The_Formula Posted March 12, 2008 Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 Im at a crossroad right now I have an 88 Starion equipped with an auto. I have a complete 87 conquest 5spd donor car. already have the larger 88 manual lightened flywheel and an ACT clutch and PP. have m6 head, JE pistons, have two ECM either using my F.A.S.T system or my Haltec. trying to sort out the distributor part now might just have a trigger wheel made on the front pulley dont know yet. Also I have the engine out being built now having rods race prepped also have a custom intake manifold with 1000cc injector which i think is over kill. custom exhaust manifold with T3/T4 stage 3 turbo no exhaust yet. I have been reading the posts auto the auto holding up but dont know which route to go seeing how i have both ready to go and was kinda wanting to have some drifting capabilites in the end for weekend sporting events. I was planning on running 25-28psi. Came out with a HP target of 435 whp. so the engine will be close to 500hp. so have anyone made close or higher hp numbers with the auto and still drive everday if needed? if this engine dont do what i want im going 4g64 or ford mustang GT engine. but wanted to keep the car light as possible withhout making it an all out racer still want to make road trips to events Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikec Posted March 12, 2008 Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 With that kind of HP target, the 87 5-speed tranny might not survive long. The 88-later 5-speeds have a beefier set of 1st and 2nd gears and a thick "waffle" looking bottom cover plate bolted to the tranny in place of the thin stamping on the 87-earlier trannies. That beefy plate stiffens the tranny case. Case flex is one of the causes of busted trannies... as is old or somewhat worn bearings inside the tranny. Whenever the tranny is subjected to big engine torque (especially "shock" loads like dumping the clutch) the shafts inside the tranny try to walk over each other... the case & bearings (try to) hold the shafts in position. The more out-of-position the shafts get, the less meat of each gear tooth actually makes contact with its mate leading to busted off gears. Freshen that 87 tranny at least, and try to find the 88 plate for it. Or just have a beefy aluminum plate (about 1 centimeter thick is the 88 style) made up to replace the thin stamping. A freshened 88-later tranny will probably hold up better. A few folks have switched to beefier trannies from other cars; use the SEARCH function to look for adaptor plates and other ideas. mike c. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emagdnim Posted March 12, 2008 Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 Build the auto and love your 60ft times off the foot brake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natzeng Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 i'd go with manual, since it feels more racier compared to a auto. for an auto all you gotta do is just press the gas and go, but thats just my opinion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emagdnim Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 For a drag car don't be stupid, Stay auto. Look into being an innovator and running a manual valve body and a transbrake on the stock tranny. Unless you buy into franks tranny GB your POS stock tranny will grenade. I believe the stock autos can be built stronger, and a lot cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emagdnim Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 BTW that fake HKS wastegate will fail on you within 2 good pulls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack_Morris Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 (edited) there is a company in Australia named KEAS. They build the JATCO 4spds to run 10s in the quarter. reliably. you can get anything and everything from them including full manual VBs with trans brakes, high stall Torque convertors, and internals. they have a vendor in Florida so you wont have to pay for overseas shipping. KEAS is found here they are very helpful and usually respond to your emails in 2 business days KEAS Customer cars Edited March 18, 2008 by TWCDrift Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dcrasta Posted April 4, 2008 Report Share Posted April 4, 2008 i'd go with manual, since it feels more racier compared to a auto. for an auto all you gotta do is just press the gas and go, but thats just my opinion While you are sitting there 'feeling racy' that automatic will beat you at the track. 2 of may reasons.. 1: Full boost shifts without losing any boost at all! 2: Can't out-shift an automatic (u think your quick? ..) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiplash Posted April 6, 2008 Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 While you are sitting there 'feeling racy' that automatic will beat you at the track. 2 of may reasons.. 1: Full boost shifts without losing any boost at all! 2: Can't out-shift an automatic (u think your quick? ..) yep! What he said! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boostandmuscle Posted April 6, 2008 Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 keep the automatic.. you'll actualy miss it... Only reason to EVER swap one of these cars to a manual is if you cannot afford to have the automatic rebuilt and you have all the 5 speed swap parts sitting there so its a free swap.. Otherwise KEEP THE AUTO... i rerget swapping mine over.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallblock12 Posted June 10, 2008 Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 i was actualy thinking of swaping my 88 palermo. should i stick with the auto. it was just rebuilt 4000 ago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 i was actualy thinking of swaping my 88 palermo. should i stick with the auto. it was just rebuilt 4000 ago just in case you are interested i have a 88 auto tranny (swapped mine to manual) just sitting in the garage taking up space. if you want it to build it up on the side you are more than welcome to come pick it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 just in case you are interested i have a 88 auto tranny (swapped mine to manual) just sitting in the garage taking up space. if you want it to build it up on the side you are more than welcome to come pick it up. by the way, was your car up at cottman transmission a few years back? i remember seeing an auto starquest there (buddies dad owns the shop). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jsmitty Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 I was seriously thinking about swapping to manual when I first bought the car. All the cars I drove were manual up to now, even my other car is manual. I will most likely be sticking with auto on this one, but changing the ring and pinion gear set to meet my needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarquestRescue Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 keep the automatic.. you'll actualy miss it... Only reason to EVER swap one of these cars to a manual is if you cannot afford to have the automatic rebuilt and you have all the 5 speed swap parts sitting there so its a free swap.. Otherwise KEEP THE AUTO... i rerget swapping mine over.. I have been thinking of swapping mine back to auto. Just need to get motivated. I would like to see what a good running 17c auto car can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted June 26, 2008 Report Share Posted June 26, 2008 If you want your SQ to be a driver's car then swap to a manual gearbox. If you want a quicker 1/4 then stay auto. Of the 5 SQ's I've owned, all have been manual. The one auto I considered purchasing was going to immediately undergo a swap to manual. Decisions, decisions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelby Posted June 27, 2008 Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 4x1000 cc injs,, for get them,, your idle pulse width will be too low for the injs to even idle the engine it's not recomend'd to go below 1.0 ms for fuel pulse and a set of 1000cc inj will be in the range of .50 or .60ms,or maybe even lower but if your never gona be idleing below 2k go for it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lifeissomething Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 Fast starion = auto. Fun starion = manual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Formula Posted October 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 well im back on schedule folks i hope been stuck overseas working for a few months hopefully i can get started. with time being an issue im starting to re think the auto to manual swap even though id love to do it. maybe later once i get everything else working and tuned anybody doing the magna conversion i still need to get mine done just in case i decide to go that route insted of the big polished manifold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack_Morris Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 if you are building a 1/4 mile car, trust me the auto trans is the way to go. any good tranny shop can re-stall your stock converter, replace/upgrade the internals and up the line pressure. you WILL want a new trans cooler, most all performance one will work just fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelby Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 going to 3:90 rear gears will make that auto car come alive and any like equipe'd 5 spd don't stand a chance in the 1/4 mile useing a 5 spd speedo gear& houseing will correct the speedo after going to a 3:90 rear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Convette Posted November 2, 2008 Report Share Posted November 2, 2008 Fast starion = auto. Fun starion = manual. word Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustPaus_88TSi Posted November 9, 2008 Report Share Posted November 9, 2008 I take it you've never driven an auto with a reverse pattern manual valve body. $25-30 more in parts and you can have electronic control over the shifting and when the torque converter locks up(think engine braking). Paddle or joystick(slapshift, push/pull) shifters are easy to find and utilize. And yes, it will all work on our Jatco auto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strang3majik Posted November 10, 2008 Report Share Posted November 10, 2008 after today on the highway...stick with an auto...3000 at 70mph sucks da fuel... take advantage of your overdrive... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vbrad511 Posted November 11, 2008 Report Share Posted November 11, 2008 going to 3:90 rear gears will make that auto car come alive and any like equipe'd 5 spd don't stand a chance in the 1/4 mile useing a 5 spd speedo gear& houseing will correct the speedo after going to a 3:90 rear Not meaning to hijack the thread, but Shelby, I did this swap a few years back. 87 motor and 5 speed into an 88 auto shell, complete with 88 rear end. Do I need to do something to make my speedo correct? I just assumed it was all ok. BTW, I'm a clutch lovin kinda guy. Even if the auto trans in the car would've been ok, I'd have pulled it and swapped in the 5 speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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