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Converting R34 Gt From Auto To Manual?

mitch92

By mitch92,
in Engines & Forced Induction

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mitch92 Contributor

mitch92

Posted
Posted

I have recently been looking for a manual R34 GT (N/A), and have been struggling to find one in my price range (yes, slightly limited). There have been a few autos I have seen which were cheap, but after doing some driving in autos, I could never buy one for myself. I find them boring. I'm wondering if converting an auto into manual is too hard to be worth it? or too expensive? I appreciate any advice or personal experience you can share.

Thanks guys. ;D

Truffles Community Regular

Truffles

Posted
Posted (edited)

Use the search function next time. If you can't afford a factory manual, chances are you can't afford to buy an auto and convert it to manual.

The cost is easily $2000 minimum for parts (chances are closer to $3000) without labour. Then if you want to do it properly, you'd need to change the center console, cluster and other associated items.

Here's a thread that provides some good information - http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/topic/139916-diy-r34-manual-conversion-using-r33-parts/

But as I said earlier, chances are that if you can't afford a factory manual, you can't afford to convert an auto to manual. The conversion is mainly for people whom own an auto already. Chances are you won't save a cent by doing this and you'd be better off saving for money for a while longer.

Edited by Truffles
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mitch92 Contributor

mitch92

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  • Author
Posted

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm gonna keep looking into it. Wreckers would definitely be a good option

and just btw, Truffles, I personally found the autos are going a fair bit cheaper than manuals. Often 2-3 grand. Yes, if your price guide is right, this doesn't make it a money saving venture at all, unless I find a particularly cheap auto. I wanted a good base of a car to last me for a a few years (I wanted low km's), and would settle for a car that wasnt exactly what I was looking for. Im quite happy to get my hands dirty and work on it myself to get it the way i wanted. This was the car I had my eye on:

http://www.carsales.com.au/pls/carsales/!dealer_content.dealer_vehicle?vehicle_id=9855983&current_rec=4&total_rec=10&sort_type=1&dealer_id=12510&make_id=5

I know what you're thinking. Sounds too good to be true? At that price and km's, I'm a bit suss of it myself. But if i could make an auto-manual conversion viable, then this may (after getting it inspected and milage verified as much as possible) be a good car as a base to work on over the next few years. (till Im off my P's tongue.gif)

Oh and sorry, I didnt know i could search for forum topics. Spent a couple of hours scanning page after page looking for a topic on this. I feel like a bit of an idiot, haha. Still new to SAU.

JDM34 Collaborator

JDM34

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm gonna keep looking into it. Wreckers would definitely be a good option

and just btw, Truffles, I personally found the autos are going a fair bit cheaper than manuals. Often 2-3 grand. Yes, if your price guide is right, this doesn't make it a money saving venture at all, unless I find a particularly cheap auto. I wanted a good base of a car to last me for a a few years (I wanted low km's), and would settle for a car that wasnt exactly what I was looking for. Im quite happy to get my hands dirty and work on it myself to get it the way i wanted. This was the car I had my eye on:

http://www.carsales....12510&make_id=5

I know what you're thinking. Sounds too good to be true? At that price and km's, I'm a bit suss of it myself. But if i could make an auto-manual conversion viable, then this may (after getting it inspected and milage verified as much as possible) be a good car as a base to work on over the next few years. (till Im off my P's tongue.gif)

Oh and sorry, I didnt know i could search for forum topics. Spent a couple of hours scanning page after page looking for a topic on this. I feel like a bit of an idiot, haha. Still new to SAU.

that's about the going price for an n/a auto r34 skyline, you can actually import some nice auto r34 skylines from japan with slightly lower mileage and also with grade 4 condition for cheaper anyway, people just try to get the autos for more than they're actually worth on carsales and other places. although imo, that's reasonably priced for an r34 auto n/a being sold in australia. well, for a coupe anyway.

mitch92 Contributor

mitch92

Posted
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Oh right. Yeah, I've been going off the carsales prices. I just assumed thats what they were worth. May not be too good to be true then. thanks. However, I have gone back to looking at just buying a manual and forgetting the conversion thing as it seems like a fair bit of time and trouble to find parts and get the job the done, with very little, or no money saved at the end of the day.

starwarz Proficient

starwarz

Posted
Posted

buying a manual is the smartest thing to be honest and it would be illogical to convert a NA for that money, i dont know what your expecting from a manual i driven one its not that different and i would say my Auto pulls just the same if not harder then a Series 2 with 60000ks on the clock.......or thats just maybe me.

mitch92 Contributor

mitch92

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I'm not really expecting anything much better in terms of performance from a manual over an auto. I personally just find auto's boring to drive. I have more fun in manuals. :P but thats just me.

JDM34 Collaborator

JDM34

Posted
Posted

Oh right. Yeah, I've been going off the carsales prices. I just assumed thats what they were worth. May not be too good to be true then. thanks. However, I have gone back to looking at just buying a manual and forgetting the conversion thing as it seems like a fair bit of time and trouble to find parts and get the job the done, with very little, or no money saved at the end of the day.

probably a good idea at the end of the day because converting an n/a auto r34 to manual is a waste of time, but that's just me.

mitch92 Contributor

mitch92

Posted
  • Author
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probably a good idea at the end of the day because converting an n/a auto r34 to manual is a waste of time, but that's just me.

time isnt as much of an issue as money is atm, but since theres no money to be saved by doing it, you're right. Waste of time.

Pal Veteran

Pal

Posted
Posted

if you are attached to the car then do it. if not, save the pennys and buy something else. I done my GTST a few years back but it was in perfect condition. cost me about $3000 to do (probably be a bit cheaper now). you will improve in rwhp as well as autos suck more power than the manual. I gained almost 50hp with the conversion and a fmic (turbo motor though)

Truffles Community Regular

Truffles

Posted
Posted

if you are attached to the car then do it. if not, save the pennys and buy something else. I done my GTST a few years back but it was in perfect condition. cost me about $3000 to do (probably be a bit cheaper now). you will improve in rwhp as well as autos suck more power than the manual. I gained almost 50hp with the conversion and a fmic (turbo motor though)

He doesn't own the car. Which is why we came to the conclusion that any price difference between the two would be negated by the cost of a conversion. Therefore, you might aswel just buy a factory manual and cut out the middle man.

Galois Veteran

Galois

Posted
Posted

It's a bad idea to stretch the budget to buy the car, I did it and I regret doing it. As soon as repairs and maintenance fees start building up you'll be going into the red. Eg clutch or coilpacks could go at any time, and you'll randomly have to fork out many hundreds.

Just a warning, though you'll probably ignore it and if things go sour you'll be telling some p plater to be careful about stretching his budget in 18 months :P

Hopefully not though.

Oh and btw transmission is a waste of time and money. The cheapest option for any factory-to-factory conversion is to just sell and buy again, also helps with resale.

  • 4 weeks later...
N-DAWG Mentor

N-DAWG

Posted
Posted

shift kit! 7,000RPM quick shifts with chirpies! That's on a fully rebuilt box though which set me back around $3300 with HD Kevlar internals and new set of solenoids...but the difference it made! There's no denying the gains to be had between a rebuilt auto and a manual due to the nature of the two transmissions, but I like having the tiptronic for daily driving.

  • 3 years later...

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