Question: I have a 98 GS 420a eclipse with a blown transmission. my friend wrecked his neon a few months back which has the 420a motor in it. i wanted to know if anyone could tell me if the swap is possible and any direction on how to do it.

 

Its not gonna work, the motors are reversed in the eclipse and neon. The only way is gonna be to custom fabricate some axles.

 

Actually, the motors are aligned the same (engine on passenger side, tranny on driver's side), and the engine rotates the same way, but the 420A has reverse flow, meaning the intake is in the back of the engine bay. Technically, the Neon isn't a 420A, it's either a D4RE or S4RE. Anywho...

The tranny itself will bolt right up because the blocks are identical. The problem is going to be the axles at the very least, and possibly the clutch setup (don't recall it the n/a eclipse had a cable or hydraulic setup...). Realistically, you're better off hitting the salvage yards for a used n/a eclipse tranny. I don't remember anyone swapping the Neon's NVT-350 into an Eclipse, ever...

Best of luck!

 

I thought all true gs carried the n/a 4g63 motors and the rs only had the 420a....and arent the shift points a little diff then the eclipses my 98 rs shifted at 42 72 and so on........the gearing isnt quite as spaced out...

 

never paid much attention to the letter designations... If it's a 2nd gen ('95-??), 4-cylinder non-turbo, it's the 420A. There was a 6 cylinder non-turbo and the 4-cylinder turbo in there as well. But I'm really, really not up on the DSM stuff. Do like the new Eclipse, but I don't want every ricer (including 4x4 redneck ricers) trying to race me on the way to work every day...

 

actually for anyone reading this thinking about doing the same thing or any of the people who helped post a reply I DID GET THE NEON TRANSMISSION TO WORK PERFECTLY IN MY ECLIPSE. All i had to do was exchange the bellhousings and shifter arms. Its been in the car 500 miles now functioning perfectly. The gear ratio is different, however, it actually adds a preformance boost as it gives an extra 30ftlbs of torq acording to my new dyno test.

 

How exactly did you change the bell housing??????????? The bell housing and the transmission case are one piece, lol. It may add some torque, if it actually fits, but your gas milage and top speed are going to suffer.

 

The bellhousing splits apart from the gearbox... That's how we swap 2nd gen trannies into 1st gen cars without swapping over the hydraulic clutch setup...

My guess is the gearbox llblacksunll swapped in was the 3.94 final drive, where the eclipse only had the 3.55 final drive. I'd have to disagree on it adding 30 ft-lbs torque though... You can't do that with a tranny. I'd bet the old clutch was slipping. Nice to know the axles swap in though. I'd be curious as to whether the Cavalier tranny would be the same way, since it's a New Venture design (3.55 final drive) as well.

 

Hey man im doing the exact same thing i got a 2001 neon tranny it bolted up just fine to my 96 eclipse. But im having a situation with the driver side tranny mount. I need advice. The old eclipse mount doesnt match up

 

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