Has anyone taken a spider with an automatic transmission and replaced it with a manual? I found an 80 with a great body and was thinking about swapping the engine and 5 speed trans from the 79 that I have since the 79 has a significant amount of body work. Seems like the lower console area would be different but the rest would be the same, but thought I'd ask to see if anyone has some past experiences.

I've done it. If you have a donor car then it is no big deal, about a good day's worth of work.
You will need to swap the flywheel, clutch, transmission, driveshaft, shifter wood, metal plate under shifter wood, clutch cable, speedometer cable, clutch and brake pedals.
This would be a good time to check/replace a lot of components, like clutch, driveshaft donut and support, lower shifter boot, etc.

Besides the transmission, you'll need to replace other parts along train as Vandor said above. You can still use the automatic's shift wood grain panel and plate, just put a square bottom boot on it.

Landhawk wrote:Has anyone taken a spider with an automatic transmission and replaced it with a manual? I found an 80 with a great body and was thinking about swapping the engine and 5 speed trans from the 79 that I have since the 79 has a significant amount of body work. Seems like the lower console area would be different but the rest would be the same, but thought I'd ask to see if anyone has some past experiences.

I would think swapping out the drivetrain would be much simpler overall. I'd think putting in the clutch pedal and routing cables would be the biggest PITA. But, then, I've never done it.