Is A Transmission Swap Possible?

[Punk In Drublic]

I had an interesting idea... is it possible to acquire a 5 speed transmission from an earlier year Es300 or possibly a 96 Toyota Camry and swap it out for the 4 speed auto transmission in the 96 Es300?

I know it's a long shot but it seems like it would be a fun project and make the Lexus a little more fun to drive.

[Punk In Drublic]

Yes it is possible, but if you put all the figures together it is not worth it when Lexus made a 5-spd ES from 92-93, so if you want an ES with a Manuel just get one with one from 92-93, I have a 92 es300 5-spd and its an every day joy to drive I love having a 5-spd in an ES :)

Right, that would definitely be easier. However, that would require selling my 96, which has 300+ thousand miles on it. No one wants to buy it.

I'm glad to hear it's possible... would it be easier to go with an earlier model manual tranny from an Es or find one from a Camry?

Is there some kind of write up on how to go about making the swap?

Thanks for your help

[George_Jetson]

The best bet in that case would be to find a low mileage donner car that someone has wrecked. There are many small parts that you will need to install a clutch, gear shift etc. Then you will need to deal with the electronic aspect. With a donner this process will be fairly straight forward. I would assume that a camry donner would be fine for everything but the interior center consol. This would by far the faster way, when I was working in a shop we did several drivetrain conversions.Typically in less than three days if all the parts are availible.

The second option is to buy a low mileage unit off ebay. There are several sellers that sell low mileage units from Japan. You can buy a good used engine for app $600, a tranny for less. You would then have to purchase the linkage and clutch pedals, etc elsewhere. Of course you would not have to deal with getting rid of the donner when you are done.