Tranny swap: 93 festiva 5 speed in a 95 aspire automatic

[dtischer]

I own a 95 aspire with a three speed automatic that id like to put a 5 speed in. I also have a 93 festiva that has a 5 speed in it that i would like to use for the conversion. anybody got an do's or don'ts as far as a tranny swap goes? biggest question is are they compatible and how easy or hard is it to do? any advice would be appreciated.

[bhearts]

First off, you'll need to cv shafts out of the festiva. That's all I have for inputs. Lol. I think that the auto and manual throttle body has a difference. My manual tb has a "thing" so that during shifts the tb doesn't slam shut and kill the engine. But I've never inspected an auto tb for differences

[TheGageinator]

First off, you'll need to cv shafts out of the festiva. That's all I have for inputs. Lol. I think that the auto and manual throttle body has a difference. My manual tb has a "thing" so that during shifts the tb doesn't slam shut and kill the engine. But I've never inspected an auto tb for differences

the IAC (idle air control) valve should keep the engine running, it shouldnt kill the engine if you let off on the throttle?

[Aaronbrook37]

the IAC (idle air control) valve should keep the engine running, it shouldnt kill the engine if you let off on the throttle?

It's actually a diaphragm thingamjig directly on the throttle body exterior itself. It looks like a little UFO with a white plastic piece that pops out the bottom and pushes in when you suddenly release the gas pedal. My B6T has one too but I can't for the life of me remember the actual name for it.


Directly to the left of the throttle plate in this photo.

[dtischer]

Ok, what else do I need to get or take of the festiva to make the swap work?

[Bert]

I doubt very much you'll be able to use the slightly shorter Festy driveaxes. Aspire axles are about 3/8 " longer.
I don't want to be the devil's advocate but what you're overall proposing is a heck of a pile of work and isn't going to change the value of your car by so much as a dollar. Swapping pedals, routing clutch cables, swapping ATX ECU over to MTX ECU (I suspect you'll have to do this too), disabling the "Park" feature, etc etc by my thinking is best accomplished by finding an entire donor MTX Aspire from which to scavenge parts and from which to determine exactly what's needed. Even tranny mounts (if I understand correctly) differ between Festy MTX and Aspire MTX, and are also different from Aspire ATX. It'll be a long list of mods and fabs before you're done.
Bite your tongue and figure on swapping in a BP instead; less work and will generate a lot more pep!

[crazyrog17]

The F3A automatic is the same in the Festiva and Aspire. They're totally analog - hydraulic valve body to the clutches with a vacuum modulator and electric solenoid for shift control. Long story short, no ECU differences between auto and manual cars on the Festiva for sure, but I would assume the same for the Aspire.

What other cars had a manual F series transmission? I think the Rio is a G series derivative but an F series would retain the drive axles from the automatic.

On that note, the Festiva manual trans is an E series - a little less strength and higher final gear ratio than the Aspire manual trans which was intended for better acceleration of the heavier car.

Well really, it might be easier to get a 5 speed from a junked Aspire along with the rest of the fixings but I won't discourage you from the swap. Trans mounts and maybe even the cross member will differ. Drive axles for sure.

[crazyrog17]

Naturally aspirated Capri is a hydraulic clutch F series manual 5 speed. Retain your CV shafts that way

[TominMO]

IIRC, B8 Proteges and all 323s are F-tranny. The manual cars that is.

That's interesting about no ECU diff on Festy manual and auto. I know that the Capri has different ECUs for each, as do probably most cars.

[crazyrog17]

Capri and (because the Capri was based on it) the 323 have F4AEL autos which were electronic controlled. Pretty sure it's the same trans found in Escorts and Protégés too but some early applications used a separate TCM and ECM

[Bert]

IIRC, B8 Proteges and all 323s are F-tranny. The manual cars that is.
That's interesting about no ECU diff on Festy manual and auto. I know that the Capri has different ECUs for each, as do probably most cars.

I wouldn't bet on that being the case. The spare ATX B3 ECU I had on hand at one time had different markings than that of an MTX. Could be too that the TPS (Throttle Position Sensor) between ATX and MTX
is also different.
Primarily what I was suggesting was that a swap over to manual is not dead simple, especially from Festy to Aspire. Could be the 94-95s were much more like 90-93 Festys but the two 97s I dismantled were quite a bit different.

[Team Lightning]

96-97 Aspires are OBD2 so that could be the difference.

[Bert]

96-97 Aspires are OBD2 so that could be the difference.

OK. I could have said that too but not in so few words! Tangling with two 97 ATX Aspires soured me forever on those cars, with exception to their lovely (compared to Festy captive solid rotors) brakes, and suspension.