swap an auto to a manual transmission?

right now i have a 1990 XJ with a manual transmission. the thing is a beast and keeps on running great, but the body and interior have a lot of issues so i am looking to upgrade to a newer gen(97-01) in good shape. trouble is, i want a manual and no matter what that is what i will get in the end. most XJs on the market are autos and i just want to find out what my options are for a transmission swap.

i would think swapping in a same gen ax-15 or nv3550 should work out ok, but what about an older model? specifically, would i be able to take the ax-15 out of my 90 and put it in a 97-01 and vise versa? any kind of serious issues i would encounter, and are they worth overcoming?

buying a used transmission around here would be fairly difficult and expensive, so i am hoping for an easier method. if not, i guess i will just wait it out for a manual to pop up.

thanks.

Search is your friend. This has been covered numerous times.

on an auto to manual swap you'll need:
pilot bearing and a pilot bearing spacer (or whatever it's called)
you'll need an ECU that is for a manual transmission
you'll need to ground out the NSS wire and you wont have to worry about pushing the cluch in to start
you'll need a new set of pedals (it's not just an add - on it's a complete replacement
you'll need all of the manual transmissino stuff: clutch, transmission etc...

oh yeah.. your 90 is internal slave so you might want to consider upgrading to something with an external slave

cruiser54 said:

Search is your friend. This has been covered numerous times.

Click to expand...

thank you, i did search. i found nothing conclusive regarding my specific question(putting a 90 ax-15 into a 97-01 auto xj).

Kejtar said:

on an auto to manual swap you'll need:
pilot bearing and a pilot bearing spacer (or whatever it's called)
you'll need an ECU that is for a manual transmission
you'll need to ground out the NSS wire and you wont have to worry about pushing the cluch in to start
you'll need a new set of pedals (it's not just an add - on it's a complete replacement
you'll need all of the manual transmissino stuff: clutch, transmission etc...

oh yeah.. your 90 is internal slave so you might want to consider upgrading to something with an external slave

Click to expand...

so, i take it that i can do this swap. are there any other compatibility issues i should be aware of? i know i have an internal slave and i am fine with that, as far as i know it works just as well.....just that much more of a PIA to change if i need to. like i said, i hope to find a 97-01 with a manual, but if it looks like it aint gonna happen i want to know my options.