Thread: How to: RS6 6 speed swap guide

I drop the crossmember every time I do tranny work. Its a whole 6 bolts total to do so. Much easier. The motor goes in much easier from the bottom as well. I always pull mine from the bottom. No wiggling or going in at an angle no scratching the paint off the side or anything. It is literally 100X easier to swap the motor in from the bottom. Raise the car. slide it under. Lower the car back onto the stands. Pick the motor up with the hoise and done. Hell ive hooked the motor up with no hoist before. Remove stands and lower the car almost to the ground with the motor on a small rolling cart and it will be low enough to bolt the driver and passenger side mounts up without issues. Pick the car back up and put it on stands and put the crossmember up.

You find tricks like that when you have done soo many. lol. Ive yet to break a crossmember bolt. I stripped one of mine when doing the 6 speed swap because I was using the altima 5 speed transmission bracket for that driver side mount and the bracket is taller so it made the trans sit about 1 1/2 inches too low and i didnt notice it. So when i went to put the crossmember up it was sitting crooked and couldnt get the holes to line up and was forcing it over while trying to put the bolt in and it went crooked.

Needless to say i noticed it and fixed it and went on no problem after tapping the hole and chasing the crossmember bolt. I didnt get it in very far so it didnt jack it up to the point i couldnt repair the threads.

This swap now that everything is easily available is fairly straight forward. I love the 6 speed. You can just feel how much more stout it is compared to the old trannies. No questions asked and soo far its held up to my power.

Fairly straight forward meaning how long to do the whole swap. I have the parts just want to see if I have the time.

You can do it in a weekend pretty easy if you have a whole weekend free. That includes shifter mounting. Converting to hydraulic if you havent done so already. Notching subframe. As far as the shifter goes cut the whole in the firewall while you have the trans out to ease access. Easiest way is probably with a Die grinder and cutting disk just due to room.

I mounted my shifter underneight in the tunnel so no cutting of the firewall for me. I dont have an exhaust so i could get away with this.

I may tackle this project Ashton, really giving me hope and inspiration haha.

Look for gear stack replacements for the Evo IX MR with the 6 speed. That is the same transmission as the Spec V. The 5 speed is a different animal iirc.
I didn't have to take my crossmember off. I cut a box in it to allow the transmission to pass freely past it. I should take the crossmember off and box that area in to keep water out and to keep the rigidity up. But surprisingly little material needed removal. It is probably negligible the amount I cut out. After cutting the material away, I sprayed with some Rustoleum Rust reformer spray to prevent rust from forming along the cut. So far, so good. That stuff works awesome for preventing rust! Later, I will tear out the crossmember and weld in some extra steel, perhaps have it all coated in bed-liner or something.



You can do it in a weekend for sure, as long as you are mechanically inclined enough. I spent most my time getting materials together, measuring the clutch line, swapping to hydro clutch, and cutting out the sub-frame to clear the tranny. It is time consuming no doubt. Having a P11 or B15 would make the swap SO much easier.

Here you go Ashton, thread on gear replacements
Upgrading / Reinforcing the 6 speed - evolutionm.net

Here are pics of a broken MR 6 speed tranny. Looks the same to me...
http://forums.evolutionm.net/evo-engine-turbo-drivetrain/517696-what-broken-6-speed-looks-like.html

Thanks Coheed, I figured it was an upgrade offered by Shep. Looks really beefy. I mean the 6 speed trans already has a beefier 4th gear than our old 5 speeds but that new shep 3rd 4th and 5th upgrade looks great and i guess it was tested through a 600awhp drag car and held up beautifully. That along with the 85w140 should do wonders.

I know if mine ever goes im gonna get that upgrade set. I have a guy here local that can install them onto the gearstacks so should be simple enough.

The gearstacks are exactly the same. I dont know if they had different gear ratios though or if they are the same as ours but yeah the stacks look identical. Seems like a viable upgrade if it ever breaks. Soo far soo good though. We will see how it lasts when I really start shifting hard and quick with about 800whp into 3rd and 4th gear and have traction. lol.

That broken trans looked as though the slide collar exploded and took out everything with it. lol. Not a good thing.

Also for those interested, Shep does have sets of these gears available. They are 1800 for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th gear. A lot better than spending 6k on straight cut or any kind of dogbox. So yeah if anything happens to my gears. Im giving Shep a call. Gonna verify that the ratios are the same or longer if anything.

Gotta love having options and having the same gearset as a very very popular vehicle. lol

I emailed Shep about possibly taking a look at some Spec V stacks to make sure they are the same and that the gears would work with them.

Pics of the gears....Look at those teeth, mmmm They are as thick if not thicker than the factory 1st and 2nd gear. Should hold up to pretty much anything.

Which speed sensor do you use with the 6spd swap? spec V? B13?,B14?