Good evening Saturn community. I just purchased a 99 sc2 with a blown manual tranny I imagine it is a diff pin from what i have read here. What years will fit this car for a replacement. my engine is dohc so i know the replacement will also have to be dohc. I have an opportunuty to buy a 2001 and was also considering changing over the front clip fenders hood bumper etc and was also wondering about fit compatibility. thanks in advance this is a project that myself and my 16 year old daughter will be doing to teach her a bit about the working of a vehicle before we cut her loose on her own so we may have some other questions along the way as well.

 

Welcome to the forum, Bob. The best way to find out what parts will interchange would be to go to your local salvage yard and ask them. They should have a Hollander's catalog which has all of that information. Good luck with the car.

 

Yes, welcome to the Forum.

First, buy her (and yourself) a Service Manual at AutoZone (or some such). Costs about $25usd.

Second, scan the threads here on the Forum -- there are several that detail what parts from what cars of what years can be interchanged.

 

Welcome,
I just recently fixed my 99' sl2, which had basically the same problem.

Essentially, you can get the transmission from any year DOHC, however I would look for a newer one. Anything from 96-02 will fit yours with no issue, does not matter which style (coupe/sedan/wagon) I was lucky enough to find one with only 60K on ebay for $400.

Even if the front clip fits with no copatibility issues (which it should), it would look silly. The lines changed abit in the 3rd gens, and the 2nd gen SCs look better imo haha.

You can find alot of information about whats swappable at saturnwiki.net
Also, the tech section at differentracing has instructions on how to lower the transmission out, unless you pull the whole engine (its an article for an auto manual swap but removal is the same for manual/auto)

Feel free to ask questions. I changed the tranny twice on mine so I can more than likely help hahaha

 

bob1665
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 1



Quote:
1999 saturn sc2 3 door coupe transmission and body panel questions
Good evening Saturn community. I just purchased a 99 sc2 with a blown tranny I imagine it is a diff pin from what i have read here. What years will fit this car for a replacement. my engine is dohc so i know the replacement will also have to be dohc.
UN-QUOTE:

In an over simplification and meant only as a way to point out a need to research things, actually this is something you assumed and really do not know.
And bringing this up only to point out how important it is to have some form of service documentation at all to help facilitate wants, needs and desires.

The S series Saturn for the most part has a very high degree of parts interchangeability and as time as past where the product morphed from something that was a novel if not desirable new automobile to something that became a viable used car and then on to beater status where if you could find one cheap and drive it until something expensive broke and get rid of it to then again something of possibly a cult collector vehicle what followed was an almost total lack of knowledge as to what i was and how it worked because only a few cared.
If a person wishes to do some serious work on one of these things the very first thing needed is some form of service literature.
I myself have an extensive library of service documentation that covers cars I have owned and in some cases still do. This allows me to look up the answer to the question of how do you deal with one thing or another.
I have many factory service manuals. They are complete, comprehensive and expensive and hard to find. And each and every one of them have saved me the cost of a manual by telling me what I needed and how to go about changing it.
I do not have a factory manual for my Saturn, I think they may have only come in micro-fiche format requiring a special reader to view it. I actually have a reader but it is formatted uniquely to read a certain size fiche. But I do have a $25.00 Chilton's manual dedicated to the year Saturn I own and was lucky enough to score a professional mechanics Mitchel's service package soft ware set that does too. Are they as good as a GM or Saturn service document? No, but they answer questions I have as to go about things.
And on this web site is this reference.
Sticky: Swap questions
Which is actually one of the first 3 stickys on this forums section that tells you way more than you thought you needed to know about swapping parts on S series Saturns.
Saturns have moved kicking and screaming from the status of some ones beater to something that might be desirable to own again.
I just had the front seats of my Saturn, a 1994 SC2 coupe re-upholstered due to damage from the sun causing the upholstery to rot. it completes a partial re-upholstery job done 4 years ago. Hint, it was almost impossible to find the correct material. It was traced down in NY city and shipped to Arizona. Chevel's AATCO upholstery shop on Cave Creek blvd in Phoenix did an admirable job as they have in the past and are currently doing on the seats for my 1976 Hornet Sportabout. Another now collectable car after morphing though beater status.
The difference?
There are aftermarket vendors for hard to find parts. For Saturn? None, if you can't find it in the junk yard or make it yourself the odds are you can not find it through a GM parts out let. In fact I can buy some important pieces for my Hornet from Chrysler parts out lets as they are Jeep parts and are still available.
An S series Saturn was unique unto itself and the first problem is going to be to find a GM dealer that has parts listed for a Saturn and is willing to look up and order them and then if the GM parts source has them, wait to get it shipped to you. If you can find a dealer that WILL order them and if not? Back to the junk yard or your own creativity and you will need the $25.00 Mitchel or Chiltons manual to identify what it is and how to deal with it.
As to mix and match of cosmetic pieces and whether they will fit? You are probably on your own. But that is what body work skills are for along with Paint supplied from PPG, bondo and fiberglass and the tools to work with it and some patience to correct your own mistakes, like the one I made painting my Saturn which puts it back on the re-paint list at my house. A lot of work went down the drain on that one. But?
It keeps me out of bars and no matter what, it is cheaper and a lot more fun then buying a new Kia or Hyundai or what ever GM is trying to sell me the last time I was at the Chevy dealer buying engine parts for my Boat engine and the Sales manager an imposing figure came out to the parking lot saying to me I needed to trade off my Saturn. When asked why? He replied; "They don't make them anymore"
I lost interest in the conversation about that time and got into my Saturn and drove off.
It was paid for, I liked it, and was a coupe. Something GM can no longer offer me. At any price.