88' jdm swap n/a am i crazy?

[88"s/c lil"bastard]

i own a 88 4agze with an automatic, hell of a lot of body work is needed and i think i should jus get another car fixing the body and swapping the trans is jus too much.

my plan hopefully is too swap my agze in this 88' manual n/a which is a good running car, but that won't be for a while,

hopefully i can part out the mr.2 im driving now
keep the engine and drop it in when im ready,

few questions supposedly this car has a jdm n/a 1600 maybe around 130 horse if im correct

the thing that troubles me is i havent read any hard facts on whether the a/t ecu can run with a manual trans,

i also heard the wiring in the 87 and up is all there for a plug and play swap
so is the wiring for the instrument cluster there also for the s/c light?

is this worth it?

should i sell the car i have now and buy an agze swap with ecu ?

should i part out the car and keep the engine and search for an ecu?

can i just toggle the s/c off an available 12v source? or is there more to it?

im kinda scetchy on engine swaps i feel much better having an all original car after all my agze runs great with the exception of the automatic which at times i actually like, but i know the truth that i love matching revs heel toe and 4500 rpm launches, if i buy this car it will be my 5th mr.2 in 9 yrs that includes a spider that i totalled when i was 20, yea life is full of heart breaks

i'm really gonna miss the torque from that s/c powerhouse.

[328FTW]

The A/T ecu can run the manual you just have to jumper it so it thinks it's in park so it starts, the computer is kinda "dumb" that way it doesn't really care if the box is there or not.

The supercharger doesn't need to be turned off, it won't give better mileage or anything it will just get confused and wonder where the boost went, it may run without it but there is really no point unless you have a specific reason.

Not sure about the SC light, wouldn't think so never changed clusters on mine but it doesn't really matter it isn't that hard to run one.

[88"s/c lil"bastard]

i've reviewed these threads and it seems people say different things one person claimed they could only run there car with super if they used the a/t ecu, and another directly argued it didn't matter and they ran both ecu's them selves and felt no difference. i don't really want a car that idles high or anything like that so yea i wish i could get the car to run the way its designed to, meaning the supercharger actually disengages when its supposed to.

i'm going to check this n/a car out tomorrow, i guess this car will become my daily driver and i will pull the engine on my 88' s/c.
wish i didn't have to buy another car but its the only way to build a decent ride.

It was an absolute sin to build this car with an automatic, I almost can't believe the car was ever that popular that there are as many dogomatics as there are.
it really does down shift fast and hard though, i'll give it that i wonder how it affected the torque maybe a couple pounds over the manual car. i would like to know the times for 0-60 and quarter mile also for the auto car, can't find any specs like that anywhere.

[328FTW]

My SC mkI used to be auto but I converted it and tricked into thinking it's in park. Haven't tried a M/T ecu because it runs alright as it is. The SC engages and disengages as it should do, it idled perfectly (recently started idling at 2k, I think there is a vacuum leak, the brake booster line I think)

[toyotaspeed90]

Originally Posted by 328FTW

The A/T ecu can run the manual you just have to jumper it so it thinks it's in park so it starts, the computer is kinda "dumb" that way it doesn't really care if the box is there or not.

The supercharger doesn't need to be turned off, it won't give better mileage or anything it will just get confused and wonder where the boost went, it may run without it but there is really no point unless you have a specific reason.

Not sure about the SC light, wouldn't think so never changed clusters on mine but it doesn't really matter it isn't that hard to run one.

on my megasquirted 4agze I see a difference of 14mpg and 45mpg with the s/c on vs. off (I have it on a separate relay and switch).

if you're not using a stock ecu then there's a HUGE advantage to being able to turn it off.


as for a high idle you can always adjust it down. the computer itself (IIRC) doesn't actually care if it's "in park" or not.... I believe there's just something in line of the ignition that won't allow it to start unless it's jumpered (same thing as a clutch pedal -- just has a simple switch that allows the starter to turn... don't believe it's actually computer controlled).

older AT ecu's aren't that smart -- many times the pinouts are the same and there are only minor differences, which you won't be able to tell.

[sbagdon]

I'll go with the "glue the a/t selector in N" and "it'll idle a bit high". I've seen an NA AT->MT, and it had zero issues. There shoudl be plenty of SC AT->MT swaps, just never seen one in person.