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this week at ol Jim Wood's, 4wd swapping and the XT


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i was here about a montha go performing a swap of 4wd spfi dual range into a dl fwd 5spd wagon, and vice versa. here is where i left off

 

-both engine/tranny/crossmember assemblies have been swapped between both cars. the struts and kbnuckles are swapped, the dl is tightened up, the gl wagon sits loosely threaded together. this saved me from having to drop the y pipe and unbolting the bellhousings-

 

ok, here i am to pick up from where i left off. the DL motor was mostly put together. i finished conneting the heater hose, and swapped battery cables form the tx turbo. i got it to start and it ran hoiribbly, backfiring and kicking back and stalling. swapped the MAF with a good one and same results. turns out the #2 and #4 plug wires were on reversely. so now it runs like a charm, ran it ti OT and topped off the coolant.

 

with the d/r trans in the fwd 5spd body, there is no mount for the carrier bearing. of course i knew this from the fwd3at to 4wd 5spd conversion sedan. i brought with me my carrier mount that i fabricated for the trashwagon.

 

the dl has no center console, and the shifter boot meets the carpet. i had to remove the boot retainer to get the d/r levers thru the hole and secured. all the d/r console will fit, but all the dl stuff has to go back into the other wagon. so i am going to have to swap carpets so the other wagon doesnt have a big gaping hole in the carpet where the center console wont be. so far the DL has the shifter mount and parking brake cables hooked up.

 

the clutch cables are a bit different, as the fwd 5spd cable mount is on the left of the trans, and the d/r is in the middle. right now one cable is too long, and the other is too short. i may drop the steering columns and change the whle pedal boxes, since the steering wheel is upside down from the frame swap. if i'm feeling lazy i will attempt to swap the cables themselves, but i still have to drop the steering columns

 

i plan on having all the font ends of both cars put together, running and driving. then i will park them rump roast out in the garage and swap the entire rear suspension assemblies. the gl wagon right now has the 4wd parts still on, with xt swaybar,trailing arms, and rear disc brakes, and rebuilt axles. it will be less work to remove 8 bolts rather than swap the trailing arms themselves, as i will need the tube assembly anyway for the diff mount. 2 pennies and a vise grip will pinch off the fuel lines since the rubber line runs to a steel line that is fixed to the tube frame.

 

im kind of stuck at this moment, as i cant find the alt/ac assembly for the GL, so i cant do much with getting it running, and the DL is so loaded down with parts that i cant fold the seats up to remove the carpet.

 

i guell i will work on the clitch cables so i can move the DL, and then remove the driveshat on the GL so we can move it around.

 

once i get done with boththese cars in a running and driving state, then i'll bring the turbo xt in and take it apart

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both cars now run and move under their own power. the GL is now all bolted down in the font, shifter hooked up, parking brake hooked up

 

i ended up swapping the clutch cable and pedal itself between the 2. as far as the carpets go, jim is not worried about that, so i wont be doing that. a solution would be to find another console piece and use the boot and plate from a pushbutton 5spd.

 

only a few plastics need to be swapped now, we wrapped it up about 10:00 ohio time.

 

tomorrow i will put both cars rear in the air, and swap the whole rear suspension as an assembly. i figure about 3 hours of continuous work, maybe 2 hours. at least i can take my time all week vs doing a headgasket job and new seals whle swapping a tranny and having it running all on one day on a weekend like i have done before.

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sure beats being under the car thru the morning thats for sure. i figure the more time i take on this project the longer i can stay out of trouble in butler. i needed a break from the butler scene anyway. nice change of pace for me, doing the same thing, just somewhere else, not so high-profile over here.

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Jim owns enough Subarus to keep you busy for a while. You'll have them all up and running good by the time you leave there.

 

Sure wish I could put you up for a while here, I could use your assistance. Haven't laid a wrench on the '82 in over 2 months, at this rate it'll be next spring before I get it done. Just don't have the room right now, plus the Wife has been having her "power surges" (as a friend of ours calls them), lately. Not a good time to have anyone staying here.

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well, Tom, i would be happy to come over for a little and fix up some soobs. i'm always availabl, just let me know if you could ever. sorry we havent gotten together in a while.

 

maybe i can talk danny into going on a weekend sometime, my license is suspended or otherwise i would drop by so often and see whats up

 

alleyboy has me lined up here around the 4th, i'm bailing out of the carbola and i will take the sedan to my mom's, and take the RX with me to fort wayne and find work there as i stay with zanny dook.

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another day, more work done:

 

now BOTH suspensions have been successfully swapped, i swapped them as an entire unit. the 4wd suspensions in the DL brought the back end up a few inches to match the height of the front suspension. i had to drill some holes in the back and use some bolts to mount the diff hanger. its all mounted and drilled out, but i lost one of the bolts. so there are 3 there now. the holes meet even with the plastic trim around the inside wheel wells, and the carpet fits over the heads nicely.

 

i swapped the dual range center console to the dl as well. the seats are out so i can drill holes for trashwagon's carrie mount, i will do that first thing in the morning. once mounted, i will go thru the motions of swapping the seat tracks to the XT seats, and will swap rear split seats from the gl to the DL. we may swap the roof rack from the gl to the dl, the outer tracks, and if so, i will swap theheadliner and map lites as well. this will complete the DL.

 

the GL needs another brake bleed as the pedal is a little spongey, i will start with the master cylinder this time

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now i have the driveshaft installed using my home-made carrier mount leftover from trashagon 5, add diff oil, connect speedo cable

 

i got reverse lights working on both wagons, i was able to use the fwd wiring with the dual range in the dl. on the GL i used the dual range wiring for the reverse, but cutt off the other connectors as we may use them for an indicator light for the 4wd in the DL

 

i got the xt seats swapped into rhe DL. i used the tracks off some gl-10 seats to preserve the height adjastable. on the driver seat, i had to bend the slider locking tabs out a little, as the gl-10 mechanism interferes slightly with teh xt's height ajustable. the cable that connects toe two had to be re-bent to take out a few millimeters of slack. on the paseenger seat, the gl-10 tracks are shorer, so i had to drill holes and use nuts with the screws, and on the inside track i had to use a nut to space the difference betwee the track and the base of the seat, using a 12mm bolt and a nut.

 

tomorrow im going to find some anchors to swap the roof rack outer rails to the dl, if i cant find them then i wull use short bolts and locknuts like we used on the sedan and the RX. also i will swap out the back seats, didnt do it today because i didnt get that far, but i got an aftermarket tape deck instaled in the DL. i also installed athe missing bolt on the diff hanger and another bolt in the engine crossmember(had to drill the old one out)

 

saturday we will be swapping another compressor into the turbo wagon, we have an xt for a parts source and are considering changing it all to the flat belt system. also we will change the bulbs in the instrument cluster that butned out from a bad alternator, and swap in a better radiator from the XT

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