Best place to get JDM 6 speed

[dynomatt]

Hi guys,

I'm going to do a manual conversion all the way down here in Australia. With the assistance of a fellow member, there's room in a container leaving Eugene Oregon in a few weeks.

What's the best way to get the going price for JDM six speeds (interested in them purely for the lower ratios) in the US as over here in Australia, they are pretty hard to find. I've tried generic searching here and on NASIOC with a few results, but not enough to get me a proper price.

ARe there any specific JDM places around that do good deals on them?

If the price doesn't work out, I'll just go for a 5 speed, but thought it prudent to ask.

Thanks,
Matt

[GreenMarine]

Originally Posted by dynomatt

Hi guys,

I'm going to do a manual conversion all the way down here in Australia. With the assistance of a fellow member, there's room in a container leaving Eugene Oregon in a few weeks.

What's the best way to get the going price for JDM six speeds (interested in them purely for the lower ratios) in the US as over here in Australia, they are pretty hard to find. I've tried generic searching here and on NASIOC with a few results, but not enough to get me a proper price.

ARe there any specific JDM places around that do good deals on them?

If the price doesn't work out, I'll just go for a 5 speed, but thought it prudent to ask.

Thanks,
Matt

5MT's are totally fine to use. The swap isn't bad at all. In all honestly, you don't need a 6MT unless you plan on dragracing your SVX. And even then you had better have the $$$ to lighten your beast inorder to run some decent times...

I used the 5MT from a 2003 WRX. I have had it in the car for about 30,000 miles, done 5 AutoX's with it, 3 trips to the Dragon ( www.tailofthedragon.com ) and the car is still totally fine. Granted I DO change my tranny fluid every 10,000 miles.... But that is just me being over careful... Seriously though, you should beable to get a WRX 5MT for about 1/3 the price of an STi 6MT... Go that route man if ya are tight on money... If ya have about $5,000USD to blow, then go for the STi 6MT (it will be about that much in total parts after all is said and done)....

P.S. - the WRX 5MT is about 100lbs lighter than the STi 6MT... 100lbs is alot man Sure helps turn in when ya take 100lbs off the front end

[TomsSVX]

I used to be able to get them for 3500 or so but he flaked on the last transaction I set up. He also needs some time in advance before he can find one.

GreenMarine, don't be so quick to judge the 6mt on weight alone. The power bias being 35front 65rear makes that car handle that much better and make the car feel much lighter in the front than my 5mt ever did. I can honestly say that racing the 6mt is much more fun than racing my old 5mt and I had coilvoers in that car

Tom

[dynomatt]

Tom...thanks for the response. I'm guessing that he probably wouldn't be able to come up with one in time for the containers to leave?

The price is what I'm thinking though.

Thanks,
Matt

[GreenMarine]

Originally Posted by TomsSVX

GreenMarine, don't be so quick to judge the 6mt on weight alone. The power bias being 35front 65rear makes that car handle that much better and make the car feel much lighter in the front than my 5mt ever did. I can honestly say that racing the 6mt is much more fun than racing my old 5mt and I had coilvoers in that car

Tom

Like I said earlier that time that we were talking on IM Tom, as soon as I can come up with the money to swap to a 6MT, I'll be traveling up there ... Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the 6MT. Infact that is probably the only thing that I really REALLY love about the STi... Hell, give me a WRX with a 6MT in it and I'll be just as happy as if I had an STi... Or even better, give me an SVX with a 6MT in it and I'll never get out of it... I really want a 6MT, mainly for the power distrabution (AutoX)... But the advice that I was giving our new Aussi here was that if he doesn't want to spend the money, the 5MT gets along very well and is rather reliable

[TomsSVX]

Ah, gotcha man.

I doubt he would be able to turn one up by then sorry. If you had another time I am sure he could. Check Ebay and call the guys selling the swaps... THey can usually get one for around 4500 and many of them are located in Oregon.

Tom

[dynomatt]

Thanks Tom...the other option is the JDM STi 5 speeds.

Not sure if there's any contacts for them either? Specifically the STi, because they got the closer ratios.

Matt

[dynomatt]

Ebay has this at the moment.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2006-...06766875QQrdZ1

Is the US spec STi's the JDM ratios...or the US ratios?

MAtt

[TomsSVX]

Why do you want a JDM tranny?? They suck IMHO. Revs are way too high for anyone's good. The USDM tranny is more available in the US and has a better 5th and 6th gears for low revs on the highway

Tom

[mbtoloczko]

Originally Posted by dynomatt

Ebay has this at the moment.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2006-...06766875QQrdZ1

Is the US spec STi's the JDM ratios...or the US ratios?

MAtt

The US spec ratios are wider and better suited for US roads. However, the older US spec 6MTs have an issue with the 5th gear syncro going bad because the syncro is not strong enough to deal with the wider gear ratios. I haven't looked recently to see if the issue has been fixed with the '06 STIs.

That was a great price on that '06 STI tranny and pieces on eBay.

[dynomatt]

Mychailo...I'll be honest and say the price concerned me.

I'm after the JDM ratios because this is going into the rally car, so I want close ratios, and am not interested in cruising. 1:1 fifth would be ideal!

I wasn't sure how much JDM stuff made it's way to the US. I'll be honest and say it's possibly easier to find the stuff here, but thought it might be worth at least asking.

Matt

[mbtoloczko]

A JDM unit with a viscous center diff and Suretrac front diff are also good reasons to get the JDM unit over the US spec unit if you want to rally. About a year ago JDM 6MTs were much more abundant because there was an auto theft ring in Japan stealing tons of STis and then parting them out to shops who did not know that the parts were stolen. Back then, I was selling 6MTs for about $2800. Not any more though. Your best bet may be to import a late model STi front clip from Japan, keep the tranny, and part out the rest of the car.

[dynomatt]

Mychailo...cheers for the advice.

I wondered why there was a bunch of them a while ago.

Oh well...we spent the day stripping out the interior and it feels like it made a difference.

The car weighed 1640kg on the weigh bridge...target is 1200kg. Wish me luck!!

Matt

[mbtoloczko]

Matt, good luck with the car. If you didn't know yet, there are quite a few variants of the JDM 6MT with the main differences being the type of center diff and front diff used. There were only a few models where they used both a limited slip front diff in conjunction with the viscous center diff (vs the DCCD center diff). Rallispec has a website what lists the years, model of car, and the transmission codes of those JDM 6MTs with the Suretrac front diff and viscous center diff. I can't find the page at the moment because Rallispec recently reorganized their site. Here is a copy of the chart that another site posted:

http://spda-online.ca/modules/tinyco...ite/tc_28.html

[-JJ-]

that is a great link!

also matt, i got my mate checkin his yard in japan for ya