ok heres the deal, i have a 2007 chevy cobalt LT with an automatic trans........someone i know may be purchasing a 2008 cobalt LS with a manual trans..........she wants an automatic and i want a manual, so my question is the tranny swap doable

i understand tuning would need to be involved and it would be a lot of wrench time, but is this doable and has anyone ever done this

any feedback would be appreciated

Thanks

 

why not just trade cars with her it would be way cheaper in the long run

 

well i have a lot of wrench time into my LT, from custom interior, black lip kit, custom sound system, vertical doors, and mines white

the other one shes looking at is black and bone stock

i figured since its an even swap, the only real cost would be a tune and some minor supporting times since i would be doing the work myself

 

Yes it can be done. I can tell you that will all the tools, all the skills,and working on these cars everyday, and having two lifts, it would take me AT LEAST 12 hours. Thats just the mechanical side, this doesnt include any of the electrical swaps or potential wiring that may need to be done. And thats 12 solid hours of work, not hanging out in the garage and bullshitting all day.

Youd be very lucky if you got a shop willing to do this swap for anything less than 25hrs labor. Id be willing to bet it would take you the best part of 35-40hrs in your driveway.

If none of that really makes an impression on you let me put it another way, the average clutch install by members of this forum seems to take roughly 12hrs over the course of 2 days.

You need to do:
2 clutch installs
2 axle installs
2 radiator installs
2 shifter installs
2 shift cable installs
2 clutch/brake pedal installs
etc, etc...............

 

i was hoping you would post post on this maven..........so your basicaly telling me im SOL unless i got a friend in a auto shop.....but if i can find the resources its possible.....but has anyone successfully done it?

and just so i can understand this, how much would you charge to do a full swap?

 

not that I've heard of. Most people just say screw it and realize that it's not worth all the time and effort.

 

It would probably cost less and be quicker to take all the parts off yours, put them on hers, and paint both cars to the color(s) you each wanted.

 

x2 lol. It can be done, but it's such a huge headache and pain in the ass to swap them, i doubt you'll both actually want to do it. Your basically going to take everything out of both cars, and swap them. Especially when you're talking about adding clutch pedals and everything needed to run a manual on a car that isn't equipped to do so. Cutting the floor, installing pedals, getting all the electrical stuff would be a nightmare. about 5% of the way through, you'll probably say to yourself "****, what did we get ourselves into"

 

screw that if im gunna take the parts off my car, return it to stock then im just gunna pick up a 2010 SS/TC swap over the parts and sell my car

or i could do the swap, just take two weeks during the summer and do it.......i know it entails a lot but hey id learn alot about the drivetrain, plus it would be a challange.........now i have a lot to ponder about

or i could just live with my automatic and make do a motor build..........damn i wish this hobby was less expensive

 

Um.....lets see $$$$???? My first guess without actually sitting down and planning the job is lets say $1500(minimum)

 

why is she buying a manual if she wants an auto is my question

 

i would say trade it in for the TC. I had an LS auto and was looking to do the same after all is said and done with time and money spent its not worth it. after spending all that money all you will have is a stick shift car it will not go any faster or look any better and if you want it to go faster then you will have spend alot more money. so i would just go with the TC like i did. but more power to you if you go with changing it out!!

 

its used and she may be getting a great deal on it

 

yea I was wondering the same question but no one wants to trade me. I just want to do this. im sure its not the easiest thing I just need to know how to do it.

 

I don't understand why trading cars and swapping custom parts sounds like such a bad idea. You can do it a little bit at a time at your leisure instead of having two gutted cars sitting useless for days.

 

Holy 5year old thread bump....

 

The only way is to have a donor car of the same year to gut. Only one person I know of has actually done the swap, and he said he would never do it again or help....

 

Local put a f35 on his 09 2.2 g5. Was a pain to get the ecu reflashed for manual and speedo working again.

 

I did the auto to manual swap took 1 1\2 week non stop work removal of the entire dash to swap firewall, but now if i could just get my speedometer to work, then maybe the trac light to turn off

 

I woukd love to help do,it again, knowing where all the hidden bolts are could probably have it done in less than a week, but I hope i dont have to do anything like that again on my own car

 

your speedometer doesn’t work either? I automatic to F23 swapped my LNF and I thought I wired it right but I have no vss signal