Manual or automatic transfer box?

Hey guys,

I bought a 2002 Jimny back in September 2020 here in Iceland. However the body is too rusted to be worth repairing. I ended up buying a 2011 Jimny, that has the same features as my 2002.

I am now in the process of removing all the needed parts from my 2002 to the 2011, and the only thing I am kind of missing is that the transfer box is  "too modern for me" with these buttons. I kind of fancy the old stick and tbh, I do not even like the idea of having ABS, as here in Iceland the abs sensors are eaten by rust in no time.

So, I am considering the "stupid" process of removing the automatic transfer box, and add the manual one. So "fix" what ain't broken.

Has anyone gone this direction? Is it pointless?

Feedback needed from you, guys!

Thank you!

Many have done it. There is a plate in the floor you can remove to poke the stick through.
If the 2011 had a manual gearbox then the ratio of transfer case will be different. With the manual transfer case you will have a 30% gear reduction in high range and slightly less in low range.
If the 2011 has an automatic gearbox high range will be the same and you will have slightly less reduction in low range.