I love manual transmissions but automatics are great too. It is about preference.
The isuzu diesel swap is so close for the average enthusiast that I'm totally stoked. I would swap in a 5sp but my 80 has the auto already and my wife would use it most so auto is where I'm headed.
With the surfacing of possible compatibility of the a440 and a450 there are lots of doors opening for the 80 series crowd. As far as shift points, durability, etc. go, I would use the a450 to solve all of the driveability issues. I would venture to guess that the similarities in the a440 and a450 are in our favor knowing that they do have the same bolt patterns. The internals would be different of course because of the application but that may also prove to be a plus.
I hope for and envision my 4HE w/a450, swapping output shafts, bolting on my t-case then fabing up the motor mounts.
There would be other stuff to do but this does seem like it would be a popular enough swap given that there are no adaptors. The only hurdle I see is tearing down the transmission, but if you're swapping motors that should'nt be to bad.
If someone figured out the optimum motormount position and offered mounts, possibly a tranny exchange etc... there could be a kit for this combo.
I think thats enough rambling........
