Manual Trans Option?

Has anybody tried putting a manual trans in there Rivi? A buddy of mine has a 87 Fiero that he droped an engine out of a 98 GTP in and he has the stock 5spd from the Fiero still in there. I was wondering about it because my trans feels like its going and I thought it would be cool to have a 5spd Rivi.

Here is some discussion on this, from the Series II forum:

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/series-ii-engine-transmission-f4/manual-trans-swap-into-a-riv-t4965.htm

Would the getrag 282 bolt up with the series I?

short answer: yes, but would not last very long, especially when matched against the weight of the Riv.

That was my assumption.

Currently looking at getting a 4t65e-hd mated up to it, looks rather promising.

Would there be a way of toughening up the getrag?

There was a guy who had a getrag "cryo" treated internals so it could handle the power of an LS7 that he stuck in his car. It was a fiero though, so the car was fairly light. Can't remember the site for it, think the guy went by "V8Archie" or something. Might be able to drum up the thread with a serch. The getrag really is a small thransmission though.

My plan for a getrag is to mate one to my 95sc engine once I'm done doing everything I can to it. The riv will get a series 2, and the modded 95sc with the getrag will go into a custom roadster, sort of like the ariel atom.

Was up guys? I'm new here but I've had my rivi for about a year now. I was driving it evreryday but she broke and things have just been so tight that I couldn't afford to fix her so shes been parked since about April. The reason I had to park her was because my haronic balancer checked out and took my crank sensor & front crank seal with it. I finaly fixed her about a month ago. She started right up with a little gas and a jump but when I drove her around the block to see how she felt after so long I noticed that when I came to an abrupt stop and tried to pull off again the trans sliped horibly. The RPMs climbed like the needle was running from 0 then it jerked and slowly pulled off compared to what I remember it did. So now it becomes painfully obvious that I need to do something with m y trans. Not to long ago just for the hell of it i was daydreaming about how much fun it would be to drive the Rivi if it was a stick so I did some research. I read somewhere that the Getrag 5spd from a Fiero will bolt directly to a L67. But then I was reading here on the forum and someone said that the Fiero trans wasn't strong enough due to the weight of the Rivi. So I kept looking. Then I read somewhere else that the 02 Cavalier came with a Getrag/ Muncy 5 spd that would fit the L67 and it was suposedly made stronger than the Fiero trans. I remember it sayin that it had double brass syncronizers but I don't know if that was the only improvments to it though. I was wondering what you guys thought. Do you all think that it will be strong enough?

My guess is no - putting a manual in the Riv has been discussed in the past and no one has come up with a solution yet.

I'm not an expert but I'm sure that if it could be done Ewolfe or Rivman would have had a manual years ago.

After being parked for 8 months without being prepared t be parked you could just have need to drop the trans pan and replace the filter then top off the fluid (with Dexron VI).

Albertj

A ~3900lb car with 275lb-ft torque using a transmission made for a ~2700lb car with 150lb-ft of torque. I don't think I would try it. Consider the auto in our cars is a good transmission. They break from time to time just like any other but they perform well. I don't think there would be any benefit other than the cool factor in having a stick in a riv. It's a lot of work and worry just to have a 5spd.

albertj wrote:

After being parked for 8 months without being prepared t be parked you could just have need to drop the trans pan and replace the filter then top off the fluid (with Dexron VI).

Albertj

I agree with Albert, a transmission won't go bad from sitting other than things can get gummed up.
Change or have the fluid and filter changed.
Regardless of how many miles are on the car and if the Trans has been rebuilt before, I wouldn't hesitate to add some TransX, available at all auto parts stores.
Although, you do have a 1995, correct.
Also, check the vacuum line going to the Trans Modulator for cracks. hell just replace the vacuum line, I'm sure it's old enough.

BTW, just how many miles are on the car.?

Rickw wrote:

albertj wrote:

After being parked for 8 months without being prepared t be parked you could just have need to drop the trans pan and replace the filter then top off the fluid (with Dexron VI).

Albertj

I agree with Albert, a transmission won't go bad from sitting other than things can get gummed up.
Change or have the fluid and filter changed.
Regardless of how many miles are on the car and if the Trans has been rebuilt before, I wouldn't hesitate to add some TransX, available at all auto parts stores.
Although, you do have a 1995, correct.
Also, check the vacuum line going to the Trans Modulator for cracks. hell just replace the vacuum line, I'm sure it's old enough.

BTW, just how many miles are on the car.?

...ditto on replacing that rubber vac line. Only other thing I can think of is the valve body might have crud in it. I would recommend a "power flush" *IF* you can find someone who knows how to do it right. Problem with a power flush is that if the mech does not know what he/she is doing they will loosen crud to circulate places where it *really* should not be -- causing all kinds of problems.

Albertj

Yeah, A power flush turned into a trans rebuild for me somewhere around 85,000 miles. (Jiffy Lube)
Way too soon if you ask me.
But the varnish had been removed during the flush with the cleaning chemicals they used and it caused all sorts of problems.
Now that mine is rebuilt and I have access to the equipment, I think I will flush every 30K miles or so, without the cleaning chemicals and using a clean machine so i won't contaminate my Trans.
The Jiffy lubes and other places don't clean their machines often enough and introduce dirt and other crap into your trans. as far as I'm concerned.

I recommend against power flushing. All too often the process breaks loose a bunch of particles that clog your Pressure Control Solenoid or Torque Converter Clutch Solenoid and ends up creating more problems than it solves. Just drop the pan, change fluid and filter, and do it annually.

Same here: NO to a powerflush. I flush the ATF by doing 3 or 4 fluid changes in a 1 month span. It helps if you install a drain plug in your trans pan when you do the basic fluid and filter change. Then come back and change out 4 quarts of fluid every weekend for the next 3-4 weeks. That will have flushed out 90% of the old fluid.
My 2003 Ford Escape started slipping in OD at about 65K miles. I did this back then and have been changing 4 quarts ATF every other oil change. The Ford now has 135K miles on the original trans. No problems since. This seems to work well on the Riv, but it has been in storage now for 13 months due to a wreck. I am just now starting to repair it. I may have the same problem, although I did start and move it around the drive every 2 weeks or so up until last July.

So, this is something I've wanted to do since i bought the car, but i have no info on the riviera with a manual trans it seems like everyone has an auto.

I'd like to swap out the auto that i just had rebuilt and sell it after putting in a manual, but i tried to search and nothing came up.

So a few questions then:

Did the 95s come with a manual option?

Has anyone done it?

Does it take a PCM swap? (i think i want a rebuilt one either way)
Or does it take some custom tuning?

What would be my Options in transmissions?

Does anyone sell easy kits for this? (mainly worried about the shifter location and having to make stuff to make it look good)

Charlie, I merged your post - should be some info on first page of this thread. Sorry if it's not the answer you were looking for.

Cmurphy wrote:

So, this is something I've wanted to do since i bought the car, but i have no info on the riviera with a manual trans it seems like everyone has an auto.

I'd like to swap out the auto that i just had rebuilt and sell it after putting in a manual, but i tried to search and nothing came up.

So a few questions then:

Did the 95s come with a manual option?

Has anyone done it?

Does it take a PCM swap? (i think i want a rebuilt one either way)
Or does it take some custom tuning?

What would be my Options in transmissions?

Does anyone sell easy kits for this? (mainly worried about the shifter location and having to make stuff to make it look good)

AFAIK there were no manual transmission options for the Riviera.

1993 Pontiac Grand Prix had three different transmission options. The SE, GT and STE coupes came standard with a five-speed manual transmission. Standard engine was the 3.1, optional was the 3.4 - not sure if a 3800 would go in, you'd have to ask a W-body expert.

Some Fiero owners have mated the Fiero-optional 5-speed Getrag manual transmission.

It is fair to say this is something I would not spend time on. That said I think your most effective bet is to pull knowledge out of the W-body (Grand Prix/Monte Carlo) and Fiero world. I am certain teh Getrag can be mated to the 3800 although I bet you have to change the flywheel or some such - there's a local gearhead who's done that, he said the resulting Fiero was fast but very, very nose heavy, he had to use Caprice springs to get it to sit right, and even then it does not really drive right.

good luck