According to the specs, a 5-speed was an option on the 4-cyl wagon, but all the wagons I've seen (pretty rare too) have the automatic. My interest is that the wagon 5-speed has a lower final drive ratio compared to the sedan. Both have the same gear ratios otherwise.
Since it looks like finding a wagon 5-speed at a wrecker is pretty unlikely, getting new parts and fitting them to a sedan 5-speed is the solution.
Assuming the trans is on the bench, what's involved in changing a final drive gear. Obviously the case has to be split. Is the smaller pinion gear a removable item or is it part of an intermediate shaft? I don't yet have a workshop manual to look into this in detail.
Why? I've come across a cheap 97 Odyssey (first generation) with a very nice body, decent engine, but a fried transmission. I'd rather convert the van to manual (yes, I've done this sort of thing before) than fix the auto trans, and the sedan 5-speed final drive would be to tall for decent performance. The wagon trans final drive would be preferable.
SJD