oy, guys, ive been trying to get a username here for a while and just now figured out that the only way i can apparently get one is to click the reply button (wtf?) but i finally got it.

anyway heres the rundown.

autostick is a function of the tcm. nothing inside the transmission itself is different. when you retrofit an autostick tcm onto a non autostick tcm, one of the shifter positions becomes autostick. on cars that have the prnd3l pattern, 3 becomes autostick. on my avenger the pattern is prnd2l. i assume 2 will become autostick. the point is, that in one of the shifter positions, the tranny computer goes into autostick. you dont need any special part.

to shift the tranny while it is in autostick, all you need is a switch that will ground pins 5 or 44 ( i.e. left or right on the switch, for example) and that sends an upshift or downshift request to the tcm, and the tranny shifts.

if you want to actually get an autostick shifter to work on your car, you may have to do some funky wiring.

imo the easiest thing to do is just rig up a nice switch you can reach easily and comfortably while driving, and put in the tcm, and voila.