4RnrRick Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 I got a line on a CLEAN 86 GL-10 Wagon that is fully loaded. Only problem is that its a 2wd Auto. I know its possible to convert to 4wd but, can I do that and still keep the Automatic Tranny for the Wife? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Duck and cover!!! Incoming auto-trans hate-mail! I will leave the specific answer to your question to those who know what they are talking about (or at least believe they do!). But as far as I can tell, with a little work you can transform your Subaru into almost any variant. Subaru offered a 4wd 3-speed auto for your car (aka - 3AT), and later offered an electronically controlled 4-speed (aka 4EAT). (Maybe others, I am not an expert.) With the right parts the 4wd 3AT should bolt right in... the real gurus will tell you what you need, but it does require quite a few parts from the junkyard/donor car. You are likely to be told how unreliable the soob auto-trans are, that they are a weak link in an otherwise durable range of cars. The big problem with the autos seems to be maintenance, or lack of it. Regular fluid changes are critical and overheating the transmission fluid is common. It has a governor (that tells it what road your speed is) that is a combination mechanical/hydraulic unit that is the Achilles Heel of the tranny. It gums up, it develops burrs on its sliding surfaces, and needs a little special attention. If your car doesn't shift right, it is likely bad/low fluid or the governor. That being said, I have gotten auto-trans for my daughter and my wife. It doesn't matter much to them how much time I spend on maintenance, as long as the car works. Welcome to the board. I was pretty clueless until listening to these folks. And, by the way, do you have air suspension on your GL-10? If so, be prepared for it to leak if it isn't already. Remedy for that seems replacing with regular springs... plenty of info here on that, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrKrazy Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 If my research has done me any good (no guarantees) the answer is yes and yes. With virtually no problems, most everything bolts right in, but I think there is a small amount of drilling to be done to hang the rear diff(bolt holes don't exist on the 2wd cars, just the indents for them). As said above it will be a ton of parts, a 4wd dead parts car would be nice to have around for it. I have considered doing the same to my DL sedan but haven't decided if it's actually worth it. Your GL-10 on the other hand sounds like it would be. On the topic of the auto trans, yea everyone dogs them and as a driver of one (and have owned 3) they aren't the best, but do work. I find it great in my daily traffic driver, but hit the highway or mountains and I start grumbling about it. Well maintained they will last a long time, just remember no matter what anyone says..To each his/her own..nough said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oddcomp Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 just don't go building more power hehe they don't like it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 just don't go building more power hehe they don't like it Oddcomp thinks that his MARGINAL:grin: efforts to increase the umph in his turbowagon caused a massive cascading disintegration of his automatic from the BRUTE POWER!!!!. Whereas MY excuse for letting a twagon sit unfixed for a while is being lazy and broke. Ok, mostly lazy... Just kidding, oddcomp. No, really! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oddcomp Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 you can swap in a 4wd automatic the same, it all fits the same. but you will have to change the rear suspension to a 4wd unit, you can swap the entire rear as a complete assembly, and you will have to invent a mount for the driveshaft. its best to score the tranny and suspension and all the related parts from the same donor car, so that you have everything you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4RnrRick Posted October 5, 2004 Author Share Posted October 5, 2004 Well Thanks for the welcome! I've been surfing around the Subi Board for a will off and on. And I've read a lot about the Autos Sucking, but almost nobody every says WHY they Suck. And Most people have Manual or swap to a manual if they are 2wd so I was curious about it. If it was up to me, I wouldn't even buy the car if it didn't have a Manual but I got to try to keep the Wife happy so its out of my hands. As for swapping componets, general mechanical knowledge or custom fab thats not a problem. I've very into the sport of Rock-crawling and on the Side I design and do CAD work for and aftermarket company. (I'm a Mechanical Engineer) So what type of donor vehicle should I look for if I decided to dive into this? Is that a web-site article explaining a 2wd to 4wd conversion? What is the going rate for these late 80's Suburas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 ... I've read a lot about the Autos Sucking, but almost nobody every says WHY they Suck. And Most people have Manual or swap to a manual if they are 2wd so I was curious about it. Well, I think that most of the denizens of this board feel as do you that any manual is preferable to an automatic. Add an automatic to a vehicle with limited power reserves and even fewer enthusiasts will be interested. BTW, does your car have a turbo? It makes the autos easier to live with... So what type of donor vehicle should I look for if I decided to dive into this? Something pretty close to year and type as yours will probably give the fewest hassels, but not so critical with just a transmission change. I believe that there is a difference in driveshaft length between body styles (i.e. sedan, wagon), so might want to stay with same body style. I'm sure that any real guru who is paying attention will correct me here if I am incorrect. What is the going rate for these late 80's Suburas? I just picked up a working parts car (bad clutch and damage while stored) for $100. My wife will soon be driving a GL-10 that I got for $350 (auto-trans needed attention and air suspension clapped-out). I found these cars on craigslist.com. I think that most of these older subes are at a point where any required (professional) maintenance costs more than KellyBB says they are worth. (Professional repairs on my wife's car-to-be would have ran around $2k-3k.) Anyways, good deals to be had. Somebody else might be able to point you at a good thread for how to do this, but basically if donor car is similar then it should be pretty straightforward (except, as mentioned, maybe needing to drill holes for rear differential mounting). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oddcomp Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 psssh who needs professional's when i can make a series of lucky guesses and be 90 percent right as long as its not my car ... can't fix my stuff easy it hink the auto's main limit is the gearing... its just not good enough to keep up on the highway anymore with out winding out the motor and as i want to belive.. hehe makes me hapier if i think that way but they just can't take a modded suby ... or so i hope thats why ine went Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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