can i do auto to manual??

i have a 1980 el camino with a 3 speed auto.. i want to change it to a stick shift but i dont know anything about what it takes to do this and the how much money it will cost. would i have to buy a whole dofferent tranny? lemme get some feedback please...  

yes you would have to get a different tranny , the internals are different.

personally i would look for a 6 speed, im assuming most of them would be electronic but that's not much of a problem these days , hot rodders put new engines/tranny's in old vihecles so if there is a will there is a way, painless wiring would be the place to start , if prices are not in your range keep looking.

u will have to add a clutch pedal , make a hole for the shifter, possibly get a new or resized drive shaft, find a compatable bell housing , im not sure about the fly wheel( again this all depends, you could try find a manual transmission that is the same year or close that might bolt right up)

manual transmissions are a win tho , they normally take more punishment than autos.  

thanx.. that was some real helpful info, i didnt know it would take that much work!  

Change flywheel,install pilot bearing in end of crankshaft.You need transmission,bellhousing,clutch fork,complete clutch kit,clutch pedal and linkage. Your best bet is to get a donor car to pull these parts from but you need to make sure you are up to the task  

What is the reason for going to the standard shift? If it is for performance go to a drag strip and you will see most of the cars running there are autos.
Performance autos and converters of today run very well.  

i agree with dave going to stick would be fun but if not a pro at shifting more area for mess ups  

Also with the questions being asked initially I would really question whether or not you are up to the task, it might be better suited for a few projects down the road if you know what i mean.  

If you dont have someone with some mechanical abilities to help you would be better of leaving it alone.  

you could have your trans converted to a full manual valve body and pull and reinstall the trans yourself.  

That would prob be more in his skill range.  

I think tackling a auto to manual conversion is a good way to break in an auto-mechanical newbie.
It can be difficult, but it is easier than doing an engine rebuild. Besides, a 5spd behind a hot V8 is a religious experience not to be missed by any gearheads.

Jake  

Jake,

Did you read his initial post?  

You can do the conversion.  Really it depends on what you're going to use it for the most.  As mentioned in previous posts if you're going to spend more time running it on the 1/4 mile strip, stick with automatic.  You'll get better consistency and remove more of the human error factor.  You WILL need a new tranny which you can probably find a 5 or 6 speed from an early 80's Camaro or Firebird from a junk yard for a couple hundred.  Those are great for performance and cruising the freeway.  Take it to a reputible tranny shop and have it rebuilt for another couple hundred.  Paint it and install it yourself - it's fairly easy and will save tons of labor costs.  There's plenty of how-to books out there to help you on that.  You should probably get the books first and read them.  They'll also help with a list of what other parts you're going to need like; complete clutch assembly, bell housing, brake/clutch pedal assembly, etc.  After you do some reading, see if it's REALLY something you want to tackle yourself.  I was lucky enough to have bought my 79 Nova after the previous owner converted from an inline 6, 3-speed auto to a V8 4-speed manual.  I just had to tweek everything to get it to work right.  
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http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3801172

Yep I read it his post. He's asking generic questions about swapping in a manual to a particular model (El Camino) but he has zero knowledge.  Luckily for the newbies there are great search engines to help him find the info that he needs, and decide if it's worth his time and effort.

I was saying that performing an auto to manual conversion is relatively easy compared to ripping down an engine and performing a rebuild with zero knowledge.

Besides, we ALL had zero knowledge when we started, but we did not have the internet to help us out. We either went in blindly, or had the hearsay from the "experts" in our area.

Jake  

No internet help for me when I started building engines but I did have some guidance from a national level mountain motor engine builder.