Need advice on buying a car.

[kouki fanatic]

so i didn't know if this was the right place to post, but i took a chance. im looking into buy a '98 s14 AUTO($4000). its pretty clean too. im looking to have a manual transmission clean s14.

i would like to hear from experienced owners if it is worth buying this car and swapping the transmission, or instead of spending money on making it manual, just add some more money, and swap an sr?,or just look for a factory 5 speed.? which would be a bigger save, and by save I mean, better deal/bargain.

no flaming please. thanks for the help.

[WIKID S4TEEN]

If you're upgrading the motor (SR/RB whatever), it's a no brainer. Do it!
If you're staying with the KA, maybe, depends on what interest you most.
If it was clean (body/paint/interior, clean tilte, etc) I would still do it.

[kouki fanatic]

ya ,im pretty sure ill go with a stock sr, then just work on suspension. but i wanna know if converting the tranny would cost me more than just buying a 5speed s14?
then i thought it wouldnt make a diference if the car is auto or manual, if im swapping an sr. the main jobs would be to add the clutch pedal, and fix the gearbox interior. am i correct?

[enkei2k]

depends if you do the work yourself or not. a KA 5spd is pretty cheap nowadays. personally, i'd rather stick with factory 5 spd (came that way) and not do a swap.

[DreEzed]

I know shops charge more for installing 5speed into a auto car. Not sure how much more.
But most kouki's come automatic so if its clean i would do it.
Also how many miles on KA? cuz goin SR in Cali is just askin for a ref.

[kouki fanatic]

I know shops charge more for installing 5speed into a auto car. Not sure how much more.
But most kouki's come automatic so if its clean i would do it.
Also how many miles on KA? cuz goin SR in Cali is just askin for a ref.

its got 120,000 miles on motor and chassis. but, since i had thoughts of swapping an sr, does it really matter if the car is auto or manual?, or should i stick with the ka. then go ka-t. im just afraid i wont find the parts, plus even if i got the manual tranny, i would have to rebuild the motor later on. i always wanted to do suspension and visual first, but since the car is auto,would you guys agree that its more convenient to go with an sr, because the sr will come with the manual tranny?

[Bubbles]

since i had thoughts of swapping an sr, does it really matter if the car is auto or manual?


Yes.


There's way more to it than you're thinking.

Changing the engine doesn't change how you shift gears.

[kouki fanatic]

Yes.


There's way more to it than you're thinking.

Changing the engine doesn't change how you shift gears.

yes, but the sr will be with the sr manual transmission, so i mean, instead of just doing a transmission swap, ill do the whole sr swap with the transmission.

[Bubbles]

If you just want to do it for the heck of it, do it.

But there's still controls, sensors, and electronics that you're not thinking of.



Ask someone that's actually did it and get their answer.

Me personally, not a chance, but I don't get off on spending time in a garage with 40 weight in my hair.

[WIKID S4TEEN]

Buy a front clip with 5 spd parts. You may only need to buy the driveshaft, get a one piece. If you drive safely and don't make your car too flashy, you'll probably never get a ref ticket.
But that's a different subject.
The good thing about buying Auto is, it probably has NOT been abused.

[SRiousS13]

the conversion is really easy. i have done 4 and all of them took less than a day on their own

[kouki fanatic]

If you just want to do it for the heck of it, do it.

But there's still controls, sensors, and electronics that you're not thinking of.



Ask someone that's actually did it and get their answer.

Me personally, not a chance, but I don't get off on spending time in a garage with 40 weight in my hair.

ohh no man, if i do it , ill make sure its legit and done clean. i dont like any of that half-ass put together stuff.

[mendozasport]

if you can find a clean 5 speed kouki for 4000-5000 then thats where you need to go.. but most likely you cantfind one and this is the only one around your area....you are worried about converting to manual tranny but say your gonna swap the motor and do it yourself
i have seen tons of manual s13 in junkyard and for the longest i sold parts off of them for conversion
s13 manual tranny seen them for 50 bucks..... all you need to do is drill the crank position sensor hole
s13 clutch pedal seen them 20 bucks at you pull it
s13 flywheel 15 bucks you pull it
brand new M/C 24.95 at napa
slave cylinder 27.38 at central auto parts
clutch kit 125.00 at advance auto parts
and drive shaft, you van get the stock auto shaft cut and balanced locally or get a 1 piece for like 200 i think, or get lucky and find s14 manual shaft
total aproximate conversion cost 400 bucks plus the time in searching everything

[97240TB]

I'd say take your time really think about what you want this car to truly be before you end up buying something for the car then turning around and changing it later on because you weren't happy with the end result. figure out what this car is going to be for you, weekend car? full track car? DD? Once you have established that move forward in deciding modifications, Plan everything out and set up a dedicated route you want to take with the build. Set a Horsepower figure and aim for it, Do plenty of reseach. GL

[kouki fanatic]

thanks, and thats exactly what im working on man

[fos240]

just keep in mind they sold like 10 times as many s13's vs s14's. and of the 3200 kouki's made, over half was automatic. the pedals and drive shaft are different. there are other differences as well but they can be worked around.

you should just buy my 5 speed kouki shell. :D

frankie

[Rabboni]

Doing an auto to manual swap is not that hard. If you live in cali or any other states with strictish smog standards then i would not go sr and just do the auto to manual swap. If your state isnt that strict on smog i would save up and do a full sr swap.

[kouki fanatic]

just keep in mind they sold like 10 times as many s13's vs s14's. and of the 3200 kouki's made, over half was automatic. the pedals and drive shaft are different. there are other differences as well but they can be worked around.

you should just buy my 5 speed kouki shell. :D

frankie

yup, i know itll be hard, but eh ill work around it, my goal is by summer to have the sr swap done, or the 5speed conversion.

and i would buy your shell if you were socal, and it was mintcondition

[MELLO*SOS]

Stack your monies until you have enough to complete your project, whatever it may be.

I would probably buy the car. Even more so if it's super clean.

[juve_240sx]

same as the guy above me save your money man and do a complete swap

[kouki fanatic]

ya , i think ill end up doing that.the car is really clean, so ya. thanks guys. i appreciate it

[Chosen_1]

Not to threadjack but I am also in the market for an s chassis and making another buying advice thread I thought would be clutter.

I'm looking for s13 coupe. I'm going to do an sr swap but don't really feel so compelled to do an auto to manual (which is killing me when it comes to finding coupes). The most recent car I saw seemed perfect. S13 coupe with the HUD. It was a 93' with 200k miles on it. The guys was asking 2000 but I told him 1700 was my cap (based on kbb). He's not budging. Am I stupid or is he being stubborn price wise.