Tranny swap & axle question

[QuickToy]

Hi ! I'm new here.
I know this is primarily an Accord board, but you guys seem to have a wealth of general knowledge here.
I have an 86 Prelude 2.0 FI Si A20A3, with an auto tranny that just died. I also have an 85 1.8 carbed Prelude with an 5 spd tranny that is just sitting. I want to save myself some $$$ and use the parts from the 85, but from what I have read, the 1.8 85 axles wont work on the 2.0 86, and visa versa. My question is does anybody know if I can swap hubs, or if I can mix CV joints to get this swap to work? It would be a pain to have to go to the wreckers in the cold, and pull all the parts off to do the 5spd swap.

Thanks for your help
Paul

[NXRacer]

im pretty sure the manual axles wont work with the auto trans.

[QuickToy]

Sorry NXRacer
I wasn't quite clear. I want to do a 5 spd swap. Junk the 86 auto, and use the 5 spd out of the 85.

Paul

[HostileJava]

You can reuse the passengers side axle from the accord and just get a rebuild drivers side from autozone it should fit with no problem. Somone correct me if I'm wrong here.

Edit: Just checked autozone and they have rebuilt with lifetime warranty for $59.99.

[shepherd79]

when you swap 5 speed from A18A motor, you have to make sure you use the flywheel from that motor. if you use flywheel from A20A motor, it will rub on bellhousing.

[QuickToy]

Update !
Well I found out that you can use the A18a tranny with the A20a motor, but you need to use the A18a axles. As long as you use the A18a hubs, and swap the A20a rotors, calipers, etc, onto them, the tranny swap will work. So basically it's the whole A18a tranny drivetrain up to the brakes/rotors. I also found a cheap 87 A20a parts car that has a 5 spd tranny with a recently rebuilt clutch, so I now must decide which will be cheaper to do.

Paul

[HostileJava]

Both passenger side axles should be the same. As far as I know the splines are the same for both trannies.

[BlueBead]

Go with the parts car!
that way if anything else goes you have the right parts and you can still use the extra pass. side axle like hosltilejava said.
I love Personal parts cars!

[PhydeauX]

The splines are not the same from 1.8 to 2.0 (85 axle splines I can verify for a fact do not fit a 2.0 trans). They are diferent on both ends. I can't tell you if its possibe to hybrid or not. The 85 1.8 trans is geared a little better then an 87 a20 trans, but it's not really enough to be worth the extra effort. I'd take the 87 parts car.

andy

[QuickToy]

Well I went and looked at the parts car...It's an 85 1.8 Et not an 87 A20.
I pulled the std tranny out of my 85, with all the parts needed for the conversion, and yanked the junk auto of tranny out of my 87. I going to buy a new clutch tomorrow, and bolt everything into the 87. Funny the 85 axles seem to have the same splines as the 87, but the 85 DS std axle is much beefier than the 87's. The lengths are slightly different though. I will double check tomorrow.

Paul

[QuickToy]

Finished the swap.
FWIW The axles had the same splines so I didn't have to swap the spindles. This got me thinking, so I looked... My car is listed as an 86, but on the door plate it says 10/85 ??? I didn't think that they made 2.0 Si's in 85.

Anyhow, the swap went well, but a few things to note for future swappers... Don't forget that the rear motor mount is different. (It worked without swapping the front one) The mount on the centre support beam was slightly different, but it is adjustable. If the car has cruise control, don't forget to swap the small bracket and the 4 prong brake SW for the 2 prong. Also the tranny bolts are different lengths. (auto's are slightly longer) Didn't have to swap speedo cable. Needed a minor adjustment with the throttle cable.

Paul