Six speed SVX

alex_umn · #1 02-28-2003, 03:19 PM

I found a company called Axis Power Racing on http://www.nasioc.com that was selling WRX STi six speed transmission packages at a pretty decent price (well, considering...); this included the gearbox itself, flywheel, clutch, clutch slave cylinder, and trans, shifter and shifter knob, and starter. Since I was willing to drive down and get it myself he cut the price by $100 and I wouldn't have to pay the extra $150 for shipping, either. Road trip to Saint Louis next weekend!

It sounds like this gearbox also has the taller fifth and sixth gear gearing I've been looking for; this will make the engine rev a bit less on the freeway than it does now with the five speed. I still haven't been able to find out if this gearbox has the 1.1:1 split that the normal WRX gearbox has; if it does, I won't need to change the gearing in my backup rear differential from 3.545 to 3.90. That would be sweet.

I just got a new rear driveshaft for this project via UPS. I'm really hoping that this gearbox will be the same length as the SVX automatic, since then the driveshaft won't need to be modified at all. After that, the only things I will need will be the possible 3.90 rear end gearing, and definitely lengthened shifter rods to get the swap working. Hopefully this won't take too long...

In the past couple of weeks UPS has been delivering a lot to my house; apparantly during the Stebro delivery today, the driver was a little snarky about how all we get is car parts. Fine by me.

Mr. Pockets · #2 02-28-2003, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by alex_umn
In the past couple of weeks UPS has been delivering a lot to my house; apparantly during the Stebro delivery today, the driver was a little snarky about how all we get is car parts. Fine by me.

What does it matter to him whether you get car parts or friggin' Beanie Babies?

wawazat?? · #3 02-28-2003, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by alex_umn
I found a company called Axis Power Racing on http://www.nasioc.com that was selling WRX STi six speed transmission packages at a pretty decent price (well, considering

Alex, what was the "pretty decent" price? $4500, $5000???

alex_umn · #4 02-28-2003, 04:01 PM

I knew that would come up...ugh, too much, but fortuantely I did well on some stock a while back. I'm getting all of this stuff for $4600. He was offering a crossmember for the transmission as well, but since I didn't need it as part of the package, he took off $300 from the price. Orignal price was $5k, then.

This is an expensive project to put in an older car, but at least I know that I can always sell the transmission if things don't work out!

alex_umn · #5 03-10-2003, 12:38 AM

The six speed is here. Just got back from the trip to Saint Louis to get the thing, and returned to find that my girlfriend is painting the kitchen.

My roommates now want to kill me.

Pictures tomorrow.

BoominSVX · #6 03-10-2003, 04:53 AM

Pictures of the six speed, or the painted kitchen. I'd just love to get some new ideas for my old bland looking walls....

lol

alex_umn · #7 03-10-2003, 09:46 PM

Hi folks; I took a bunch of pictures of the stuff (plus the kitchen!), but of coure now I can't find my cable to the camera, so no pics tonight.

BLKSVX92 · #8 03-10-2003, 10:25 PM

dont ya hate it when that happens...never fails

Seraph · #9 03-10-2003, 10:41 PM

You need a CF/SD Reader?

L

alex_umn · #10 03-11-2003, 08:38 PM

Bought a CF card reader on the way home from work.

Pictures are up in my personal locker.

I went down to Saint Louis starting 1 AM Saturday morning with my housemates; on the way out we hit a snow storm and did a nice 360 on I-94 in Wisconsen, ended up in a ditch, and rocked the car out and were back on the road for another 10 hours then. What fun!

Once we got to Saint Louis it took a while to find the place, but at least it was in the upper 70's there (!) However, maybe I've been spoiled living in Minneapolis all of my life, but Saint Louis and I didn't really agree at all. I'll leave it at that to avoid arguments

The guy who sold the package to me, Ron, was assembling an engine when we picked everything up. We talked shop for a bit. This guy really knew his stuff; apparantly he's seen 800 HP through an EJ20 engine block and over 1200 HP on a new Subaru flat-6. I wouldn't mind trying that out in an SVX!

Anywho, we loaded everything into the trunk, thus lowering the car a good inch. Then, off to the Anheiser-Busch brweery tour and to an early evening, as I'd been awake since 7 AM the previous day. The next morning the temp was down to 17 degrees, I think. So we left.

My housemate's 1984 Benz 190D worked perfectly on the trip, if slowly. I think I got it up to 95 MPH downhill with a tailwind.

Right now the biggest hing I need is a 3.9 R180 rear differential (ordered one today), then install time and space. I hope to get this done in the next week or two...

Subafreak · #11 03-11-2003, 10:04 PM

That things fing massive. It looks like the damn auto box. Is it still lighter I hope? Whats with the oil feed line on the side? and how much did it cost you? It looks pretty long, do you still have to lengthen the driveshaft to use it.

Phast SVX · #12 03-11-2003, 11:54 PM

alex,
Im quite curious on all the specs of it. I notived the lingage was a bit diff, and iagree that the thing is huge! are the axel connections on the front the same?
phil

alex_umn · #13 03-12-2003, 08:13 AM

I can't remember how much the auto transmission weighed, but like that transmission, this one is heavy at about 230 lbs, which is maybe 70 lbs heavier than the five speed. Beefy! Everything seems overdone on this thing; the shift accuator rods that the shifter attaches to are heavy and very sensitive. If you're wondering, the shifter has three connections because of the reverse gear lockout. There is a cable that runs from the ring at the top of the shifter to the transmission, and it pulls back on a little thing that allows you to get in to reverse, so the lockout is actually inside the transmission. Since the shifter rods need to be extended by a couple of inches (like in all five speed swaps I've heard of), this might be the hardest part of moving to a six speed from a five speed, since I'd rather not extend that cable at all.

I asked wawazat?? as to the length of a manual box, and he responded with 32.5" (thanks again, Todd!). The six speed is 34.25" long by my measurement. This is close to two inches longer than the five speed, and is thus close to the auto tranny length. If this is the case, then a stock SVX rear driveshaft should fit perfectly. I tried sliding in the driveshaft I have, and it went on with no issues. The front shafts should work just fine although I havn't tried them yet.

For comparison's sake and just to make sure, does anyone have an auto lying around who can tell how long it is? Mine has been gone for a while and I wish I had measured it when I still had it...Todd and I measured from the front of the bellhousing to the tip of the gold cadmium plated collar that surrounds the driveshaft insertion point.

Since the six speed has an internal oil pump, the oil lines on the left side of the transmission can actually be routed over to an external oil cooler, although that is only necessary on much higher-output cars apparantly.

Does anyone want any pics of anything in particular? Just thought I'd ask...

Phast SVX · #14 03-12-2003, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by alex_umn
I can't remember how much the auto transmission weighed, but like that transmission, this one is heavy at about 230 lbs, which is maybe 70 lbs heavier than the five speed. Beefy! Everything seems overdone on this thing; the shift accuator rods that the shifter attaches to are heavy and very sensitive. If you're wondering, the shifter has three connections because of the reverse gear lockout. There is a cable that runs from the ring at the top of the shifter to the transmission, and it pulls back on a little thing that allows you to get in to reverse, so the lockout is actually inside the transmission. Since the shifter rods need to be extended by a couple of inches (like in all five speed swaps I've heard of), this might be the hardest part of moving to a six speed from a five speed, since I'd rather not extend that cable at all.

I asked wawazat?? as to the length of a manual box, and he responded with 32.5" (thanks again, Todd!). The six speed is 34.25" long by my measurement. This is close to two inches longer than the five speed, and is thus close to the auto tranny length. If this is the case, then a stock SVX rear driveshaft should fit perfectly. I tried sliding in the driveshaft I have, and it went on with no issues. The front shafts should work just fine although I havn't tried them yet.

For comparison's sake and just to make sure, does anyone have an auto lying around who can tell how long it is? Mine has been gone for a while and I wish I had measured it when I still had it...Todd and I measured from the front of the bellhousing to the tip of the gold cadmium plated collar that surrounds the driveshaft insertion point.

Since the six speed has an internal oil pump, the oil lines on the left side of the transmission can actually be routed over to an external oil cooler, although that is only necessary on much higher-output cars apparantly.

Does anyone want any pics of anything in particular? Just thought I'd ask...

very exciting! i would just like some pictures of the 6spd in the car

goodluck
phil

#15 03-12-2003, 10:01 AM

Alex, you diff need to keep us posted...
i'm looking at an 97 Impreza 6speed, i have a guy here
in utah that gets this stuff from japan. so he says he can get
a 6 speeder from them.. anyways,
what are you doing about the clutch? as in what size 2600 lb plate or what?
what's the front ratio on that tranny?