Well first off let me start by saying, I don't know a lot about cars, but a friend of mine claims his dad bought a 66 mustang (auto) a while back and restored it and converted it to a manual transmission.....is this possible or is he confused? Only reason I ask is that him saying that really sparked my interest, but it just seems maybe on a newer mustang but a classic? A tranny swap maybe?

 

extremely possible. T-5 manaul conversion.

 

yep,
they make everything aftermarket for putting a t-5 in older mustangs. a toploader would probably fit using parts from an original standard trans mustang.

 

How much would this cost to have a shop do? Or how about learning to do it my self?Is it exteremly hard (have to be a gear head to get it) or will I be able to do it with some books and other stuff? My first car (a little ricer POS was a manual and I loved it for that reason)

 

Here is a link found in Glen's FAQs page found at the top of the Classic Section.

C4 to T5 swap

 

Yeah I'm reading through it to see if it sounds like something I could do here or if its something I'll have to have some help doing (moms friends boyfriend restores cars so could prolly help)

Edit: thisseems like it will cost a lotof money and be ratherhard to do....I'll sleep on it some more before I decide, maybe I'll like the auto (most likely not)

 

You're looking at about $2000 + to do the job yourself from what I have heard.

 

The swap was done all the time even before the t5 came along. We would make auto cars into manual cars all the time in the early 80's. If you were a really good scrounge and fabricator you might be able to get by on $2000 but after doing one I would say reallistly you are going to spend more than that.

 

buying a wreck that has a manual in it, removing all the parts from it and installing them in an automatic car is most often the cheapest route. It depends on what condition the transmission is in, and how much you can get both cars for.

Back when you could buy 66 mustangs for $150-$300 it wasnt uncommon to part out the very rusty ones and build what you want from the parts on another shell taht had less rust. Those days are gone, and and its tough to find an early Mustang, or any 60's two door for that matter, that cheap.

Fox Mustangs are cheap now, like dirt cheap. So buying one for the T5 and related parts is feaseable for a swap into an older car. But you will have to buy some other parts to make it work, unless you swap the entire drivetrain and can do some fabrication work yourself.

By far the best way to learn about cars is to do it yourself, it is vastly cheaper if you research the project and learn as much as possible about it before you start. It also helps to have a place inside where you can work out of the elements and the city, neighbors, and police dont have a problem with it. The curb infront of an apartment building is no place to do a trans swap. Sure you can do it there, but it could cost you alot more than renting a storage unit that will allow you to do some work in it.