Hi all,
Looking for a little help, would like to swap a motor and transmission in my 89 RS to a automatic, same size 2.8 but auto instead of standard. Is this something I can do? and what problems might I encounter?

 

post in the v6 section if you want more help

 

i want to switch from a t5 to a automatic in my 90 rs. will this be hard what all do i need im putting a carbed 350 in it. trying to figure out what all i need to switch to a auto building car for my sister and she cant drive stick. so gota switch.

 

Really not too hard of a swap to perform. The main things that need to be done, is either welding or bolting a piece of sheet metal over the shifter hole, then measuring and drilling the holes to bolt in the automatic floor shifter, and also the larger hole for the auto shift cable grommet. Then of course you'll need a radiator that has the trans cooler in it, and the coolant lines that go from the cooler in the radiator to the trans. If you really want to do a nice job on the shifter tunnel, go to a junkyard and cut out the tunnel portion from a 3rd gen with an auto trans and weld it in. That way all the auto shifter holes and the trans cable hole will be factory perfect!

 

ok i will start looking for a car to cut the shifter tunnel out. which would be better a 350 turbo or 700r4? which will be the most efficient. it will just be a daily driver not taking to the track or anything. car is completly stripped so radiator and all i have to replace anyways. I will take any advice. i know more about old 4x4s than sports cars. planning on replacing all the front components tomorow anyways. will i need to get a diffrent torque arm and crossmember or will it bolt right up. also do you know of a place i can get all new brake lines front to back they have little knicks in them and were leaking

Thanks for your help
Thomas

 

Definitely go with a 700r4. It's wonderful to have overdrive! You'll get much better mileage, and the 700r4 has a 3.06 ratio 1st gear, compared to the TH350's 2.52 1st gear, so they also give you the advantage of a better takeoff. Crossmember is the same for auto or manual trans, so you don't need to change anything there. Driveshaft should be the same length and spline count too, so your existing one should work. You'll need an automatic torque arm mount, it's different than the manual trans ones. You also need to look at which way the "lips" on your torque arm face, outwards or inwards, and get the correct bushing. Energy Suspension sells polyurethane ones, and they have them for either "lip" orientation. As far as new brake lines go, do a web search for inlinetube.com or classictube.com. One of those businesses will more than likely have new brake line replacements available.

 

ok thanks alot for all your help!