World’s First Manual Transmission Swapped Dodge Demon Is Finished
This Dodge Demon was sold at a salvage auction after it caught on fire, but now, it’s back on the road with a row-your-own gearbox.
These days, the great transmission debate continues to cause a great divide in the automotive enthusiast world, with hardcore, die-hard manual fans keeping that dim torch lit – hopefully for the foreseeable future. However, many have moved on as automatics and modern-dual-clutch units have finally surpassed manuals in terms of sheer performance, which is why many automakers have moved on as well. These days, precious few vehicles are available with a manual transmission, a list that didn’t include the Dodge Demon. However, the YouTube channel ScrapLife Garage has been working on manual swapping a Dodge Demon for some time now, and that project has finally been completed.
This 2018 Dodge Demon was in sad shape to begin with, having come from the literal salvage auction with loads of damage caused by a fire, though it only cost them a cool $20k to bring home. As such, the interior was pretty much gone, the body panels warped, and many of the mechanicals in rough shape, making this a daunting challenge even if the crew wasn’t planning on manual swapping it.
Regardless, the important bits did survive – such as the car’s supercharged 6.2-liter V8 – which was sent to High Horse Performance for a makeover. The team at ScrapLife also picked up a few Challenger Hellcats that were also in sad shape to serve as donor cars for this ambitious project, one of which was equipped with the manual transmission that would also be going into the Dodge Demon.
Obviously none of this was easy to accomplish, and ScrapLife wound up having to rewire the entire car, from the ground up, using the electrical system from the aforementioned manual-equipped Challenger Hellcat. The team was also having trouble getting a secondary fuel pump to work properly, but the car is running and driving now, at least.
Interestingly, this swap winds up shaving off 150 pounds of weight compared to the stock Dodge Demon, and it even drives pretty straight on the road despite the fact that it hasn’t received an alignment yet. The car tracks and drives great, though basically every warning light is illuminated, as one might expect. As for what the future holds, this reborn Demon seems likely to get more mods – including an infusion of nitrous – but for now, the team is clearly just enjoying the fruits of their labor, as they should.
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