auto to manual?

[89laredo]

i have an 89 laredo with the 4.0 auto and i was wondering how big of a conversion is it to put a 5-speed manual in it? any info is appreciated

thanks
david

[old_man]

Several people have done this and a search might yield a lot of info. I originally had a 2.5l w/AX-5 manual, I went to a 4.0L w/AX-15 5 speed. I recently converted to an auto. The conversion it self isn't all that hard, Its a matter of swapping parts. If I remember right the auto and certain manuals have different output shaft spline counts so you need to do some research to find out exactly which spine count you have. The worst case is you get an NP-231 with a different spline count. Some people just swap the input gear but around here you can snag an NP-231 for around $75 so its not worth the hassle of tearing a case apart. You will need to get the pedal assembly and master cylinder from a donor. The main computer is different, it isn't so different that the old one won't work, but if you want I have the computer from the manual that I will swap with you.

You will need to also remove the pilot bearing from the crankshaft when you swap the tranny. That was a royal pain on mine. The rest is simple swapping parts. Lots of luck.

Oh, I almost forgot, the drive shafts end up being different lengths as well. So find a donor and start swapping.