mikeshoup Posted March 17, 2007 Share Posted March 17, 2007 I almost finished my 4spd D/R conversion today on my EA81T wagon. YAY. It was basically the same as hatchsub's 5spd conversion on his 2wd. Largest difference I noticed was the hole in the transmission tunnel has to be cut significantly larger. Also, you have to drill holes to mount the 4wd lever (I haven't done this yet... don't have a drill) Also, there's no place for the down pipe to bolt to on the transmission. Hopefully, I don't get any ill effects from this. Something *could* be rigged. I still need to: Bolt the heat shielding back onto the turbo Bolt the sway bar on Dremel out the hole more (the shifter just barely hits the front and left side) Attach the speedo cable Attach the 4WD lever Wire the reverse lights and 4WD indicator Find a good set of the interior pieces... right now its just a hole in the floor. Tested it through first gear and reverse with it on the jack stands, so it all works good! Special thanks goes out to Jeffast for helping me drop the 3AT... He even cut his finger helping me. Awww... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry DeMoss Posted March 17, 2007 Share Posted March 17, 2007 Great to hear Mike!I am sure you will like the manual trans a heck of alot better than the auto. BTW-I have a couple intercoolers you may be interested in,if you decide you want to add that later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeshoup Posted March 17, 2007 Author Share Posted March 17, 2007 BTW-I have a couple intercoolers you may be interested in,if you decide you want to add that later on. I already have a WRX Intercooler just waiting to go on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86BRATMAN Posted March 17, 2007 Share Posted March 17, 2007 Special thanks goes out to Jeffast for helping me drop the 3AT... He even cut his finger helping me. Awww... For me it's only a true project if I bleed. Its a conversion when you need stitches and a tetanous shot:grin: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted March 18, 2007 Share Posted March 18, 2007 Its nice to see another EA81T cut free from the 3AT. Let us know how it drives! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeshoup Posted March 19, 2007 Author Share Posted March 19, 2007 Drove it today. Its much quicker with the 4spd than the crappy 3AT. I'm glad I did it. Its much quicker off the line. Highway gearing is much nicer with the 0.769 4th gear. Speedo cable needs to be lubricated as the speedo needle bounces back and forth. Still don't have any interior pieces. I duct taped the rubber boot to the floor to cut down on noise and to keep the engine heat from flowing into the cabin. Also still need to rob the 3.9 diff from my brother's rotted out 3 door so I can actually make use of 4WD when I get the lever mounted. Going to junkyards this weekend, hopefully I can get the interior pieces and be done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
970subaru Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 sounds like a cool project. you going to turn up the boost any? wow, .769 4th, there are plenty of 5speeds with shorter 5th gear. is it quite a jump from 3rd to 4th? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeshoup Posted March 19, 2007 Author Share Posted March 19, 2007 sounds like a cool project. you going to turn up the boost any?wow, .769 4th, there are plenty of 5speeds with shorter 5th gear. is it quite a jump from 3rd to 4th? 3rd is 1.195. Its not too big of a jump. It is however a fairly large jump from 2nd to 3rd. Its hard to find a gear for cruising between 20-30mph. 2nd seems to rev it too high, and 3rd seems to lug it. I'll get by. I'm gonna keep the stock boost. I really don't want to blow my engine since its my Daily Driver right now. The only thing that made it fine to have it down for the three days while I swapped transmissions was that Jeff let me borrow his Death Wedge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeshoup Posted March 19, 2007 Author Share Posted March 19, 2007 Duct tape FTW! Every clutch needs a large return spring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott F Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 Can you elaborate on the clutch return spring? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeshoup Posted March 19, 2007 Author Share Posted March 19, 2007 Can you elaborate on the clutch return spring? ShawnW suggested I grab a clutch return spring from a DL since I don't have a hill holder. I couldn't find a DL without a hill holder, but the accelerator pedal has a nice spring on it, so I took the one off of the automatic's pedal box. Not even sure if its needed. I tried it without the spring, and clutch action was just fine. Its there though because I want it to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry DeMoss Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 Not even sure if its needed. I tried it without the spring, and clutch action was just fine. Its there though because I want it to be. Not to be an rump roast,but bungee cords work good in a pinch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 I was just checking out your engine bay pic and I have a concern. Please relocate your positive battery cable away from your steering shaft. After my tranny swap I accidently snagged my heater hoses on that and popped them both off. I don't want to think about what would happen with a battery cable! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeshoup Posted March 20, 2007 Author Share Posted March 20, 2007 I didn't even notice that! Thanks carfreak! That could very well turn ugly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeshoup Posted March 22, 2007 Author Share Posted March 22, 2007 Okay, so I figured out how to do the reverse lights. I have to run a couple wires from the inhibitor switch plug to the reverse light switch on the transmission. How do I wire up the 4WD Light? Has anyone done this? I could just ignore it. The gauge cluster doesn't have a LO light anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86BRATMAN Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 Did the 4wd light up with the 3at? If it did you could hook it up from the switch in the same area as the reverse switch. It has to be there somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeshoup Posted March 23, 2007 Author Share Posted March 23, 2007 Did the 4wd light up with the 3at? If it did you could hook it up from the switch in the same area as the reverse switch. It has to be there somewhere. The 4WD lights up when the 4WD solenoid is powered. I can close the switch for the button on the shifter, it doesn't turn on. I then put a jumper wire across the solenoid's connector, and the light turned on, but the wire started to melt. I have a feeling, easiest would be to just tap into the dash's wiring harness (where is the main plug for it anyways?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeshoup Posted March 23, 2007 Author Share Posted March 23, 2007 Another question, how do I mount the 4WD Lever inside the car? Looking at cars in the junkyard, there's a hump on the tunnel where the bracket bolts to... I do not have this hump. Who has done this and mounted the arm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86BRATMAN Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 The 4WD lights up when the 4WD solenoid is powered. I can close the switch for the button on the shifter, it doesn't turn on. I then put a jumper wire across the solenoid's connector, and the light turned on, but the wire started to melt. I have a feeling, easiest would be to just tap into the dash's wiring harness (where is the main plug for it anyways?) Main plug for the cluster is behind the cluster. The wiring going to that is under the kick panel on the driver's side. If you want I can look at my cluster and see which wire goes to the 4wd light, you can run a wire from the plug coming off the trans itself to it. As for the bracket, general disorder has done a 2wd to 4wd conversion, he could elaborate on the mounting. If you've got a cordless drill I would go to the junk yard and drill out the spot welds on one of the junkers and tack it into your wagon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 As for the bracket, general disorder has done a 2wd to 4wd conversion, he could elaborate on the mounting. If you've got a cordless drill I would go to the junk yard and drill out the spot welds on one of the junkers and tack it into your wagon. Bingo! I would do it this way if/when I do it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phizinza Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 Without that clutch spring your thrust/throwout bearing could always be just touching the pressure plate and cause it to wear out.. 4WD D/R FTW... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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