Transmission Swap

[Mattt123]

Hi Gang:
My Dad is 85 years old but still very vital and loves to go for drives in his 1980 2000 spider.
The problem is he has begun to find all the shifting tedious for a guy his age. So he is wondering
if it is possible to buy an automatic transmission and swap it out. He loves the rest of the car
but is getting old to be throwing around the five speed.

Has anyone tried to do this?

Thanks

[baltobernie]

Shifting the Spider 5-speed is a piece of cake compared to the effort required to turn the steering wheel when parked, but ....
the Spider was offered from the factory with an automatic transmission in certain model years. It is certainly possible to obtain the necessary salvage parts for conversion to automatic, but it won't be cheap.

[spidernut]

Transmission: Free - $500
Transmission mount: $135
Remove pilot shaft bushing: Free
Install transmission kickdown cable: $25
Speedometer cable: $19
Radiator with transmission cooler: $100 used -$200 new
Transmission cooling lines and retainers: Good luck finding any, unknown cost
Wood for console: $25-$50
Transmission shift indicator: $20+
Flexible hoses: $50
Remove clutch pedal: free but no fun
Differential for automatic (different gear ratio): $150-$1900

I don't recall if they use the same driveshaft or not. Someone who knows would have to weigh in on that. It would be a job to do it right. You'd be better off selling the one Spider and buying one of mine with an automatic transmission in my humble opinion.

I don't recall

[SoFlaFiat]

Matt, if you are anywhere near south west Florida and can find a donor car with an auto trans, bring it over for a weekend and I'll do the transplant to keep your Dad driving! I know my Dad would have appreciated such concern!! Good on you!!
I say donor car because you will need the rear end and drive line as well as other bits. Donor car is the way to go.

[spidernut]

That's an offer you should accept! You can probably find a donor car for $500.

[SoFlaFiat]

He's probably in Cali

[BEEK]

i have 2 auto spiders in the orlando area

[Mattt123]

Wow! this forum is awesome. Thank you so much for all the
great info.

Soflafiat you are extremely kind. I like the donor car idea.

We are here in Austin TX and my older brother is a pretty good mechanic
and could probably do it. Thank you all for your kindness and advice.
I will talk all this over with my dad and update when he decides which way to go.

[SoFlaFiat]

Texas should be a good place to look for a donor car and people might pop on this thread with one available. If you can find a donor and have all the bits to swap, it will be a bit of work but not insane! Good thing your brother is a mechanic and hopefully he is as interested in keeping Dad rolling!
Good luck with it!

[vandor]

Hi, there is a pretty active club here in TX, if you email me I can put you in contact with the right people. I think the club in Austin just started having meetings.
Another consideration is to buy an automatic Spider in good shape and sell the 5 speed one - but of course you may be getting a new set of problems along with it.

BTW, if he drives mostly in town then you may not have to replace the rear end - the car will be a bit buzzy on the freeway and the speedometer will show ~15% faster than his actual speed - may not be a bad thing

Spidernut, yes, the auto driveshaft is different length.

[76was124]

I think the floor console is slightly different, smaller shifter opening with a shorter wood cover plate, but I might be thinking of the later models '82 on.

[Jrlovvorn]

I have a 79 auto that I want to convert to manual.

Wish I was closer, this would be a great swap.

MD to TX is a bit of a haul in a Spider.

[jlond70]

Here's an automatic version on Craigslist. 28,000 miles. Looks pretty good! (no affiliation)

http://newyork.craigslist.org/wch/cto/4781518872.html

[kacperix]

Hi all, could You please advise if somebody swap transmission from argenta, 131,132 withers the straight shaft to spider 2000? Are there need any cutting welding works? I know that this transmissions are much better than spiders.

[djape1977]

i've done it on 3 cars so far.
involves cutting and welding but it's well worth the effort
mechanics are all bolt on but transmission tunnel is too low and needs to be cut and welded if you want everything to line up as it should. i've seen people just let whole gearbox/engine assembly lean backwards to minimize cutting and welding, but that leads to all sorts of problems in the long run.
131/132/argenta gearbox is light years ahead of 124's