1.3L Auto to 1.8L Manual (G-Series Tranny)

[chrisofna]

Okie dokie, lemme start off by saying that tomorrow I might actually be a true member of this website; I might have a 1.3L auto tranny Festiva for $400. But I want power. True power. So I'm thinking of going with a 1.8L plus g-series transmission from an Escort GT. I was trying to figure out how I should do it though; If I get both, should I convert to manual then 1.8L, vice versa, or should I just start over with scratch mounts? How difficult is the Hydraulic Clutch conversion?

[mattswabb]

This is what you need, cable operated and the correct axles

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/G25MR-Capri-XR2-Mazda-323-B6T-Tranny-Axles-Starter-25K_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ72Q3a1205Q7c66Q3a2Q7c65Q3a12Q7c39Q3a1Q7c240Q3a1318Q7c301Q3a1Q7c293Q3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem150318694675QQitemZ150318694675QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

The axles must be from the xr2 or 323gt

[chrisofna]

Yeah, I knew that much. I'm just talking the main part of the swap.

EDIT: Yeah, I'm not gonna have the money to get that before it goes away, it would be perfect but I think I can deal with a hydraulic conversion.

[mattswabb]

A few here have done the hydraulic conversion. Look up Fastiva55 on cardomain. He has a few pics there of the conversion.

I'd get the escort trans then sell it to Freshtiva, he needs it for his escort then use the money for the xr2 stuff.

[chrisofna]

Yeah, but the shipping would murder me and him for both that stuff so I'm gonna have to find local stuff for most of the build.

EDIT: Oh yeah, that clutch conversion doesn't look horrible.

[Damkid]

Do what i did, use an F-series tranny (88-89, 323 N/A) with a BP, the axles are very common to find and the tranny is stronger than the stock one, still need to make mounts though

[chrisofna]

I'm expecting to turbo this car after a while though, so I'd end up swapping for a G-series later down the road.

[nonamekid]

I wouldn't worry about the hydraulic conversion. You will have to swap pedals and make mount and do the wiring, so the hydraulic part won't be much more on top of that. If I were you I would start looking for the axles you will need as they can be tough to find, especially the intermediate shaft.

When you do your swap, I would suggest doing it all at once, as that will be easiest for you. You will only have to make one set of mounts that way. I don't know of anyone who has used the G-series tranny with the B3, and there is issues with using the BP with the stock auto tranny: either you have to cut a hole in your firewall, or you have to tilt the whole assembly forward.

[skeeters_keeper]

What year festy?


Hydro clutch isn't bad. If you can do the rest of the swap, thats not one of your bigger worries! If you can find an F series trans, that might be a little easier... but if you've got a G series, as long as you can find the axles (mainly, the intermediate shaft... we ordered reman 323 axles from NAPA and they had them the next morning) I would use that.

Good luck! Glad to hear you finally have a festiva

[chrisofna]

Got the car now, I'll post pics later.

Any more info?

[chrisofna]

Yeah, its not finding the parts thats the issue, its the approach. I dunno if I should leave the B3 in there, bolt up said tranny, and make mounts, then do the same for the upgrade engine, or if I should just put both engine and tranny in the bay and weld new mounts that way?

[Damkid]

What i did was lowered the new engine/tranny in all at once, without the mounts i installed the axles so i could figure out where the engine needed to be from there, then started making the mounts

[chrisofna]

What i did was lowered the new engine/tranny in all at once, without the mounts i installed the axles so i could figure out where the engine needed to be from there, then started making the mounts

Thats what I figured we'd end up doing. I might go with a BP + F-series tranny and turbo it later, I'm just hoping if I go with turbocharging the BP afterward I'll be able to make the F-series not blow apart on me. The mounts are totally different between the F and the G aren't they?