My 86 vette is automatic, one of the few things that i really dislike about the car, i was wondering if anyone knew the difficulty/cost of changing over to a manual transmission, and if it would be worth it, whether i would be better off doing it myself or bringing it to the mechanic

How much do you drive your Vette? I had cars with 5 and 6 speeds. Although I'm one of the old guys here (46) I got tired of all the shifting. Don't get me wrong, I loved the stick, it was a ball but it got old after while. Unless your gonna go to the track, the performance gains are not gonna be night and day. I.M.O.

But to each his own.

I don't know if it's feasable to do a change over. There are electical issues to consider. The ECM might be ok but I think you would have to change the PROM chip. I don't know if GM had the same wire harness wether it was an auto or stick. It might be cost prohibative.

But I could be wrong.

just my 2 cents

You always have the option of going with a shift kit on you automatic. As far as cost goes and difficulty goes it better in both respects.

Well in my opinion i like a manual better than a automatic. If you stay with the automatic i would go with a shift kit and get a different staul converter. But people say with an automatic you lose 30% of ur horse power. But in my opinion i would got with a manual but i have also redone my whole engine and transmission to but do what you want to do.