band engages more than the 1st band and then the other slips while the the 2nd band engages. It counter acts each other but does not increase drivetrain losses while doing so.

Check out howstuffworks for a very well put together artical on autos.

Well what would it take to actually change the ratios, like what would be involved!!!

also would a shift kit help the times of the auto??
i know shift kits are meant for turbo cars which is what my Te will be once i work out what im gonna do with the gearbox situation!!

Changing the diff ratio would require the gearbox to be removed and the diff housing taken apart. Its not a hard job, but finding replacement ratios will be difficult and probably expencive. Changing gear ratios would be a very expencive thing to do, +$5000.

Because of all the R&D on charades and the fact that they are rallied alot, people have found that all the gear sets from all manual charades and applauses are identical but with different ratios etc.

Someone needs to strip down their manual and get measurements and count teeth while someone does the same with an auto from a few different models to check if they are interchangeable between models and manuals/autos. A new ratio would cost about 800-900 dollars to make up from PAR or any of the gearset manufacturers.

Shift kits do help give the car a bit more urge when changing, but say you were side by side racing two identical cars, the usual shift kit fitted to most cars would make the kitted car jump about 1m ahead per gear change. Thats about 1 car length over 400m which is probably about 0.05 seconds so probably only something you would do if it were cheap and the box was already out.

Idealy you want to upgrade clutch packs, have faster moving servos and pretty hardcore bands. I did this to a mates rb30det torana and it launches harder than any manual and cherps 3rd gear on slicks at 150 clicks! It has a fully manualise valve body and a B&M.

Changing the diff ratio would require the gearbox to be removed and the diff housing taken apart. Its not a hard job, but finding replacement ratios will be difficult and probably expencive. Changing gear ratios would be a very expencive thing to do, +$5000.

Because of all the R&D on charades and the fact that they are rallied alot, people have found that all the gear sets from all manual charades and applauses are identical but with different ratios etc.

Someone needs to strip down their manual and get measurements and count teeth while someone does the same with an auto from a few different models to check if they are interchangeable between models and manuals/autos. A new ratio would cost about 800-900 dollars to make up from PAR or any of the gearset manufacturers.

Shift kits do help give the car a bit more urge when changing, but say you were side by side racing two identical cars, the usual shift kit fitted to most cars would make the kitted car jump about 1m ahead per gear change. Thats about 1 car length over 400m which is probably about 0.05 seconds so probably only something you would do if it were cheap and the box was already out.

Idealy you want to upgrade clutch packs, have faster moving servos and pretty hardcore bands. I did this to a mates rb30det torana and it launches harder than any manual and cherps 3rd gear on slicks at 150 clicks! It has a fully manualise valve body and a B&M.


Thanks for the info T/C that has given me a few more ideas, anyone in vic know of this, or would attempt any of what turbo charade has said??

Thanks for the info T/C that has given me a few more ideas, anyone in vic know of this, or would attempt any of what turbo charade has said??

Seems like an awful lot of work for the potential gain. You might run into too many difficulties with the invecII transmission control system. This was the reason a shift kit was never developed for our magna auto boxes. If you want the gains the manual conversion looks much easier with minimal downtime. But goodluck if you choose the auto road, and buy plenty of headache meds. And keep everyone informed.

Seems like an awful lot of work for the potential gain. You might run into too many difficulties with the invecII transmission control system. This was the reason a shift kit was never developed for our magna auto boxes. If you want the gains the manual conversion looks much easier with minimal downtime. But goodluck if you choose the auto road, and buy plenty of headache meds. And keep everyone informed.


LOL yeh it does sound like a massive headache, but i have been looking for a manual gearbox for a while now with no luck, i sourced out one box but the guy wanted
$1500 for just the gearbox :nuts:

been looking ever since with no luck, which is why im now looking at tampering with the auto or install a stage 2 shift kit!!!

You should try get a broken auto that you can play around with and check out. You will find out how it all works and you might get lucky and be able to purchase some suitable valve bodys from another car or something like that.

I like autos for drag racing, on the weekend my mate ran a 12.3 in his R33 4 door auto which just has a bit of extra boost and a shift kit!

You should try get a broken auto that you can play around with and check out. You will find out how it all works and you might get lucky and be able to purchase some suitable valve bodys from another car or something like that.

I like autos for drag racing, on the weekend my mate ran a 12.3 in his R33 4 door auto which just has a bit of extra boost and a shift kit!


yeh, he must have modified slightly in order to run in the low 12's, is he running twin turbo or a single turbo setup??

yeh a broken auto seems the way to go although i would still need some assistance as i aint no mechanic!!

been looking into shift kits today, seems like the way to go as changing the ratios seems quite difficult, although if i find someone who is keen on giving it a shot i would be all for it!!

Shift kits and what I did to the jatco (RB30 box) is by no means easy! Fitting valve bodys is not a gearbox out job though. Clutch pack and bands requires are complete break down of the gearbox though!

What is the diff ratio of the autos and the manuals. You might get lucky and find they are interchangable.

OK so far we have a list that looks like this: - thanks choonga for listin most of the parts

1. Manual gear box,
2. Shifter cables,
3. Manual brake pedal,
4. Clutch pedal,
5. Master cylinder,
6. Clutch fluid/hydrolics(?) reservoir,
7. Hydrolics line,
8. Manual engine plate,
9. manual starter motor
10. half shaft from manual magna.

is that everything?

is that everything?


11. Somebody to help you do it.
12. those 2 little bits of wire for neutral and reverse.

OK so far we have a list that looks like this: - thanks choonga for listin most of the parts

1. Manual gear box,
2. Shifter cables,
3. Manual brake pedal,
4. Clutch pedal,
5. Master cylinder,
6. Clutch fluid/hydrolics(?) reservoir,
7. Hydrolics line,
8. Manual engine plate,
9. manual starter motor
10. half shaft from manual magna.

is that everything?

dont forget the clutch!!