I'm currently a fourth gen Firebird owner and I will be in the market for 3rd gen Bird in 2026. I'm excited to see all the great info on this website.

My favorite car ever was my 1989 V6 5 speed Bird. I'm not exactly sure what I want my next third gen Firebird to be but I know it will need to have three pedals.

Does anyone have experience converting a third gen f body from an auto to manual, and was it worth the hassle?

 

You'll find find several posts on converting to manuals. Mechanically, it's not that difficult. Electrical/computer, I can't comment on that, as I've never done a Third Gen before.

I would consider the Third Gen probably the last of the Camaro to be worth the effort in doing this, (if you're trying to do it like the factory did). If you're gutting the electrical/computer system, no problem. I know when I frequented a 5th Gen site it seems like too much of the car would have to be rebuilt to convert. There is just too many things to consider on a later model car.

 

If you are in the market for a 3rd gen Firebird and it has to be a 5-speed manual transmission car then buy a 5-speed manual transmission car.

 

Yeah, definitely, don't buy an auto car just to convert to manual.

 

I helped a friend convert a 77 firebird to a manual using a donor car and it was not pleasant. Salt damaged cars suck. I really don't want to repeat the process with a third gen but the ratio of auto to manual cars for sale is downright depressing, and it seems every car I like has a slush box.

My wife agrees with me that I should buy one that already comes with a clutch, but I wanted to hear from others about it. Its been a long time since I put a wrench on a third gen f body.

Thanks for the replies, this looks like a great place to learn about my favorite cars.

-CW

My current cars: a 2001 Firebird V6/5spd (AKA The Grocery Getter) and 1996 Camaro SS w/6 spd (AKA The Red Shark)

 

Swapping from auto to manual is easy. That said, it depends on what your plan is for the car. My car was an auto when I got it. I got it w a plan to swap to 5 speed and did it in a weekend. Then a few years later swapped to an efi zz4 and kept the t5. Then I build up the zz4 more and swapped in a magnum f t56. It's all the same work. It just depends on your goal. If you find a really clean car thats perfect but an auto, swap it. If you find a perfect car for a full drivetrain swap, it doesn't matter, your swapping all of it anyway.

it all comes down to money/skill set and what you want.

 

I wouldn't mind converting a 2nd Gen compared to a 3rd Gen.

I've never paid attention to the ratio of manuals vs autos.

Here's an interesting thread.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/hist...rd-gens-2.html

If you're really set on a 5-speed, then maybe a swap will be your only option unless you get lucky.

 

I've looked at fifty third gen birds for sale this summer, and only five have been manuals. 1:10 ratio is not in my favor.

My dream car is a 1989 Indy pace car turbo V6, but every one of those had an auto. I just want to toss revs at red lights, is that so much to ask?

Seriously! You give 3x winner Bobby Unser a Turbo Trans Am to pace the 73rd Indy 500 and don't give him a clutch?

 

I'm sure you could do a t56 swap on a turbo TA. It may have a negative effect on the value though!!!!

If you've looked at that many and so few are manuals, I'd just swap one to the trans of your preference. At this point I feel like t5's are getting a little long in the tooth and t56s are plentiful but a t5 is still a reasonable option. They have a bad reputation, I've had 2, in 2 different cars that were driven pretty hard and they had no problems. I'm aware they have a limitation but they're not as bad as people say.

 

Having driven 86/87 turbo Regals, GNXs, and 89 TTAs I can tell you the last thing you would want in any of them is a manual transmission. None of them ever had a manual transmission, except for the one 89 TTA GM made for testing with a ZF 6-speed manual, and there was a good reason why they didn't. Turbo lag. These cars are gutless without boost.

Flat punch the accelerator pedal from a dead stop without building up boost against the brakes and they are gutless until about 15 to 17 MPH. With a manual transmission you will lose boost between each shift, and you can't build boost from a dead stop.

These Turbo Buicks would suck with a manual transmission and be much slower than with a automatic transmission.

They aren't nice revving engines either and they run rougher than a corncob. A 90-degree V6 without a balance shaft is nowhere near as smooth as a 60-degree V6 is.

 

That's really good info to know. Honestly my only turbo driving experience was with an 80s Daytona Shelby Z. It had a manual and would embarrass many cars. I don't remember much turbo lag but I do remember it liked to eat head gaskets. And sometimes heads.

 

I would imagine w some tuning and modern turbo you could work through quite a bit of the lag. I'm not saying it's a good idea to do that to a TTA though. It would be cool but once you got it all figured out and working well(ish) you could have a twin turbo LS for much less work and money.


I have plenty of turbo driving experience. lag can be miserable. Usually there's lots of ways to work around it but it's got to be worth it.

 

I'm fine with a 305 5 spd or even possibly a V6 manual car if it was awesome. I'm homesick for a third gen firebird, and I know I won't be happy with an automatic.

I've had great cars (Olds mostly) with some really great automatics, but I just don't want an automatic F body.