To all the haters... I did it... LOL
 

Alright so about a month-month and a half ago I came on the forum asking questions about a potential swap of a 2004 automatic rx8 to a manual... I was told it cant be done and that it would be more work than its worth. So heres where im at... I have a 2004 rx8 automatic that has been converted to a 6 speed (btw I am using the 4 port engine). I bought a 2004 rx8 automatic that was a flood with a warrentied engine (has 1500 miles on it). I bought a parts car that had a bad engine (did not know this at the time). So I began to get curious, what makes the 4 port differ from the 6 port... So with both cars side by side I began compairing and measuring holes, did some research as to whether the automatic e shaft was taped for a pilot bearing. Anyway to make a long story short, I changed all the wiring threwout the car (cabin harness, underhood harness, and engine harness) and transfered the 6 speed wiring into the automatic car, dropped the automatic tranny fitted the 6 speed up to it (there are a few differences... but it WILL work) fired it up and it works. Only thing left to do is put the bumpercover/headlights back in the car and its complete. This article was very poorly written so please dont correct me on my grammer/spelling. I wish I would have done a step by step on this due to it being the only 6 speed 4 port car that I am aware of. I will try to get some pics of it or I will do a video and post it showing a walk around of the engine and tranny to prove that this is legit. I would like to thank everyone who has helped me threwout this process and that has been positive/encouraged me to press forward threw all the negitive. But yea I have around 3000 dollars in the car fixed... So all in all the swap was worth it. If anyone has questions just pm me

congrats. I guess?

i hope no one said it was impossible, swaps have been done here and documented. its just simply not feasible to do unless you can do it yourself :)

good work . How many hrs do you think you put into doing it ?

I would say probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 40-50 hours... I could be wrong but this is just a guess

Congrats on getting it done.. I'd swap out the engine next ;)

/\ nah - slap a turbo on it - the four port with a turbo will be sweet as

Someone plz do a 4 speed 6 port swap.

I plan to rebuild the 6 port engine as I aquire some extra money and will probably drop it back in the car if I end up keeping it. HAHA 4 speed? dang... that drops the fun factor by 1/3 in my book lol

Good work man!

I don't know who said it couldn't be done because it has been done but the question is, why bother? I don't see the point.

Haters gonna hate.

I remember that thread. I dont think anyone said it was impossible as it has been done. I think the general issue was "Why?"

I agree with that general question, but I am definitely and genuinely impressed.

What's the point?! If you have an auto and you want a manual, 99% of people have to go sell their car and get another one..... If you can do it yourself then fuck yeah. You get the experience and you save money. What's not to get about it?

The experience of shifting a 4 port motor manually? Well, power for one, then suspension, then brakes, then............ Just seems dumb to me but that's just my opinion. To each his own.

Maybe I'm confused. :dunno: What does brakes and suspension have to do with a 4 port vs a 6? And he said he is rebuilding the 6 port that he has later.
Rotaries are super slow automatic because the engine spinns way too fast for a torque converter, so my thought is, why would you ever want to drive an automatic??

Congrats, Dude! Hey, it's your car and you can do whatever you want with it. To hell with the haters.

I'm curious how you resolved the issue of the headlight wiring (HID vs. non-HID).

Congrats on the swap wish I knew enough about it all to do something like that.

Carbon thats a good image saved it right away.

Good work! $3000 and about 40-50 hours? You're well ahead of the game. Not to mention the priceless aspect of the accomplishment.

Does all of the remote key, alarm, etc., stuff work?

Ken

Well the hid problem is one that I have just became aware of in the past few hours as I went to reinstall the bumper cover... Any ideals on how to get past this?

Well, I am an Electrical Engineer and no doubt with wiring diagrams I could figure it out. But otherwise no, I have no idea.

I am just saying that the swap accomplishes nothing in terms of performance. Not to mention that I am sure there are a few electrical issues to work out as well that will arise.

wohooo good for you bro, now u can use a clutch, lol

yeah...........that's cool and all but whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy bother??

if you just wanted to do some labor yourself, you should have done an engine swap or something. now you just have a manual 4-port...?? again, that's cool i just don't get the point.

Pictures or it didn't happen