hey guys, i got a 2000 celica GTS, i bought it with a 4 speed auto but have since been able to take it to just a car for fun at race trakcs etc, i’d really like to convert it to a manual and logic tells me that its the same chassis as would hold the stock 6 speed manual most GTS come with, am i being stupd here or is it possible with out a crazy amount of work?
Yea the chassis should be able to handle it, but there are going to be too many other changed needed to make it worth trying. It would be far easier and cheaper to sell what you have and buy what you want.
True, it can be done but at great expense. You have to replace too many other components to make it work.
Probably you’re going to start looking at the price list and labor involved and find it just as easy to sell your current car and buy one with the manual transmission. The actual cost is pretty hard to nail down unless you’re familiar with that specific car, because this is something where on some cars it really is a piece of cake, and on some cars it’s almost a matter of replacing the entire front-end.
If you’re expecting a shop to do it, don’t hold your breath. And if you actually can find a shop that will do it, you might want to be sitting down when you hear their labor price.
Best thing to do would be to search around the web a little and find a Celica-specific forum. Those cars have a large following with a lot of performance enthusiasts, shouldn’t be too hard to find some knowledgeable folks.
Manual trany swaps on most rear wheel drive vehicles are pretty easy, but I don’t know about FWD.
I do know that the only way it?s cost effective is if you do all the work yourself and buy a complete donor vehicle that has been totaled, but with a good trany. This way you get all the extras like the pedal assembly, master cylinder, and miscellaneous brackets and other little hardware stuff, which is usually the biggest headache. You?ll probably have to swap the ECU from the donor as well…so make sure it’s the same engine. If you’re only using the car for fun anyway I think it’s worth researching further; as it may turn into a fun project.