Convert Automatic 3.4 1999 Alero to Manual Transmission
 

What manual transmission directly fit the 1999 V6 Alero? Has anyone converted a 1999 V6 Automatic Alero to Manual? How hard was it? What will I need?

The only manual transmission that was available on the Alero from the factory was a 5-Speed Getrag F23 manual and it was only available on the 4 cylinder models. It's also kinda rare.

As for the V6 Alero. Only 3 members that I know of on this forum have done an automatic to manual swap. They're as follows SleepyAlero, Mfuller (he's not active on the boards anymore unfortunately), and I believe Babyblue? They all used the 6-Speed F40 manual transmission from the Pontiac G6 though. Hopefully one of them will see this and they can chime in and tell you more about what it entails and the process of doing so cause it is a process lol. Hope that helps.

Instead of spending all that money to swap it, you can just buy my already swapped 3400 6 speed alero. ;)

"The only manual transmission that was available on the Alero from the factory was a 5-Speed Getrag F23 manual and it was only available on the 4 cylinder models. It's also kinda rare. "

Yea I understand that. Haven't been able to find any that are specific to Alero.

"Instead of spending all that money to swap it, you can just buy my already swapped 3400 6 speed alero."

I would but I can't travel to get it and I've already put loads of money in plastidip and rust repair in the one I've got. I was able to find a 5 speed from a 2005 Chevy Cobalt for only $100 would that work for an Alero? Or does it have to be from a G6? What year of G6 did you get yours from? How much was it? What supplies and parts did you need? How long did it take you to complete?

2007 g6,

Cobalt i believe wont work unless it has the f23. Idk anything about the 5 speed swaps.


You need clutch pedal, flywheel, pressure plate, clutch, trans, shifter, cables, and 3 custom tranny mounts, one has to be welded in, a guy did my swap years ago, took 6 months.

If you did it on your own, you are looking at about 4000$

Well in that case, if you're actually selling your Alero, what are you looking for out of it?

6000 or best offer. The car is worth more in parts honestly.


List of whats done to it, and whats been done in the last 3 years.


- custom carbon fiber cowl hood
- SCT spoiler
- Grand am dual post mirrors
- ASA GT5 wheels
- camaro calipers
- impala rotors (big brake kit)
- stainless braided brake lines
- aem a-pillar gauges
- milzy headers
- cold air intake
- egr delete
- cat delete
- 2.5 in exhaust
- flowmaster muffler
- ported upper and lower intakes
- plenum spacers
- 65mm throttle body
- modified heater tube.
- window tint
- 6 speed manual swap
- tune
- sparco torino 2 racing seats
- kyb gr2 struts
- canuck springs
- 8000k hids
- black housing headlights
- turned gauge bulbs to red

I think thats about it...

And for fun, what i did to the car 3 years ago.

- new transmission (2nd gear synchro went)
- new rack and pinion (was fine, but easier to replace with engine out while doing transmission swap.
- new inner/outer tie rods
- new lower control arms with all bushings
- new coolant
- new coolant tank
- new water pump
- new power steering pump
- new lower intake gasket
- new wheels (ones on currently)
- rebooted cv axles
- all new wheel bearings front/rear
- alignment
- new radiator
- new coolant hoses
- painted calipers (current color)
- new clutch
- new dual mass flywheel
- new pressure plate


I think thats it... i overkill it on keeping things nice and up to date.

you can use the f23 from a cobalt but need the bell housing from a 2000 cavalier with the 2200 non ecotec motor

There's actual a thread on the group from a member named HEC who has done the 5speed swap for under 1000... If you know how to weld you can do it very cheaply!!

Search up his threads, and there's pictures and everything!!

Yeah, like I said they're harder to find. That's for sure lol. There are some out there you just have to look and it may take some time if you want one that's like that from the factory. You also may have to be willing to travel to pick it up if you do find one.

"member named HEC"
"Search up his threads, and there's pictures and everything!!"

Can't find any. Mind linking me to some?

And one more question,
Will these fit my Alero? It curently has the stock 225 50 R16 rims on it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/302192600064

But that's a 3500 motor. I have the 3400. Unless it works the same?

same

Plus its a Pontiac? Well I assume that wouldn't matter because Pontiac is a GM company so yeah.

I wanna do this. Can you help me out and provide online links to parts that would work? I'd greatly appreciate it.

I believe that the best help I, or anyone, can offer is to tell you to use the search feature on this site. Spend some real time looking at the builds you want to emulate, and do a lot of research.

I will say that milzy motorsports has a lot of good reviews from people here. I have never dealt with them myself, but they offer the parts you desire. http://www.milzymotorsports.com/
Tuning will be key. Learn about hp tuners. Or hire someone who can tune it for you.
It all comes down to money. Modding isn't cheap. Do you have fat stacks of cash you want to drop on this car? Turbos and tranny swaps aren't cheap. Most start with smaller stuff, and work up to a bigger project after learning more about the car and what's available, and what their skill levels are.

I will say "Welcome to the forums" and wish you luck in your search.

stay far away from milzy!!! His parts are great, customer service and timelines suck!!!

You'll have to search for the parts you want, mostly junk yard finding now given the age of these vehicles...

Good luck!!

You may as well just buy one already done up. Lol cheaper that way. And if you ever get tired of it it can be parted out for more then you paid.

So the ONE guy left making parts for these cars is not a good source anymore?

Milzy or wot-tech

your post is unclear. are you saying both those companies are no good? Or are you saying they're the only 2 places that sell parts for these cars?

Wot tech is starting to up his 3400 production parts again...

Milzy made his bed and he can lay in it... In the last 2 years he's gone way down hill... Like i said, he can make good products but his customer service skills suck, he won't give you any time frame for completion on anything, and if you ask for a refund, you forfeit 20% as a restocking fee, even if he hasn't even touched your order...

Pathetic to say the least... You want to order from him, be my guest... But don't come back whining 2 years from now when you don't have anything other than an invoice that you've prepaid with no products to show for it...

Anyone would starve to death if making n-body parts was their only income. It's gotta be something they fit in when they can I imagine. Business owners are just people too. They all have stuff going on that you don't see. Best to give people the benefit of the doubt. Anyone looking to spend serious coin should contact the vendor first to establish a rapport. Sucks if you had a bad experience. 1 guy with a bad experience will tell 50 people. The guy with a good experience MIGHT tell one or two people.

also, custom parts = custom problems. That goes for buying them too.

my $.02

I'm not the only one who's had problems though...

There's a guy in Quebec (guiguilandry on here) waiting over 3 years now for parts, bought and paid for

Another guy who dropped his car off to finish a 5speed swap, 2 1/2 years later and almost 3k and it was no further ahead them the day he dropped it off...

Check the BBB reports on him... Nothing good...

And yes i was ripped off by him as well... I bought his motor and trans mount, love them so i ordered a drtc and machined and powder coated timing cover and 36# injector kit... All prepaid, waited over a year... Finally had him send the injectors of which 2 were junk. The drtc was finally finished after that supplier got back from a battle with cancer. Milzy hadn't even started on my paid for timing cover. As far as I'm concerned that piece should've been finished and sitting on the shelf waiting for the drtc. Then when i said i didn't want it after waiting that long he charged me 20% restocking fee on an item he hasn't event touched... Yeah I'm pissy about it...

He takes on too much, doesn't have help and sucks at customer service... Again, if you want to deal with him, good luck to you...

I can agree, but milzy does 3400 parts but his main income is the 3800 crowd. Hes made 600 whp monte carlos that were a 3800 s/c car to a turbo car. Thing was awesome.

Wot-tech makes 3400 parts. But their main income is BMW, because there is more intrest.

And i was saying those are the only companies that make 3400 parts, aside from ebay cheap sh*t lol



Tim is butthurt ;) (sorry buddy) lmao, jk. He got a shit deal so i can agree why hes upset. But i on the other hand have had good luck with milzy. Hes a real good dude, but he does have areas he needs to better himself on.

Lol Nate!! You live close enough you can hound him etc... What about Ryan? What about Gui? Like i said, check the BBB... There's more complaints on there about the same shit... I know others who went to his shop to have motors built etc and it seems if it's on the shelf he's good to mail it out... If its custom you better be close by to go get it...

I remember AnothEr company that haD similar issues... not exactly like that, but there were issues to say the least.

it's unfortunately the way it goes for companies making parts for cars with a small following. Especially when it's an ECONOMY car to begin with. Add in there the fact that they haven't been produced in 12 years, and even when they were producing them, there was only a handful of people willing to drop some serious coin. You can't stay in business catering to that market. And even if you're just in it for the love of the vehicle and the niche; interests wane... Desires change.... Life gets in the way... Better paying opportunities take over the time you would've spent putting in the hours of work for the sake of a dwindling community of enthusiasts. I'm happy to still see ANY vendors for these cars. Do business with ANYONE at your own risk. Do your homework on stuff, and accept the risks involved.

Ok thank you all for the help.

Just one more question, will these rims fit my Alero?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/302192600064

Is that price per wheel or for the set of 4? You can find nicer wheels for the same price or even jump up to a 17" or 18" for a few dollars more...

The bolt pattern is 5x115 so they should fit... The centre bore size is too big though so you'll need hub centric rings to ensure a tight fit... Our centre bore is 70.3

That's for a set of 4. If these won't work correctly, mind pointing me in the direction of something similar (preferably all black) that looks like these in a set of 4 at about the same price? (Preferably on eBay) Id like direct fit on the car with my current rubber as they are brand new. 225 50 R16

You'll just have to get hub centric rings... Lots of people use those, just be sure to check them for cracks etc when you do tire rotations etc and you'll be fine!!

"You'll just have to get hub centric rings..."

I have no idea what those are.

http://www.amazon.com/pieces-Hubcent.../dp/B00AAOEK66


These... They're small rings that make sure the rims sit tightly to the centre hub. It reduces the stress on the bolts and helps balancing the rotation mass of the wheel keeping the wheel centered on the hub

Ok thanks I appreciate the help. This things gonna look great when I'm done.

Hehehe *cue evil laugh*

For the record, BabyBlue had a 6 speed swap that got wrecked, but he got another one and had the conversion done bad by Milzy IIRC. I remember the clutch pedal ended up disconnected.

Just thought THAT should be mentioned because it happened recently (last year).

I would go WOT Tech over Milzy unless you're getting something off the shelf from him. I'm also pretty sure your local speed shop could install the parts if they have experience with conversions. Trans swaps are fairly common. It's the cars that are specific but the ideas are the same. Just know that WOT Tech is in Florida and Milzy is in Indiana.

As far as the manual swap, you might have to look for Grand Ams with a swap if you want to go 5 speed. There's more modded Grand Ams than Aleros sadly. Aleros barely have a following compared to the Grand Am. They're the same car, just different end clips and interiors. Mechanicals are the same.

6 speed is the more popular option, as evidenced by the 3 members here, but you can also get a Getrag 282 or F23. The Getrag may be more common to find since they slapped that onto the 2.8 MPFI and later 3.1 MPFI on a lot of cars. They were used in J bodies, FWD A bodies and W bodies. Easier find, but you would have to source the pedal, cable and other tidbits from a 5 speed 4 banger Grand Am or Alero. F23 has to have the same bellhousing as your V6, which would be the LN2 2.2 liter Cavalier engine, if they even had it for that engine before it was discontinued. I know at one point they used an Isuzu 5 speed. Long story short, stick to the G6 6 speed. It's well documented anyways.

As far as the centric rings, they're plastic rings that you put on the hub so the wheel doesn't move around when you mount em. The aftermarket wheel is going to have a hub bore that's bigger than your factory's hub. The ring makes the wheel hub centric instead of lug centric. Hub centric is desirable over lug centric. GM's hub size is 70.3. You need an adapter to whatever your hub is. Also, you CANNOT use a wheel with a smaller hub without getting it bored out or using adapters. That means stuff like the import wheels are off limits.

Here is the information you need on the 5spd swap
http://www.gaownersclub.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=161112

It may be on this site too but I went to where I knew it was.

Some times you can find some one local that can do mods for you, and make parts if needed. If you have a drawing some fabrication shops will make what you need for a reasonable price! I have made parts for other people on here as well as done installs/swaps.

As for Milzy, I have dealt with him once, and didn't have any issues. Have not dealt with wot my self but know others that have and have not heard anything bad.

Milzy is actually in West Carrollton Ohio. Close to Dayton

WOT-Tech guy is Ben. Ben is actually a great guy. He's been doing a lot of BMW parts now too.

Milzy has ripped off too many people to count.

The 60° platform that is the 3400 has started to become very popular now. With it's strenght, versatility and availability, it's becoming a good choice. I've even seen some of these motors finding their way into Chevette swaps. A swap that has been reserved for a SBC :eek: