'96 Camry 4cyl. to V6 swap, AT --> 5 speed swap

[sjschwartz]

After a long look into my performance problem (see under the hood, "I need help"), unless an unposted turbo kit works out quickly it looks like I am looking to swap engines in my '96 Camry LE Coupe. I am asuming that I'll need a new trans. for the bigger engine so I think, if it is possible, I'll go to a manual trans. rather than the current stock automatic. Please give me some feedback as to how stupid I might be for considering this. And, if anyone has any better suggestions please let me know. Also if anyone has done anything similar I'd love to hear about it.

[AcuraBro]

For the money you're going to spend on this, you could buy a Civic hatchback and put a B16 in it. I've changed a rear head gasket on a '91 Camry V6, and they're not exactly easy to work with. When you fit a 6 cyl in the space of a 4, labor is a pain in the ass. Camry V6 is not too an impressive powertrain. And changing an AT to a MT isn't an easy task either. You'll need a new pedal, master cylinder, run some hydrolic lines, etc. I'm not sure that they made the '96 V6 in a M/T anyway. Or you could just sell your A/T I-4 and buy a M/T V6, if they made them.

Don't waste your time and money.