by @ccord10 »
February 17th, 2015
Ive been researching this for some time and im finally going to do it. I know im not the first to attempt this but ill probably be the first successfully do it on a USDM 8th gen sedan. Very few parts are actually
needed for the retro. The basic parts you will need are paddle shifters and steering wheel harness, ECU & Speedometer from a coupe w/paddle shifters and some basic wiring skills. Some other parts can be installed but are not necessary to make it work (coupe shifter & escutcheon, etc.) but i will be installing these because im going for the "factory installed" look. keep in mind this will be a long term project so it may take me a few months to complete as i need to get most of the parts before i can do the retrofit. the hardest part to get (and most costly) is the ECU from an 3.5L with paddle shifters. Im going to be getting a used ECU because i dont want to spend $700 for new. The 2.4L ECU's are easy to find so you guys will have a much easier time getting parts than me. You will also need to get some parts programmed at the dealer. You will need to get the ECU and the speedometer mileage reprogrammed. the ECU will need to programmed with the VIN and the immobilizer/key. I will start by installing the paddle shifters and harness since they will not affect anything while the retro is done, i still have to use this as a daily driver. The speedometer is plug and play since it uses F-CAN for the displays etc. ,so this can be installed also, but im not sure how it would display 2, or 1.
The clockspring, gear selector switch and transmission are exactly the same so that makes this much easier. only a four pins on the ECU need to be swapped and some minimal wiring needs to be changed or added. If you have a coupe you could just change the engine wiring harness if your not comfortable doing the wiring changes.
Last edited by
@ccord10 on February 19th, 2015, edited 1 time in total.