atx or mtx, need opinions

[jgbailey57]

i have a '94 atx and have had numerous problems with the transmission. it's been for sale for a little while and i haven't had much interest (i didn't advertise much either, i really liked that car). my wife said to me the other night i should try to fix the atx one more time and see if i get lucky. last week i was at a buddy's salvage yard and i saw a 1st gen with a blown motor. i asked about it and he said i can have any of the parts i need. i did a little searching for the atx to mtx conversion and now i'm kinda shying away from it. i'm capable of doing all the work but i don't want to do anything more than needed. i'm not looking for alot of performance, it's just a daily driver. i don't want to change the water pump or timing belt or heads if not needed. i guess what i'm asking is what's the barebones items that need to be swapped. or do i want to take a chance and rebuild my atx? i'm trying to keep the cost down as much as possible. i've also thought about putting a 3.8 atx in, but you guys say it won't last. just fyi, my car has about 180,000 miles on it.

 

[projectSHO89]

What's wrong with the ATX?

Steve

 

[Black '93]

Take the ATX out yourself, then take it to a transmission shop who is familiar with the SHO tranny. Have them do a complete rebuild with heavy duty bands, springs, and clutches. The extra duty parts will only add about $75 to the rebuild. You should be able to get away with this for about $600-$700. Then put it back in yourself, and there you go. No $1500 transmission bill, and no half-assed junkyard tranny. If you cant be without a car for that long, then get a junkyard trans for a couple hundred and have them rebuild it. Then when you have time to swap, do it. Then you'll have a spare too...

 

[jgbailey57]

a little history... http://www.shoforum.com/showthread.php?t=39143

since that post i drove it for about a 1000 miles until it stopped moving on my way home from work. i took the best parts out of the 3 atx's i had and combined them into one. i back out of the garage just fine. i get into the street and put it in drive and slowly take off. it starts bucking, the faster i move the harder it bucks. i never got it fast enough to see if it would shift or not. i just hit reverse and parked it in the front yard with a for sale sign in the window. when it's in drive with foot on the brake you can feel it pulsing, trying to lunge forward. i have no clue what the problem is and i was fed up with trying to fix it. i just thought i'd try my luck with an mtx since the parts are free. if i had the extra money i'd rebuild it myself, but right now it's not much of an option.

 

[SeanMc]

I have fun with my ATX. I also take care of it. Saturday it will turn over to 170k.

 

[Mike93]

MTX swap is NOT that involved...if you have a parts car handy you could do the swap in less time than removing/rebuilding/installing the atx...check my sig for a brief write up of the swap.

 

[jgbailey57]

thanks mike, i think i'm leaning more towards doing the swap. a couple of questions though, is there room to take the motor and trans out as an assembly through the top or do they have to come out individually? or can i leave the engine in and just drop the trans? would it be beneficial to use the mtx harness and computer or the atx one? i would very much like to keep my a/c and cruise, cruise isn't that important but it'd be nice.

 

[Mike93]

thanks mike, i think i'm leaning more towards doing the swap. a couple of questions though, is there room to take the motor and trans out as an assembly through the top or do they have to come out individually? or can i leave the engine in and just drop the trans? would it be beneficial to use the mtx harness and computer or the atx one? i would very much like to keep my a/c and cruise, cruise isn't that important but it'd be nice.

*There is room to pull the motor and atx from the top.
*I never tried removing the atx from the bottom...mtx I've done.
*No need for mtx harness/computer...all that needs to be done it running wires for the neutral safety switch and reverse lights, I really need to complete this part of the write up on my cardomain page...
*I still have AC...my cruise doesn't work right now due to a broken plsatic piece near the throttle body...but it should work with the way it's wired up...

 

[operdot]

I have done the same thing to my sho accept I made my brackets differently. I made mine out of 1/4 inch steel and bolted them right to the block cutting away the extra cast iron. The rear one is the biggest pain in the ass b/c there is a halfshaft support bracket. If you use thinner metal its a LOT easier but its not as strong but its still a **** of a job b/c the dimensions are pretty critical, my rear mount sits mms from the bridge of the bracket to the intermediate shaft support.

 

[Mike93]

I have done the same thing to my sho accept i made my brakets differently. I made mine out of 1/4 inch steel and bolted them right to the block cutting away the extra cast iron. The rear one is the biggest pain in the ass b/c there is a halfshaft support bracket. If you use thinner metal its a LOT easier but its not as strong but its still a **** of a job b/c the dimentions are pretty critical, my rear mount sits mms from the bridge of the bracket to the intermediate shaft support.

front1
front2

rear1
rear2

more pixs here
http://www.dmytrenko.com/sho

Couldn't really tell from those pics but how are you planning on mounting the AC and the power steering pump???

Edit: nevermind...found some pics that explain it a bit better for the ps pump...

 

[operdot]

how are you planning on mounting the AC
pump...

what AC?

 

[Endri_SHO]

what AC?

:laugh_ti: .. anyway.he should know how to..

 

[operdot]

:laugh_ti: .. anyway.he should know how to..

Well what would probably happen is i would get the spare front atx mounting bracket and fabricate a mount like the one you made mike. But i would still keep my rear one. The thing is AC makes it really crowded under the hood and the sho is my winter car so i dont need the ac b/c i have a different car to drive in the summer.