1983 GL Wagon D/R 4x4 synchro rings

[heymulderitsme]

Hey y’all,

Just had a good chat with my old Subaru mechanic about having a hard time shifting into 3rd gear (it grinds and is very particular about how it goes in). 
 

He suggested replacing the synchro ring, maybe for 2nd and 3rd since 2nd also gets pretty beat up under normal circumstances. 

Anyhow, he says it’s ideal to find a new replacement, but my research so far has suggested that may be impossible—Subaru catalogs at official parts spots don’t go back to 1983. 

So, I’m hoping someone out there either has a connection to some very lovely synchros or otherwise knows of a way to possibly breathe new life into this transmission. 

Hoping to fully restore the car and keep it forever, so I’ve got time. 

Thanks in advance!

[moosens]

There’s a seller on eBay lately who has a lot of new old stock from a former dealership and it seems this seller has a lot of 80’s parts. 
 

I will try to add the name as I think of it. Location is Ohio. North Royalton or something like that. 
 

I suggest you try to contact this seller and any others you see with NOS from the 80’s and ask about the synchros.
 

Try to know your part number as I see this seller doesn’t have as much reference material as myself. 
 

My 70’s NOS has some synchros. If they are the same I’ll do my best to dig them out.

 

Problem is I just packed up everything thinking I had a buyer for my lot. 
 

When I get back to my manuals I’ll see what info I can offer for part number and possibilities of a 70’s 1600 being the same. 
 

Since you’re going this far you would be doing yourself a favor by hunting down whatever you can for that transmission. Don’t accept “discontinued” or can’t find that , keep looking. I’m confident you’ll come up with many of the seals and shims etc you’ll need to have it done right.

Don’t forget shifter rattle (bushings). 

[Step-a-toe]

With the smarts, time and effort it takes to do this job I would not want to suggest my Mazda truck and have it fail on you.

Used to pull Mazda boxes apart, rough up the hardened cone that the synchros sit on and turn crunch into smooth without replace any parts

Emery paper took the slippery shine out, giving synchro something to bite

Was a trick a gearbox shop taught brothers mate when he worked for them

[el_freddo]

5 minutes ago, Step-a-toe said:

Used to pull Mazda boxes apart, rough up the hardened cone that the synchros sit on and turn crunch into smooth without replace any parts

That’s a common practice from what I understand. 

You could learn to double the clutch between gear changes as this will help match the different speeds of the gears before you try slotting it in. 

The 4spd box isn’t easy to pull apart. The only one I’ve done ended up being cut open with an angle grinder (for parts) as I couldn’t get the pinion shaft bolt off to remove the centre casing - you can’t get a socket onto it as the hole to access it is offset and tight. 

5spd L series box is much easier to work on in comparison. EJ even easier. 

All the best in your quest for parts, finding them will be hard. Doing the gearbox work will be no different IMO. 

Cheers 

Bennie

[GeneralDisorder]

Trust me - you don't want to pull apart the 4 speed. It's a NIGHTMARE inside. 

The parts are NLA. And the 3rd gear grind problem wasn't entirely the synco's, it involved an entire retrofit kit with shifter forks.... several sizes depending on what was measured once it was opened up. Last I checked not all the sizes were available and that was probably more than 5 years ago.  

If you want to know the gritty details you can talk to Matt at Lithia Subaru (parts department) in Oregon City. He owns several EA81's, has all the parts books going back to 1980, and has "investigated" doing the 3rd gear grind retrofit..... I trained him on transmissions but neither of us has ever actually done the 4 speed shift fork repair..... I took apart a 4 speed once - after making a special thin-walled 35mm socket to get it apart (had to turn it down on a lathe). There were so many shifter rail check balls, bullets, and springs in those units it will make your head spin right off your neck..... I literally *poured* the parts into the recycle after they sat there for a bit and I determined it just wasn't worth the effort.... I bet that was close to 20 years ago. 

I would toss it in the dumpster and install a 5 speed..... and I'm probably the ONE person on this forum that has come closest to actually fixing a 4 speed and has the capability to do it......  It's not worth it. 

The 5 speed was SOOOO much better in every way. Bulletproof at the EA power level, virtually never has syncro issues, it's shorter, smaller overall, and weighs less. The 5 speed shift linkage is to the 4 speed linkage as the Saturn V rocket is to a brick of moldy cheese. 

GD

Edited July 11, 2020 by GeneralDisorder

[el_freddo]

8 hours ago, GeneralDisorder said:

I would toss it in the dumpster and install a 5 speed..... and I'm probably the ONE person on this forum that has come closest to actually fixing a 4 speed and has the capability to do it......  It's not worth it. 

I fixed one real good - with an angle grinder, never to be in use again! 

The L series 4wd engaging mechanism has enough balls and dedents in there to keep you on your toes! I wouldn’t want anymore than that. 

Cheers 

Bennie

[NV Zeno]

If you can find a used, low mileage EA81 4 speed, you can try replacing yours with that.  No guarantee the very common 3rd gear issue won't be there.

Been there done that.

What GD said-yeah. 

[GeneralDisorder]

8 hours ago, NV Zeno said:

If you can find a used, low mileage EA81 4 speed, you can try replacing yours with that.  No guarantee the very common 3rd gear issue won't be there.

Been there done that.

What GD said-yeah. 

Low mileage is actually a bad thing with the 4 speed. Matt who I previously spoke of has an absolutely MINT, garaged, all original 83 GL wagon with 52k original miles on it and 3rd gear is shot in that transmission already. Grinds and pops out of gear because it never had the retrofit done. That's why he is considering potentially doing the retrofit on it at some point (likely with my help). Since he works at the parts department I think he has hoarded enough parts over several years of searching that he might have a chance of getting it done. But he is leaning toward a 5 speed swap because they are so much better. If someone truly wanted me to attempt the job........ I'm going to charge double what a modern 5 speed rebuild would cost due to the effort, difficulty finding parts, R&D,  substantial learning curve, custom tooling that will likely never be used again...... So about $5,000

GD

[moosens]

Ok well forget about what I said , eh !! 
 

Subafreak had my 78 single range opened up and he seemed to breeze through it. So my mistake if the older 1600 S/R is way more simple.

 

Going further off the deep end , I do have new shifter forks in varied sizes. But those are all likely for the 70’s 
 

Good luck with it! 

[GeneralDisorder]

30 minutes ago, moosens said:

Ok well forget about what I said , eh !! 
 

Subafreak had my 78 single range opened up and he seemed to breeze through it. So my mistake if the older 1600 S/R is way more simple.

 

Going further off the deep end , I do have new shifter forks in varied sizes. But those are all likely for the 70’s 
 

Good luck with it! 

Yes the single range transmission were considerably simpler because the dual range is done on the input shaft BEFORE any of the gears. And the linkage coupled the 4WD and the low range together in such a way as to preclude the use of low range while in 2WD. Although if you change the interlock or disable it, it actually IS possible to put the transmission into 2WD Low. 

GD

Edited July 12, 2020 by GeneralDisorder

[moosens]

Thanks for the education. I seem to recall some knucklehead doing that with the low FWD.