Best Donor Car for Manual Trans

[Barry]

The year of the trans is actually irrelevant as far as I know... I'm using a trans that was ordered for a 94 (j-body) in my 89. The only thing is that if you want to use the older style (enclosed) intermediate shaft, the bosses may not be drilled and tapped on the newer trans. Mine weren't and I had to drill and tap them.

You can use a newer trans in a older car, but not the other way around. Not many people know that the 92 and 93 5speeds are almost beretta specific. The only other cars that used those mounts got the quad4, maybe a rare few got a v6. The j-bodies didnt get the mount upgrade till 95, but the v6 ended in 94.

I have been looking for a trans for mine for a long time. Its looking like ill need to get older trans and put its guts in my casing.

[Chad91GTZ]

I have old trans guts ill sell ya

[Cliff8928]

My (supposed) J-Body trans has all the mount bosses for the beretta style mounting.

[KFLO 93 GT]

Just to put it out there. I'm using the 87-91 style mounts and trans in my 93 GT. Along with the billet upper mount and billet tranny dogbone it makes for a rock solid mount set up. Plus, for me it was much easier to weld in 1 mount that sits on the frame rail than to cut out and weld in a "frame rail" from a different car.

All of the v6z24 guys running v6s with turbos managed to make it all work using the old mount style, so it is very possible. And that previously mentioned billet mount makes more room - and I know a guy who has one for sale, whom you know as well.

So if your friend's 89 is a good deal... I say buy it and kill it for swap parts. That's what i did with a friend's 90 GT, got it for $500, drove it until it started to die and then it donated its 5 speed trans, upper mount bracket, shifter, clutch pedal, P/N safety switch and wiring, driver subframe arm, and that's about it. Eric Wood has the mount style on his set up and will vouch for its robustness and resistance to engine movement. Infact, in a thread around here somewhere this very discussion is occurring about the 92+ 5 speed mounts being floppy on the trans side. I think it is Weba's thread just a ways down the page.

[3X00-Modified]

I can vouch for this robustness... Robert was at my place last weekend with his GTU conversion 5-speed and he also has that mount. He has also filled two other mounts and has the billet lower dogbone... The engine is so solid it was giving him KR on his shifts... I have since cleaned up some of that but he is also thinking of replacing the two mounts on the passenger side to let the motor move just a bit.

[snowblindburd]

So the lower mounts don't have a nice aftermarket option like the billet one that Scott has on his 94 Z24?

Yeah I've never actually looked closer at the 92-93 set up, just seen the others where it's mounted a bit higher. I would like to eliminate as much engine movement as possible as mine does the twist again, like we did last summer... i mean it moves a lot, even with the nice mounts on the passenger side, and I just know it's the trans mount that's holding me back.

I was basing my previous search on material I have gathered over the past few years, so if you guys say the older style won't be that big of a deal, then I can really broaden my search. Damn, I guess I should have bought Erin's car lol..

[KFLO 93 GT]

MRZ makes a billet lower dogbone for the older style mounts, and white88gt did that short run on upper mounts. Baims will soon have one that he's not using.

With your car being a 95, you've got the good passenger side mounts, and with an older car and the billet options available you can add a similarly styled and strong mount set up on the driver side.

This photo illustrates it well, and there is a decent amount of room all things considered:


Jon - with the Tec1 hooked up on my car, I'm reading 1 degree (or whathaveyou) of knock on high rpm shifts. That didn't seem too bad to me, what're your thoughts?

[3X00-Modified]

1 degree of KR on a high rpm shift isn't bad at all, as long as its 1 degree after the shift, and not before it. With Rob's we were seeing up to 3 degrees right after the shift, and since his KR recovery rate was SO SLOW that 3 degrees would stick for almost half the next gear if not longer. I increased the speed on the recovery rate so that helped a lot, and at least proved that the KR was only from the shift.

What's your O2 mv levels?

[KFLO 93 GT]

I don't recall the 02 levels, plus I'm on a semi old Bosch single wire o2...

The 1 degree of knock was right after clutch engagement, and it went away quick. Definitely no power loss into the next gear, though my old Z24 used to do that big time. It would catch knock right at the high rpm shift, then the recovery took a hell of a long time into the next gear. I understand why they would have such slow recovery, but it sure is a pain in the ass.

[mickaz]

so what are the options for a 96 car? can it use the f23 from a cavalier? what do the tranny mounts look likes on a f23?

[snowblindburd]

Yeah, that is definitely the mount I was thinking about. I didn't realize that I couldn't use it on the newer set up. Damn really should have bought Erin's car lol, could have had it for 2-300 bucks. LOL oh well.

Thanks for the advice guys. I think I'll keep my eyes out early next Spring, I should be able to save a bit up by then, and possibly around Spring Break I could get some time to go get it.

[scd88ga]

Mark, everything you want can easily be had for $200-$300 even if you don't find a whole car to buy.

[snowblindburd]

Lol, yes but I want parts off the car or to swap things to it. Haven't decided yet.

[scd88ga]

The only thing usable from Erin's car was a high mile engine and trans. If you want to find a straight, clean, rust free 5 speed car to swap things too, it's going to cost you at least $800 unless you can find something with a junk motor.

[KFLO 93 GT]

He's not swapping the trans into his Z26? That would make more sense to me...

High mileage Getrag trannies will take the abuse from most anything in our community.