Hey everyone,

I'm new here, so first I'll introduce myself, then I'll ask my question.

My name is Josh, and I live in a backwater town North of Olympia, WA. I'm very fond of the car-customization scene, you know, ground-effects, underglow, neons(no pun intended.. I mean.. lights. ) performance modifications, etc, etc.

I purchased recently (The day before yesterday) an '03 Neon SE. I have a love-hate relationship with my new car. I love the comfort, I hate the auto-tranny. Hence, my question!

Is it at all feasible to transplant a manual transmission into the car? Has it ever been done before? Would it be cheaper to buy a new car?

If it is feasible, and it's not too expensive.. How about effort? I figure I'll have to mount a clutch-pedal, and a new brake pedal, probably new shift-cables, too, right? Then of course, the shifter itself. On that, if done, would the center console area need to be modified?

And I just thought of one more question. What about adding power to the car? Windows, Doorlocks, trunk-release? Could that get spendy?

 

Yes. You can swap an MTX (Manual) into your ATX (automatic) it usually costs roughly $400. Give or take. And yes, it is also possible to put power accesories in the car as well. Just go to the JY find one with the power stuff you want pull it out and transplant it.

Now, on to my next point.

Why so down on the ATX? I take my ATX very seriously and hate to see people swap because they think the ATX is inferior; which just is not ture.


Oh yeah, welcome to DF.

 

The reason I don't like the ATX is not because I think it's inferior, on the contrary, I find that the ATX in the Neon is one of the best I've driven.

The need for the MTX is my desire to feel in control of my vehicle. In my Prelude I had a the 5spd. I loved being able to speed up quickly by drop shifting. Or slowing down via the same method. It's mostly control.

I think I'll look for the parts and try to get it done sometime in Feb. Anyone in the area willing to help if/when I do?

 

I'm with squee on this one, I myself have an mtx, drove atx, if you ever boost your engine u will want an atx, it shifts faster...


to your second question, the power door lock and windows and all that very possible, so far I have put power door lock on my 03 se, where the once never existed, all you need is a lock actuator from best buy, or you can cheat and steal the door and all its guts from a higher model of neon and swap em out. I prefer to have manual windows, less stuff to break, power locks, I just put them on cuz i didn't want to scratch my paint with the key. so I put an alarm on, and used the acuators to pop the locks... When it comes time let me know, I'll walk you through the lock install step by step, it ain't easy

 

I wanna do the same thing with the auto locks. How much did it cost and could I get a parts list by any chance. Thanks Jay

 

I know a while back when I was looking at putting in an alarm, I wanted the power locks so as to have keyless entry, they wanted $150 a door to put it in. Needless to say I said no. If you do transplant all the power accesorys, it will be a pain in the a**, you have to change all the door panels, wire in all the power accesorys and change the widow motor set-up.

 

Control?

Oddly enough your control is inefficient. You could never outperform a computer. Its a proven fact that a copmuter shifts the car faster and more efficient than a human being. If you want more power out of your ATX its easy, there are nearly unlimited resources for building up an ATX.

TJW815 is semi-correct in his thinking. The ATX does shift faster but thats not why an ATX is better for a turbo. The main reason is gearing, the gearing in an ATX is much, much longer than that of an MTX. Theres a reason why an MTX generally has 2 more gears than an ATX. Its because the gear ratios of an MTX are much shorter than the ATX and it requires more shifts to reach your top speed.

Another reason why an ATX is better suited for a turbo is in fact the shifting. Once an ATX is turbing its producing roughly 50% of boost at idle. There is virtually no turbo lag when shifting gears either since the ATX does it seamlessly (or almost) which means an ATX reaches full boost almost immediately and doesn't lose much of that boost when changing gears. Whereas an MTX loses almost nearly all of its boost everytime you switch gears and it never truly reaches full boost.

And Casper, you aren't going to have to change out door panels and rewire to install power windows. Nearly 100% of all Neons without power windows already have the wiring pre-existing. The only thing you'd really ahve to do is grab the motors and regulators and switches and switch cups from a Neon with power windows from the junkyard. And yes, you can easily put power windows in the back doors of Neons as well, although it does take a little more work but I have seen it done.