Bad News

EdfromSF · #1 06-25-2008, 11:52 PM

The other night i was driving home. While i was accelerating my SVX all of a sudden lost all "power" the engine was still reving and started making all sorts of loud banging noises. I am afraid my transmission went out on me =). I called AAA they towed it out to my mechanic, while i was waiting i noticed a puddle what looked like transmission fluid on the shoulder of the freeway. I went to my mechanic the following day and told them what happened they told me that they would look at it and tell what is up with it. I really love my car and have had it almost 2 years. I had plans of getting repainted in the fall.

I was thinking if my transmisson did crap out on me what are my options.

1) cut my losses and look for a new SVX sometime in the future.

2) find out how much it would cost to fix the AUTO in it.

3) get it converted to a 5m/6m which would be an absolute blast.

If I went option 3 i was thinking of Smallcars up in Tacoma, Washington but i am not sure of there reliability or durability. Has anyone had there car converted there and what is there opinions on the conversion.

If i did get it converted there i would have the car delivered there and have them work on it and driv it back to San Francisco.

Thxs for your time and opinions.

Ed

Hondasucks · #2 06-26-2008, 12:02 AM

I've heard some bad things about smallcar, last time I checked their website, it was $4500 for the conversion, parts and labor. Would cost you probably pretty close to that to stick a rebuilt auto in there, but that is not including cost of having the car shipped to Tacoma.

odepaj · #3 06-26-2008, 02:06 AM

Just get YT's 5mt kit and then find a good WRX tranny.

You'd probably be out $3-3.5k......

Dustin

dcarrb · #4 06-26-2008, 05:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdfromSF

1) cut my losses and look for a new SVX sometime in the future.

If you like your car and it's in good shape (aside from the transmission), keep it and get the repairs it needs. Anything you buy down the road could soon have the same problem, or worse.

dcb

ShiuludeSVX · #5 06-26-2008, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dcarrb

If you like your car and it's in good shape (aside from the transmission), keep it and get the repairs it needs. Anything you buy down the road could soon have the same problem, or worse.

dcb

I've been doing some preliminary checks on what to expect on this matter.

My local dealership will do it by replacing with a rebuilt, and take my core.
The cost for this is ~$2700

A local Tranny rebuild place can complete the job in a week, inside my core for ~$2400, but I also don't have anyone to speak with about past reputation.

There is also a person on this site ??LongAssName?? I think. He is doing a custom, performance rebuild with a standby, and you send your core back to him, but I am unsure of the cost.

joe62890 · #6 06-26-2008, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShiuludeSVX

I've been doing some preliminary checks on what to expect on this matter.

My local dealership will do it by replacing with a rebuilt, and take my core.
The cost for this is ~$2700

A local Tranny rebuild place can complete the job in a week, inside my core for ~$2400, but I also don't have anyone to speak with about past reputation.

There is also a person on this site ??LongAssName?? I think. He is doing a custom, performance rebuild with a standby, and you send your core back to him, but I am unsure of the cost.

It's around the same price as the dealership gave you once you send him your core. You would still have to find someone to install the transmission however.

ensteele · #7 06-26-2008, 08:24 AM

I would stay as far, far away from Small Car.

joe62890 · #8 06-26-2008, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ensteele

I would stay as far, far away from Small Car.

"Run to the hills! Run for your lives!"

Sorry... first thing that popped into my mind.

WestCoastSVX · #9 06-26-2008, 10:00 AM

Yeah Smallcar is out, you don't get what you paid for as far as workmanship or reliability.

But then it does leave us West Coasters with the question, if we don't want to/can't do a 5 speed conversion ourselves, what can we do? Is Tom's kit laid out to the point where pretty much any tranny shop could tackle it with success?

odepaj · #10 06-26-2008, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacGyver

Yeah Smallcar is out, you don't get what you paid for as far as workmanship or reliability.

But then it does leave us West Coasters with the question, if we don't want to/can't do a 5 speed conversion ourselves, what can we do? Is Tom's kit laid out to the point where pretty much any tranny shop could tackle it with success?

I believe so.

Im pretty sure his kit illiminates all cutting/welding. You just have to drill in the firewall for the new pedal mount points and clutch master cylinder (if running a hydrolic clutch tranny).

Everything else should be the same as swapping any trans.

Dustin

EdfromSF · #11 06-26-2008, 08:37 PM

So what are the main problems with Small Car?

Ed

GreenMarine · #12 06-26-2008, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdfromSF

So what are the main problems with Small Car?

Ed

Smallcar.com can't engineer something to work right if their daughter's lives depended on it... I ordered their 5MT swap back in 2003 and when I got it we ended up changing nearly EVERYTHING that they sent me to make it work because holes didn't line up or the parts were of a **** design...

I'll tell you what you need to do...

Come over to the "other SVX forums" www.svxworldforums.com and talk with the owner "Budfreak"... He will get you what you need for as cheap as it comes... You'll be back on the road in no time AND your car will perform better than it ever has... Talk with him if you are interested...

~ Chris

TomsSVX · #13 06-27-2008, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacGyver

Yeah Smallcar is out, you don't get what you paid for as far as workmanship or reliability.

But then it does leave us West Coasters with the question, if we don't want to/can't do a 5 speed conversion ourselves, what can we do? Is Tom's kit laid out to the point where pretty much any tranny shop could tackle it with success?

It makes the swap a hell of a lot easier but it still is not "easy". The pedals are still hard to install but once you have them in, you will love them... Everything else is bolt-in

Tom

YourConfused · #14 06-27-2008, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShiuludeSVX

There is also a person on this site ??LongAssName?? I think. He is doing a custom, performance rebuild with a standby, and you send your core back to him, but I am unsure of the cost.

I went that $3500 route and just gotta say STAY AWAY FROM THAT!

WestCoastSVX · #15 06-27-2008, 04:40 PM

Ed - In thinking it over and reading all this, my advice would be to seriously look into contacting Tom and seeing if you guys could work something out where you buy him at ticket out to SF and have him do the job and get it done right.

I probably wouldn't have considered that as a cost effective option, except that you have already considered having your car shipped from SF to Tacoma which I'm sure costs more than his round trip airfare would? Not to mention the final cost for the job would most certainly be less than SmallCar and again, it would be done right!