Converting a manual to automatic transmission

[jocoman]

Unfortunately I have developed arthritis in my right shoulder and left knee.
My westy is manual and is somewhat painful to drive, especially when doing a lot of shifting.
I am not ready to give up the westy experience yet, so I am asking how hard is it to source an automatic transmission and all the bits to make it work.
BTW I live in Canada, so shipping will also be an issue.
Thanks
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'86 Westfalia 2.0L Zetec
'97 Volvo 850 AWD Turbo
" The fun never stops"

[jmillsj]

I just had this done to my 85. Midtown Automotive in Denver did the work and sourced all the parts. They didn’t have much trouble locating everything they needed, but the cost was high.

The result is great. I didn’t realize how much effort went into shifting that beast until I drove the auto.
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1985 Vanagon Westfalia EJ25
Vanagon owner since 1995

[skills@eurocarsplus]

not hard, but expensive and time consuming.

you'll need a lot of bits to make it work. off the top of my head:

shifter

shift rod/cable assy

transmission with mounts and linkage

axles

flex plate

accelerator cable

this would be a case where it may be cheaper to find a donor
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[Bonesberg55]

The only way to do the conversion without pulling your hair out is to purchase a donor vehicle. I did this converting a '78 manual bay window to automatic. The donor vehicle was a '77 automatic rust bucket. I was able to recoup not only the purchase price of the donor vehicle but bonus cash from the sale of extra parts I didn't need. I still have some parts listed.

[VicVan]

Put up ads on every media, looking for someone doing the opposite swap. You never know...
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'90 Little Blue Truck, 2WD auto, FAS GenV 2.0 NA (AVH)

[Alluvial Van]

I bet there is someone with an automatic that wants to go manual that you could swap with. I debated this a few years ago (I have an automatic) but now that I have a manual play car again (RX7) I'm glad I didn't do the swap, although slightly improved MPG would be nice.

[leecat]

For sure there are people out there going auto-to-manual that you could work a deal with. I picked up a nice 2.0 automatic van and threw a 1.9 manual power train into it last summer (easy-as-pie swap), advertised the full automatic power train (all the stuff Skills lists above, plus the interior shifter surround and lower dash piece) and had plenty of interest.

The fellow who bought it drove 5 hours to pick it up and traded me the manual interior trim stuff to boot, which I was missing - we both had brown interiors so worked out great. Would have liked to get his 4-speed transmission in trade too, but it was trashed.

Might take a while to find but they're out there - I'd start advertising now and keep renewing the ad, eventually you'll find someone close by.

[SCM]

Find that person who wants to swap their auto for a manual soon after they first buy their van. If you had posted this 9 years ago I would be all over it. But I’ve enjoyed driving my auto for far too long to be interested

I think you’ll find someone to swap with.
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'91 Westfalia GL Automatic (GTA "Turbo" Rebuild w/Peloquin) and 2.3L GoWesty Engine

[jocoman]

Luck is with me. I called the local Vanagon shop and the owner has just finished an auto to manual conversion. He is going to sell me all the parts for the auto.
He claims it was recently rebuilt. A bit vague on details as that is what the previous owner said.
So.. should I send it out for another rebuild or do the swap and see what i got.
Txs
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'86 Westfalia 2.0L Zetec
'97 Volvo 850 AWD Turbo
" The fun never stops"

[Bonesberg55]

[Abscate]

Reading the thread title, I’ve never seen this done in any make or model.
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🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🍊 🍊 🍊

[dobryan]

[jocoman]

Exactly. I called the shop and he told me the previous owner had his engine and tranny rebuilt and he drove on it for about a year.
The shop told me they drove it around and it worked fine. Said it would be prudent to replace the input seal as its easy and cheap.
Soooo
Do I
1) install as is (with the new input seal)
2) pay more money and have him do a rebuild?
3) attempt to do the rebuild myself.

I haven't laid eyes on it, but it is supposedly "clean". Next step will be for me to give it a visual inspection.

Txs
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'86 Westfalia 2.0L Zetec
'97 Volvo 850 AWD Turbo
" The fun never stops"

[Bonesberg55]

Having been a juror multiple times, I have never relied on hearsay. If the proof isn't there, have it rebuilt including the converter.

[skemems]

[leecat]

I'd install as-is too, unless you love spending $$. Seeing the work that comes out of a lot of shops, I'd be worried it would come back in worse shape post-rebuild. Those early autos are actually really tough little transmissions.

If you did have trouble, as skemems stated it's a nothing job to drop the trans back out.

[leecat]

[tjet]

I've done this on a few vehicles. It's pretty straight forward. My advise is to leave the clutch pedal and whatever else you can. I put a C4 in a '67 Mustang. I was able to push the clutch pedal down under the carpet & kept the shiftier mount installed. The idea was to keep it easily reversible.

It's much more difficult going from an auto to a manual. I did that on my Jetta

[Zeitgeist 13]

I have all the parts to undertake this exact procedure, but no time in which to execute the plan. Hopefully this Spring.
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[leecat]

Yeah that *$(%ing Vanagon clutch pedal setup. I've read that it can be done with the dash in the van - but those must be better and more determined folks than I - there was no way I could swap it with the dash in.

Really not much of a job (doing the whole auto/manual swap, I mean), just time. I did a small writeup with pics somewhere here on my swap (auto-to-manual) and some of the minor hiccups I encountered.