I just recently purchased a brand new 2005 Honda Civic LX Special Edition. But there were no manuals at the dealer, and I had trouble as it is financing the car. I was originally going to purchase an old Si with a manual transmission, but having no credit made that impossible. I managed to get a new car only. It's a long story...

Anyways, here is my question: How crazy am I to think I can swap out my automatic transmission for a manual? How much work will be needed? Am I crazy as all my friends say I am?

Any input would be very helpful. And if I can't manage to swap the transmission, I might as well just swap the Civic for another one after I finish college.

 

Its actually pretty simple. you just need to have all of the parts and then just swap it all out. But if you dnt have any knowledge on how to do this then dnt atempt it cause things can go bad...real bad.

 

So I don't need to modify the body or frame in any way? Just a swap of parts? Because I already looked at it, and it looks like there's space and mounts for the clutch and it would simply pop in.

And no, I don't have that much knowledge/aptitude with cars. But I have friends that do (and called me crazy for thinking about doing this), as well as a few mechanics I know that can help me in installing parts and making sure I'm doing it fine.

I'm just really troubled by this, because I don't want to ruin the resale value by modifying the body if I'm not going to keep this Civic. And I don't plan to keep the Civic if it won't be manual.

Oh, and if I were to hire a mechanic to do it, do you have a good estimate of how much the parts/work would cost? A friend says about $5000.

And thank you for your input, because this has been bothering me ever since my purchase.

 

Don't worry...no body mods needed...DIY and save the money...

 

Don't do any mods to the car unless you're sure you're going to keep it long enough to make it worth it. Modifications never increase the value of the car, in fact they usually decrease it. Especially hard core mods like this that is going to require some drilling/cutting. Being a 2005 under warranty, they're going to give you so much **** and void everything. And judging by your posts, I don't think you're capable. It certainly wouldn't be my first major mod and I don't think anyone is capable until they've at least swapped an engine by themself. Get an older car to learn on and to do major modifications to, that way you can just junk it after you've messed it up beyond the point of reselling it (that's everybodies first project car). The model most suited to modifications is the EG. In the meantime, just do an intake and header, things that are easy to reverse.

Why do you want a manual trans so bad anyway? It really isn't as big a deal as everyone here makes it out to be.

 

Wouldn't swapping out your perfectly working tranny for another perfectly working tranny void the warranty on your new car??

But if you're mechanical savvy then it shouldn't be too hard for you if you really want to do it

 

not to be an *** but why didn't you just buy a stick

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Slackwise &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I just recently purchased a brand new 2005 Honda Civic LX Special Edition. But there were no manuals at the dealer</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

You can request one. If they want to make the sale, they can get it quick. I don't know where you live but there are 3 Honda dealerships within a short distance of my house.

 

omg...why did you buy that civic....keep it and sell that shiet later...why waste your time thinking about this. Putting a diff tran in there will only make your car void its warranty and be worth less to other people...not worth it

 

isnt the manaul civic cheaper then the auto?

 

go to another dealer why would spend that much money if it wasn't what you wanted ?

 

Well, it was an issue of time. Long story. I would have bought the new Si, but it's got the stick in a funky place (under the stereo?!) and I didn't have the money for that.

Anyways, I decided to keep this Civic as-is for the next year or two, and in the meantime, buy a cheap Civic/Prelude/etc to modify on the side.

Thanks for your help though. :D