2001 kia rio manual transmission swap?

[JPT]

is it hydraulic and you do the entire rio transmission?
i know a couple guys on here only did the gearbox

And what cv axles?

The trans is cable clutch. I'm running the Rio transmission and shift linkage (with a Festive shift rod). I forgot to mention in my previous post, the axles are Rio too.

[RhodeStiva]

when you get a chance. take some pics of cross member from underneath for us. for mounts and spacers. to show the drilled holes and everything.

[JPT]

Holes are easy. In the front, you'll find one already there. After you remove the rear mount, use that one and you'll know where to put the rest.

For spacers, I used stacks of washers. I put it back in the stock location though.

I think I have a pic of the mock up. If I find it, I'll post it later.

[JPT]

Couldn't find a pic of the mock up, but here's something better.



The pic is from Safety Guy's car.

When you go to place the transmission on the cross member, start in the front. There you will find a hole waiting. This will be for the inside bolt on the front mount. Place the mount in that hole and mark where the outside hole goes. Once you have the front mount set, move to the back and mark the rear ones.

The oval hole in back (for access to the nut on the stock rear mount) will be right where the outside bolt needs to go. There's a couple of ways around this. Weld a plate there and drill a hole (if you drill out the welds holding the stock rear mount bracket, you could bolt a plate in) or use two LARGE washers. I'm currently using washers, but plan on a welded plate later.



This is the hardest part of this swap. Everything else is your typical transmission swap.

[bhazard]

Or just weld those washers in?

[JPT]

Or just weld those washers in?

That's what my cousin wants to do.

[gblaser]

First post here, but I wanted to confirm that this works pretty well. This thread inspired me to go for a RIO 5 speed install into a 92 Festiva that already had a BP. I used RIO axles with Festiva Control Arms, but I haven't confirmed if I need to put Aspire control arms in. Seems like the axles are a little long for the Festiva control arms.

I cut and welded all of my Festiva Transmission mounts to work with the Rio trans and didn't need to cut the subframe at all. I did need to add 1 inch to the shift support rod, but needed no modifications on the shifter rod. The clutch cable bracket needed to be fabricated as well. I used a RIO flywheel, clutch and starter, but used a bellhousing plate from the Automatic 91 Escort that the engine came from, the plate from a 95 Sephia is identical, too. Also, everything I could find on line said the RIO trans takes about 3 quarts of gear oil, but it was overflowing at about 2.75 quarts, so be careful there.

Here are a few pictures showing the mounts and installation since its always helpful to see other people's mounts when figuring out what to do.

IMG_20130924_174656 (Large).jpgIMG_20130924_174733 (Large).jpgIMG_20130924_174738 (Large).jpgIMG_20130924_174846 (Large).jpgIMG_20130924_174919 (Large).jpg

[Advancedynamix]

Welcome to the site! Nice work!

[jason_]

Very nice. H'm. This made me wonder on Rio gearbox in an aspire now....more spares, and ratio differences.

Sent from my rooted HTC Supersonic using Tapatalk 2 Pro

[Damkid]

I can't help but wonder how much stronger the Kia trans is over the G series everyone else uses... Too bad I don't have a B series engine to wanna do the swap to lol

[scitzz]

This still has the two different length axles, right? So it would still have a lot of torque steer in a turbo car.

[defprun]

Heard it wasnt so bad...its not like volkswagen axles where they are almost a foot longer. And looking at them (i have a set) they are beefier.

Sent from the trash can.

[scitzz]

I drove a B6T last Madness with a stock Festiva trans. When that turbo spools up, it dang near rips your arm off. You don't know the size difference, do you?

[Damkid]

John damn I'd hate to have rio axles in my Festiva with the torque that thing has, I could only imagine how bad the torque steer would be lol

[shadetree]

I have had b6t e series and the b6t rio trans . The rio is a lot better when it comes to torque steer . The axles are def thicker and heavier . You still notice it but nothing like the e series .