I was wondering, how hard is it to swap out an automatic transmission to a 4-speed manual with a floor-mounted shifter? I located a Maverick with a 302 V8 that has an automatic, but my "first" car had a stick (actually it was a 3-speed, but I'd rather have a 4 speed now, lol) and I wondered how much trouble it is to change it. Do you have to replace the steering column as well, and if so, is it hard to find new steering columns? How hard is it to change out the foot petals, from only having a brake to "adding" a clutch petal? Would anyone suggest I just stick to the C-4 automatic? How good is that transmission? Thanks in advance for the help! Art
Art,, you can retain the original steering column, but if you want the finished look find a steering column for a floor shift car. You will need all the parts to do the swap with the 4spd probably being the most expensive piece. If you do the work yourself you can probably get the job done for under a $1000.00. As with any mod or swap there are pieces to the puzzle that are tuff. Scale of 1-10 with 10 being the hardest I would rate this swap a 6. The C4 is a fine trans but if you gotta bang gears there is no substitution. Dan ps I think Dan Hines has a tech article on this conversion.
Not actually a tech article ... but a parts list ..... http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=8113 I already setup my 71 Grabber, originally a 200/C4 with a 302/4-speed. My next project is converting my 74 250/C4 to a 250/3-speed. I have all the parts ... just don't have the weather, time and initiative yet ...
