hatchsub Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 Hey everyone. For those that have not been following my journey i have been in the process of converting my 62,000 mile EA81 sedan from auto (hunk of $hit) to 5 speed stick. I just finished it up yesterday afternoon then proceeded to drive it an hour to my girlfriends house. Made it here with no problems. Hell of a lot more fun with the 5 speed. Here is a link to the photos: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/724118/5 As for the the story it started about 2-3 months ago when i drove out to Harry's to meet up with hocrest and other fellow board members (you know who you are ). We pulled everything from a junkyard GL-10 sedan and i was good to go or so i thought. I didnt end up getting everything i needed for the swap until last friday thanks to hocrest. He was kind enough and willing to go back to the JY to get the parts that i didnt know were required for the swap. For those interested in doing a similar swap to mine i will outline what parts are needed for this endevor. -Manual tranny (duh) -manual pedal assemble -clutch cable -speedo cable (the manual ones is longer than the autos) -radius rod plates (the missing link that kept me from finishing it for so long. These mount on either side of the tranny and allow the crossmember to bolt to the bottom of the car) -flywheel -clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing, pilot bearing Shortcuts (for those interested in saving time): It was not nesassary to pull the steering column to install the manual pedals. All you have to do is unbolt it so that there is enough space to shimmy the accelerator pedal over it and into place. Also you dont need to pull the gauge cluster to change out the speedo cable. I was about ready to pull the cluster but couldnt figure out how it came out so i took a look from underneath it and saw the speedo cable going into the back of the cluster. There is just enough room replace it without pulling the cluster. Its tight but not impossible. Thats all i can think of at this moment. It was really not all that bad and if i had had all the parts i needed i could have acomplished it in a long weekend. I would like to thank everyone on this board for their wonderful help and support through this whole deal. Have a great holiday season :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeshoup Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Yay I wanna do that to my turbowagon. Question: How hard was the transmission to handle with what looks like just a regular floor jack? Most specifically, putting the manual trans in. (Mine's 4WD, so it will be a bit heavier though :-\ ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wesley willis Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 good job. you accomplished what i once wanted to do but couldnt obtain the parts for, so i bought a loyale instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazy D Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 nice:headbang: you have one of the most clean ea81 subaru's i have ever seen.very nice. dont lose that thing its priceless....one more thing, where exactly is the speedo cable, i got a broken one and i need to replace it but i cant find it when i look up underneath the cluster. thanks -D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatchsub Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 Yay I wanna do that to my turbowagon. Question: How hard was the transmission to handle with what looks like just a regular floor jack? Most specifically, putting the manual trans in. (Mine's 4WD, so it will be a bit heavier though :-\ ) The tranny was a pain in the butt to put in with just a floor jack. I had a buddy to help and we would jack it up a little bit then my buddy and i would lift the rear of the tranny up and put a 2x4 under it. Repeat this process about 6-8 times. then we got up top yanked it onto the lower studs by the bellhousing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatchsub Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 nice:headbang: you have one of the most clean ea81 subaru's i have ever seen.very nice. dont lose that thing its priceless....one more thing, where exactly is the speedo cable, i got a broken one and i need to replace it but i cant find it when i look up underneath the cluster. thanks -D Best way to find the speedo cable is to pull the rubber grommet out of the firewall so that light from the engine compartment is showing you where the cable is entering the passenger compartment. Then follow it until you see it entering the back of the gauge cluster. Yank it out of the gauge cluster and pull it through the firewall and replace it in the opposite direction. Hope that helps some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durania Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Congrats. Aren't you glad you didn't sell it a few months ago? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffast Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 looks great:headbang: feel any more peppy as a 5spd? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subeman90 Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 congrats on the good job!!!!!! I would like to put your overview into the USRM. Are you OK with that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hocrest Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Looks good man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucky92 Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Cangrat!! 'bout time! Told ya the AT tranns Suck and you are going to LOVE the 5 spd.bet that beauty will get up and go now huh? I am going to have to probably do a harrys run soon with the XT6. That place rocks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatchsub Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 Congrats. Aren't you glad you didn't sell it a few months ago? YES soooo glad i didnt sell it. The only reason i was going to sell it was cause it was such a dog. Not anymore. It gets out of its own way now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatchsub Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 congrats on the good job!!!!!! I would like to put your overview into the USRM. Are you OK with that? Yea sure thats fine. If you would like i could write you up a more detailed procedure than what i outlined at the top of this thread. Up to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatchsub Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 bet that beauty will get up and go now huh? Oh yea it moves alot better now. Im still taking it easy on the tranny for a bit though just to make sure that everything is ok. So far its a tad stiff when cold but when warm it shifts great and is a blast to drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subeman90 Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 did you change the fluid? that might help with the cold shifting. If you want to do a little more detailed writeup that would be great...do it when you have time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatchsub Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 did you change the fluid? that might help with the cold shifting. If you want to do a little more detailed writeup that would be great...do it when you have time. Yeah i have fresh 75w90 gear oil in it. The only thing i worry about is what remains on the bottom of the tranny. I pulled the drain plug and there was alot of junk built up on it. I think i probably should have done the ATF for a couple hundred miles then put the good gear oil in it but oh well. And yeah sure ill have some time towards the end of the week to give you a detailed writeup. Would you like me to just reply to this thread or send it to you in a PM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subeman90 Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 a Pm is fine for me. thanks! As for the plug gunk...don't worry about it...very normal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baccaruda Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 nice job; i love the way those sedans look in good repair. Subaru transmissions like half synthetic/half natural gear oil. Why don't you drain a little of your gear oil and put in a half bottle of ATF for a few days, then drain and refill with 50/50? Have you thought about putting in a 4WD trans? Yeah i have fresh 75w90 gear oil in it. The only thing i worry about is what remains on the bottom of the tranny. I pulled the drain plug and there was alot of junk built up on it. I think i probably should have done the ATF for a couple hundred miles then put the good gear oil in it but oh well. And yeah sure ill have some time towards the end of the week to give you a detailed writeup. Would you like me to just reply to this thread or send it to you in a PM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatchsub Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 nice job; i love the way those sedans look in good repair. Subaru transmissions like half synthetic/half natural gear oil. Why don't you drain a little of your gear oil and put in a half bottle of ATF for a few days, then drain and refill with 50/50? Have you thought about putting in a 4WD trans? haha yea i thought about a 4wd swap but it would be too involved and i dont really need 4wd. As for the 50/50 i think maybe ill us what i have for now and do the 50/50 later on (like this summer or something). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazy D Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 thanks:) ill see what is up after i get my carb all situated:mad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.