D/R Swap + New Clutch (Pics)

[jj421]

Thanks to "Board junkie," I had a D/R tranny follow me home today. 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry about my tie downs being in the way, haha. I need to wait for a family member to get home before I can move it off the trailer. But yeah, so this is gonna be my new project. The main reason why I'm doing the swap is because I need a new clutch, so I figured I'd put a dual range in there while I'm dropping the transmission.

 

Now, the thing is, it's gonna be a couple weeks before I can actually put the transmission in. I need to save up the money for a new clutch kit, and 4WD clutch kits aren't cheap.   Until then, I would like some more information on both the tranny swap, and the clutch installation.

 

First, questions about the tranny swap. I've done a bit of research, and the best I can find is, "It's a direct bolt in swap." That's great, but it doesn't tell me what I'm doing. I would like a step-by-step guide (preferably with pictures) that tells/shows what bolts to take out, where, etc. It does look pretty straight forward though. It seems like this: drain gear oil; undo the six bolts connecting the bell housing to the engine; take out the starter motor; disconnect the clutch cable; detach the tranny cross member underneath; take out the drive shaft; disconnect wires/hoses; take off interior trim pieces; maneuver tranny out of car. Then the reverse for installation. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that what it seems like needs to be done.

 

Also, I'm wondering how easy/difficult this is to do with the engine IN. I have no intention of pulling my engine. I couldn't anyways as I don't have the tools. Again, it does look pretty straight forward to do; it'd just be a tight fit with the engine there.

 

Oh, speaking of tools, any tools that you recommend for doing the swap? Would it be worth it save up and get an air impact wrench? I have nothing more than basic hand tools, the car's scissor jack, and jack stands. I remember trying to pull a tranny from a junkyard car, and I couldn't due to a nut/bolt being torqued too much. Even my breaker bar didn't help.

 

I think that's all I have to ask about the swap for now. If I think of any other questions, I'll speak up.

 

Onto the clutch replacement. Well, I have no idea what I'm doing, haha. I have not ever researched how to replace a clutch, so I don't even know what to ask. I'll probably look it up soon, but I would love any advice on how to do a clutch replacement. When I do more research, I'll be sure to ask more questions about it.

 

I think that's it for right now. As a heads-up, I am very photogenic, so I will be posting a large number of pictures in this thread, and I hope you guys do too. Like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. A picture showing me how something is hooked up, or where a part goes, helps me 100 times more than just over text.

[Idasho]

It is more or less a direct swap.

 

Only real change is shift linkage and where it mounts.  All stuff you will have to address as it happens.  

 

No problem doing it with the engine in.

 

 

First things first though, looking at that bellhousing you need to determine FOR SURE if that is gear oil or engine oil.

 

If it is gear oil you have some work to do before you even touch the car.

[jj421]

It is more or less a direct swap.

 

Only real change is shift linkage and where it mounts.  All stuff you will have to address as it happens.  

 

No problem doing it with the engine in.

 

 

First things first though, looking at that bellhousing you need to determine FOR SURE if that is gear oil or engine oil.

 

If it is gear oil you have some work to do before you even touch the car.

 

Oh, I also forgot to mention the obvious; I need to take off the axles too.   Do I need to take the axles out entirely? Or can I get away with just taking the axle off of the transmission (but leaving it in the wheel)? I am gonna replace my passenger side axle for sure though. Refurbished axles don't last long, apparently, haha. But yeah, if I can leave the driver side axle in there and save myself that extra work, that'd be great. I think there should be enough leeway.

 

As far as the bell housing goes, I just went out and did a quick "touch & smell" test. It's got a really thick viscosity. It doesn't smell of gear oil (it actually doesn't have a smell at all). I don't believe it's gear oil, but any way to check, for sure?

 

With the shift linkage, is there anything I'll need to do about that?

 

Out of curiosity, anybody have the punch size for the shifter knob on my push-button? I know that it doesn't screw off like the D/R shifter knob. Just wondering if anyone knows the punch size (or a good way to get the pin out).

Edited February 18, 2013 by jj421

[AKghandi]

if I were to attempt that, with that limited of tools I would drop the whole front subframe. engine transmission and front suspension. its a real pain to get the transmission lined back up under the car, those transmissions aren't exactly light. its a bit more work, but it will be eaiser in the long run.

 

When I do a clutch I pull the motor, its alot easier than dropping the transmission. but thats not exactly an option with your plans.

 

the clutch itself is easy, there will be like 6 bolts holding the pressure plate to the flywheel, when you remove it the clutch disc will fall out.

then you unbolt the flywheel and use something like a socket to pop out the pilot bearing. then tap the new one in, bolt the flywheel back up put the new clutch disc in put the new pressure plate on and get the bolts started. then put the clutch alignment tool into the clutch disc and pilot bearing, and slowly tighten the pressure plate bolts while making sure the alignment tool slides in and out easily until the pressure plate bolts are tight.

 

then theres the throw out bearing, its pretty easy to figure out.

Edited February 18, 2013 by AKghandi

[jj421]

It looks like my buddy's dad has a bunch of tools that I might be able to borrow. Not sure exactly what he has, but I might have access to more tools. Yeah, I'm thinking more of removing my current tranny more than putting in the new one. I forgot how difficult it may be to line up and install the new transmission. I'm thinking if I can get a floor jack, I might be able to maneuver the transmission a little easier.

 

Yeah, I always try and go the easier route (as with most people). In that sense, pulling the motor would be the sensible option. But I'd really rather not pull the motor.

 

The clutch installation does seem pretty easy. What about taking the flywheel somewhere to get it resurfaced? I remember reading a while ago that that's something that should be done. And with the TOB, that comes with a clutch kit, correct?

 

Speaking of clutch kits, any preferences? I'm looking at this one: Exedy 15008. I believe this is the 4WD clutch, and Exedy is OEM as I've read. At $154, with Amazon Prime and free 2-day shipping, it seems like a good deal.

 

http://www.amazon.com/EXEDY-15008-OEM-Replacement-Clutch/dp/B001B5LSTA/ref=au_pf_ss_2?ie=UTF8&Make=Subaru%7C13&Model=Loyale%7C65&Year=1990%7C1990&carId=003&n=15684181&s=automotive

 

 

Currently watching EricTheCarGuy's 2-hour clutch replacement video on YouTube on an '02 Ford Focus. Probably not the best video to watch as it's a hydraulic clutch and, well, a completely different car, but at least it's giving me an idea of what I'm doing.

Edited February 18, 2013 by jj421

[tractor pole]

check this out...

 

MilesFox has some great videos

[AKghandi]

you should watch that whole series. if i remember, they were putting a 5speed into an auto car, so that should tell you alot of the things you need to know.

[jj421]

I have the day off, so I guess I'm gonna watch his videos all day. 

 

Oh, and I just realized that when I install the D/R, I'm gonna have to change my avatar. 

 

Edit

 

I've gotten to video #07 in his series. Definitely learning quite a bit. But in one of the first videos, it raised a question that I had ignored. I will be disconnecting the exhaust pipe, correct? Looking under my car, my exhaust pipe is clear in the way of the drive shaft and the tranny cross member, as well as the front part of the transmission. How far back on the exhaust will I have to take off?

 

Also, I'm wondering, should I get the flywheel resurfaced, or buy a new one? I know in both MilesFox's and EricTheCarGuy's videos, they use a homemade method of cleaning up the flywheel. However, last time I went the cheap route was on my axle. Now I have to put in a new axle, and I definitely don't wanna go back and redo the flywheel if I can prevent it. I'm leaning towards buying a new flywheel. There's 260,XXX miles on my car, so I'm sure the flywheel has seen better days. Also, on Amazon, a flywheel (ACDelco part #388154) costs $80, which is a good deal as machine shops wouldn't be a whole lot less. And it'd be a brand new part too. It's not OEM, but an OEM flywheel costs upwards of $300.  What's your opinion? Would I be looking at any performance change with a new flywheel? Is it better to do a new flywheel, or get the current one resurfaced?

Edited February 19, 2013 by jj421

[jj421]

Bump. Still really wondering about whether I should get my flywheel resurfaced, or replaced with the ACDelco one. Anybody with an opinion on this?

[tractor pole]

Most good automotive machine shops will be able to resurface it for $30-40. As long as it is not cracked or scorched too bad, I say resurface it, just make sure they machine the step properly.

Edited February 22, 2013 by tractor pole

[jj421]

That's what I was thinking, but one reason why I don't want to get it resurfaced is the down time. First and foremost, I don't know of any machine shops, even though I'm sure I can find one. And second, when I get to the flywheel, I have to take it out, drive to the shop, wait for them to machine it, and drive back. I'm sure it doesn't take long to machine it, but that's still losing a couple hours, probably. A new flywheel I can have at my door at the same time as my clutch kit, which could save a bunch of time.

 

Not to mention I have no idea what condition the flywheel is in. I'd hate to open up the transmission, only to find it's beyond resurfacing. Then I'd have to wait a few days for shipping of a new flywheel. The clutch has probably been changed at least once in the car's life, but the flywheel is still probably original. And again, with 261,000 miles, it's probably not in the best shape. On the other hand, I don't have any clutch chatter, except when letting the clutch out in second gear at very slow speeds.

 

Obviously I'm not a transmission expert, haha. I'm not sure what to expect when I start doing the transmission. I think I'll just have to see how much money I have and go from there. If I have the money for the clutch kit, some tools, gear oil, etc., but not enough for a flywheel, I'll just get it resurfaced. But if I have enough for a new flywheel, I'll just order one.

 

Maybe I'm over thinking this.  But hey, I'm really excited to do this swap, so it's the only thing on my mind right now.

[jj421]

Bump and update. It's been a while since I've updated this thread, but I've started work on the swap. Removed the bell housing bolts, the starter motor, the cross member bolts, the axles, the drive shaft, the front of the exhaust, the interior parts, etc. The only thing(s) I haven't done is disconnect the electrical plugs, and get the transmission out.

 

Now, I couldn't help but notice the white connector has four wires on the push button, and six on the D/R. Will I just have to cut the wires and splice them together? Then, another thing is, what vacuum lines am I looking at disconnecting. I took off the two hoses going up to around the fuel filter, but that's it.

 

The last big thing I can think of, is I can't get the bottom of the bell housing separated. It's just not coming off the studs. Jacking up the rear end of the transmission helped, but not much. Any tips?

 

If anyone is nearby and wants to come over and help, I'd truly appreciate it! 

 

 

On a side note, I couldn't help but notice this boot, which is for the power steering, correct? It's got grease and all that stuff flung from it (not the axle), which is not good. The passenger side is "clean."

 

 

Edit:

 

With a bit of persuasion and use of my jack, I got my transmission out!  I now need to do my clutch and flywheel, and I'm ready to put the new one in.

Edited March 9, 2013 by jj421

[l75eya]

That's your steering rack. Looks like you might have a little leak. How's your power steering fluid? The rod going into the boot is your inner tie-rod. The piece that attaches to the end and goes into your wheel hub is the outer tie-rod, or tie-rod end.

you're doing all this work by yourself? That's quite an endeavor to take on, and, as I understand, it's the first time you're doing so? Kudos to you and I'm jealous. Still haven't got that far into my car yet.
Be careful though!

[jj421]

Yeah, I thought that was my steering rack. My power steering fluid is good, I believe. Haven't checked it in a while, now that I think of it. I haven't had any problems with my wheel being difficult to turn, although, when stopped or moving slowly, it makes noises as I turn the wheel. The noises change pitch the faster/slower the RPMs. I would love to throw a manual steering rack in, since I am not a fan of power steering. But they're just so hard to find. I think the only EA82s with manual steering were '85-'87 if I remember correctly.

 

Thanks for the names of the components. I'm slowly getting to learn all the suspension components. I find the suspension to be the one area I don't do any work on, so I don't learn the parts and what they do. Been watching a lot of EricTheCarGuy on YouTube, so I'm starting to get familiar with it, haha.

 

And yes, I'm doing this by myself.  It'd be nice to have someone with me, especially someone with experience, but to be honest, it's not as hard as I thought it was. I think lining up the new transmission to the engine will be a chore, but with enough patience I should get it. It's my first time doing this, and my biggest project to date. As a 17-year-old, I have very little experience, so I'm surprised that I've gotten so far. One last thing to do: take off the flywheel. Then I'll be putting everything else back on.

 

 

[l75eya]

Sounds great! I only started suspension work about a year ago when I did all new ball joints, tie rod ends and inner tie rods, and new shocks on the Loyale.

Suspension work is fun, you get to beat things with hammers. It's frustrating too, though, as the reason you're beating on things with hammers is usually because stuff is stuck. I remember the one ball joint took me like 2 hours of hammering in different places to finally get it to come out. Putting it all back together is fun though.

What's not fun is the messed up alignment from changing the tie rods though. Still haven't gotten the steering aligned.

I envy the tranny pull though. Anxious to get to that stuff myself, and wow, you sure are a youngster. Planning on a career wrenching? Seems like you like it a bit.

[jj421]

I haven't had any problem with my suspension... yet. I've had to do a little work on it, and it does seem like it'd be very frustrating. I seem to get frustrated quite easily when working on cars. Trying to control that, and so far, this entire tranny swap has gone flawlessly. I haven't gotten pissed off at the metal yet.

 

I hope I don't have to do rear suspension work soon. Or any work in the rear. When I was disconnecting the driveshaft, I saw that everything back there was old and crusty. Seemed like no matter how much penetrating oil you spray, the bolts back there will fight you.

 

Yeah, speaking of alignment, will I have to get one? As you can see in the second picture above, I disconnected the thru-bolt on the lower control arm. I've also undid the two 16 mm bolts for that guiding rod up near the tranny cross member. Also, are those parts fine to reattach in the air, or should I put the car back down on the ground before attaching 'em? I want to test the transmission with all four wheels up in the air, so I can the 4WD working (if it does).

 

Again, I'm surprised at how easy the transmission pull is. If I was doing an auto-to-manual swap, that'd be a different story. I'm sure that's got more difficulties involved. Yeah, I am pretty young. I'd love to become an auto mechanic. The only problem is, old Subarus are fairly different than most cars, so they're not really a good place to practice things.   But I'd definitely love to go to a college and work on cars for a living. I'd like to work at a Subaru dealership eventually, but at least specialize in Subaru and Japanese makes.

 

Got the flywheel off. Time to put things back together. Surprisingly, my clutch disc didn't look in horrible shape. But yet, there were no threads left on the clutch adjustment screw.

 

[capn_r]

Your clutch cable may be stretched.  Keep up the good work.

[l75eya]

How does adjusting the clutch work? I saw the linkage at the trans, and I fiddled with it briefly, but the nuts seem to be locked together tight. Guess I'll have to get two wrenches on it to adjust it? The damn strut brace/spare tire support is in the way.

[jj421]

As far as I know, you tighten the nut as the clutch wears, which raises the biting point. At least that was how it was with my old '81 GL. I haven't actually adjusted my clutch on here, since it's been unadjustable since the day I bought the car. But I'm sure it's similar.

 

I've hit a little roadblock. While maneuvering the new transmission under the car, I guess the release fork got caught somewhere, which caused the clips on the TOB to go flying in my garage. I've managed to recover two, but one of them is too big and doesn't hold the TOB tight enough.

 

Oh, and I guess another roadblock. I need someone to help me life the transmission back onto the engine, haha.

Edited March 10, 2013 by jj421

[maozebong]

if you havent already, its much easier to have the engine mounts unbolted. whenever i remove the engine or trans, i always jack them both up (bellhousing attached to engine still) and get the engine off the subframe. put a 2x4 across the fenders and a chain to support the motor (safety chain). place a 5 gallon bucket and 2x4's to make up an extra inch or two of height under the oil pan. then remove belhousing bolts, and shimmy the trans off the car. it can also help the removal process to leave the crossmember on the trans, and a friend can help push it in place. 

 

once you are ready, the 2x4 you used to support the engine is now a small hoist for someone to lift (with their legs!) the engine and guide it in place.

 

keep in mind, turning the crankshaft over can help get splines to line up and the input shaft to find its way home in the pilot bearing. 

[jj421]

Alright, well, I have managed to fix the TOB (I hope) and got the new transmission jacked up and lined up.  Silly me, though, because I forgot to connect the two of the three reverse/4WD light plugs, so I gotta lower the tranny a bit to access them. But all in all, I'm surprised at how well this is going and I'm proud of myself for making it this far, haha.

 

From now on, it's pretty much putting everything back together. I gotta go to work now so I can't look it up, but does anyone have a picture of the clutch cable where it goes through the clutch fork? Like, where you adjust the clutch? I didn't realize until now that there are quite a few washers and spacers and things, so I don't quite remember how it goes back on.

[l75eya]

I'll see if I can snap a pic later and post it up.

[jj421]

That'd be great if you could!

[l75eya]

Hope that helps.

Edited March 10, 2013 by l75eya

[jj421]

Yes, that helps! Thanks a ton!  That's how I figured it went on, but just wanted to make sure.

 

Home from work now, and I'm determined to get this finished tonight. 

Edited March 11, 2013 by jj421