Auto vs Stick

[christdw]

Hello newbie here, question, I have a 91 Fiesta with a 5 speed manual transmission. Looking to do the BP swap. I came a cross a 94 Protoge' LX with an Automatic transmission. The Protoge' was to tempting @ $500 for the whole car. Straight car, all glass good, valve guides smoking on start-up. Here is the bad news ....Automatic transmission. Ultimately, I would like to see this Festy somewhere around 200 horses. 2 questions,
1) will the Automatic hold up?
2) what kind of headaches am I in for concerning wiring harnesses, sensors etc.?
Thanks Dave

[drddan]

With a BP swap, the auto will be fine. Maybe better than a 5 spd manual.
Now sell me your 5 spd.

[anomoly40]

He meant the BP had an Automatic transmission, and his Festiva has a standard tranny. He's asking if the harness will still match up similar to a 5 speed DOHC engine.

[FestYboy]

^ ok chris, i just got done posting to your other post and as i read it, you have a G series for the BP swap into the festy, correct?

if so, read the other post, if NOT, you'll need the entire engine harness from the LX swaped into the festy (not too bad a job actually).

[drddan]

He meant the BP had an Automatic transmission, and his Festiva has a standard tranny. He's asking if the harness will still match up similar to a 5 speed DOHC engine.

.....so sell me the 5 spd!

[crazyrog17]

Sounds like the OP means he's going to take the BP AND Auto out of the Protege to swap into the Festiva.

1) Good luck getting the trans to fit

2) The Transmission Control Unit is built into the Engine Control Unit, you WILL have to swap the whole harness

3) The transmissions are notorious for failures even under the stock performance, let alone 200 HP.

[Movin]

Additional transmission cooler with its own cooling fan, something has to be
done to cool the transmission oil down or it will send smoke signals to
those who know how to read smoke signals

Yes, all electronics have to be copied and installed. or removed and installed.

[Pu241]

Hello newbie here, question, I have a 91 Fiesta with a 5 speed manual transmission. Looking to do the BP swap.

First off Dave, do you have a Fiesta or a Festiva?
Some would charge you with blasphemy here!:p

[zoom zoom]

To get 200 HP from a BP you will have to turbo it, and doing so is going beyond the limits of the stock ecu. I know there's different brands, but megasquirt doesn't have a PnP unit for an auto, you might need the gtx or gtr ecu.. I'm really not sure they were even made for an auto? I really don't know, its something you want to look into tho, as it could be a really expensive part of the build.

[gmiller123]

IMO stick with the stock festy trans. I ran the crap outa mine with my BP and it held just fine. Clutch slipped alittle shifting into 3rd every now and then. I launched mine many of times and it still held stong. Plus probably way easier than getting that auto to work.

[iceracerdude]

IMO stick with the stock festy trans. I ran the crap outa mine with my BP and it held just fine. Clutch slipped alittle shifting into 3rd every now and then. I launched mine many of times and it still held stong. Plus probably way easier than getting that auto to work.

I could get my clutch to slip at the 110 hp mark on a roll!...so I KNOW it won't hold at the 125 hp mark...The 200 hp mark!?
Here's how I would do it:
Pick up the whole car, pull the engine, vaf, coil, mirrors, and instument cluster. Now $ell the mirrors (or keep em, they're pretty nice) and insturment cluster (W/7,000 red line tach!)on the Protege $ite. Take the rest of the body to the scrapper and collect around $265. Then sell your "e" series trans here, and pick up an "F" or "G" series IF you're really going through with the turbo.

[gmiller123]

I could get my clutch to slip at the 110 hp mark on a roll!...so I KNOW it won't hold at the 125 hp mark...The 200 hp mark!?
Here's how I would do it:
Pick up the whole car, pull the engine, vaf, coil, mirrors, and instument cluster. Now $ell the mirrors (or keep em, they're pretty nice) and insturment cluster (W/7,000 red line tach!)on the Protege $ite. Take the rest of the body to the scrapper and collect around $265. Then sell your "e" series trans here, and pick up an "F" or "G" series IF you're really going through with the turbo.

Held great for me.

[georgeb]

Not too many auto trans fans on this site. Thought my auto Festy would be a refreshing change but that has not been the case.

[christdw]

First off let me say you guys are a hoot. haha.
Let me clarify, some of you see what I am trying to do,
I am thinking of putting the BP engine and its automatic transmission in my 91 Festiva that currently has a 5-speed manual transmission. Sounds like I will need to take the entire harness out of the Protoge and there may be some clearance issues. Do I understand correctly? Thanks for your patience. Dave C.

[christdw]

georgeb, I appreciate your insight to the auto trans. Does anyone out there think it's possible to pull 200 HP out of a naturally aspirated 1.8L DOHC?
Roller Rockers
Header
Cam
2 1/2 inch exhaust
shot of NOS

I have to be honest, I am old school used to dealing with old school small block V/8's. I think my raw horsepower thinking is not quite accurate with this car.

I do have another option, I found a g series 5 speed transmission, Capri Turbo Car - but the guy wants $350 for it, just the transimssion nothing else. Thanks Everyone...Dave C.