Hi Ron,

A double swap sounds kinda crazy to me.... why not just sell your
auto and buy a manual trans van that's more to your liking??   No
mechanical messing about required. Unless your current ride has
irreplaceable and immovable attributes, (examples of which fail to
come to mind at the moment)  it makes a lot more sense.

Happy Trails,

Greg Potts
1973/74/77/79 Westfakia "Bob The Tomato
www.pottsfamily.ca
www.busesofthecorn.com

On 19-May-07, at 1:07 AM, Ron LK Johnson wrote:

> Lots of interesting discussion, but the basic interest was due to a
> simple enjoyment of the shift experience and not necessarily
> durability. An Auto trans is great in city traffic which is the
> mainstay of my driving. But, I do expect to travel on un-paved roads
> - not exactly Syncro territory, but  definitely beyond a standard
> car's capability. The Auto would probably be fine for these very
> occasional excursions, but still lacks the satisfying feel of
> shifting.
>
> I think the consensus is, yes a conversion is possible (no
> infrastructure problems), but a bit difficult to do and probably
> involves excessive $$$ unless one had a donor car to work from. Using
> a donor and wanting to minimize NET cost, one could do a double
> swap... and re-sell the donor to someone who is as set on driving an
> Auto as I am on driving a Manual! Of course there is the cost of
> labor which for me was much lower 20 years ago though I had plenty of
> time to spare...
>
> thanks again,
> ron johnson