Automatic -> Manual

[Eclaire]

Alright, this is a two part question.

Background:
Im looking to buy a new car and am really in love with the Toyota Chaser/Mark II`s. It was only sold in Japan, so for those who don`t know, it is basically a Supra Sedan. Same 1JZ engine as the Supras. However, I live in a rather snowy and hilly area, so a rear wheel drive car is not going to work for me very well. They do make a 4WD version of the Chaser, but it is only automatic and only NASP. So....

Question 1:
They have Maunual tran kits for the Chasers, but how much harder would it be fitting this to a 4WD car? Some of my friends friends have done it, so I know it is possible, though a very rare mod for this car.

and..

Question 2:
I heard somewhere that adding a manual to an engine ment for an Automatic car can ruin the engine. I know lots of people that do the mod, and I also cant imagine the actual engines themselves are all that different, so I would be inclined to disbelieve this but has anyone heard it before? Something about the automatic engines not being made to handle the higher revs..

Any ideas/info would be appreciated. And I know buying a manual 4WD car would be cheaper and easier, but I really like this car for one, and the rareity of it makes it that much more interesting..

 

[HDi fun]

It won't ruin the engine directly. But a poor performed conversion will very likely leave you with overall reliability problems.

Automatic cars can be quite demanding of revs and will hang on to the red line before upchange under full kickdown acceleration. This, however, should not be a problem. Car makers set the red line and rev limiters well below what the engine can actually handle.

 

[Eclaire]

"It won't ruin the engine directly. But a poor performed conversion will very likely leave you with overall reliability problems."

Im guessing this is in response to the first question. In that case, a little bit of a different question. What are the main differences between a 4WD transmission and a RWD transmission.

Obviously the diffs and such are different, but are the gear boxes that different as well? Or is it just how they connect to the engine and the diffs? I found a shop that seems to specialize in the car I want, and especially in Auto to Manual conversions for it, so Im going to talk to them as well. But it will all be in Japanese, so I wanted a bit of a knowledge base to start with.

So what you are saying is that there is a difference between engines for manual cars and automatics, even if it is the same engine. It just isn't big enough to cause problems...?

I'm thinking of later on adding a Turbo to the engine, or completely swapping the engines (I know this is sometimes cheaper and easier...), so the revs and such may not be a problem, though there seem to be Turbo and non-turbo transmissions... If I plan on adding a turbo in the future, would adding the turbo transmission to a NASP car be bad?

Sorry for all the questions!! I want a good idea of what Im getting into and possible problems before I do anything. As you said, a bad job will just cause lots of problems later on.

Thanks!