[stroker444]

My mom has an 05 impala she will be giving to me after she gets another car.. its been wrecked, but ive fixed everything, but never got it painted. It drives just as good as when she bought it. I would like to take the car, but they never came with manaul transmissions. Are they any transmissions that will bolt up to the 3.8 V6? Its fwd of course, i may never do a swap, but it sure would be awesome to know the options!

[joe_padavano]

Originally Posted by stroker444

My mom has an 05 impala she will be giving to me after she gets another car.. its been wrecked, but ive fixed everything, but never got it painted. It drives just as good as when she bought it. I would like to take the car, but they never came with manaul transmissions. Are they any transmissions that will bolt up to the 3.8 V6? Its fwd of course, i may never do a swap, but it sure would be awesome to know the options!

There was never a manual trans version of that car. The Series II 3800 V6 uses the 60 degree metric bellhousing bolt pattern, which will bolt to the Gretag 284 five speed used in the Z34 and other GM FWD cars. Strength of this trans may be marginal, particularly in a heavy car.

The actual installation of the trans is the least of your problems. Getting the computer rewired and reprogrammed will be harder, more expensive, or both.

[a1supersport]

Sell it, take the money, and invest in something else.

[eocoolj]

I read a long thread on another forum awhile ago about a pair of high school kids who did a manual transmission swap in a 3800 supercharged pontiac grand prix. They did a really detailed write-up on it, with lots of pics. I'll see if I can find it for you.

If I remember correctly though, it was not a straightforward project. I think they spent months on it, and had their school's auto shop at their disposal. It was one of those things they did more "just because" than anything else.

One thing I've been thinking would be cool in a newer car is to install a set of lightning rod shifters like in the 1980s Hurst/Olds. Not a real manual transmission, but still really cool and more fun than a standard automatic.