Gyoas759 Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 Couldn't resist for $100. Solid frame. Engine runs strong. Was told the transmission leaks pretty badly. Drove it just to park it off the tow dolly and reverse feels very weak. Forward isn't too bad. It was used as a farm car for the last 2 years and didn't see use very often. I have never swapped a tranny before and thought this would be a good oppourtunity to learn. Has the autmatic trans (Assuming 3AT) I have a 58k automatic trans in my 84 turbo wagon parts car. Should I assume this is just a procedure of unbolting the 84 trans, removing the 83s and putting the new one in. Plug and play? Or is the turbo wagon going to have different harnesses etc? Also have given thought to installing the D/R 4 speed that I had leftover from an 1982 parts car. trans feels very tight (No slop) and had about 97k. What would be reccomended? And what should I be expecting as far as procedure goes? Nuts an bolts don't scare me, but is there a gasket I need? Trans swap for dummies info please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cawain Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 Hi, Carl here, I think the 84 to 83 swap will be a stright forward swap with no problems. However you may find the EA-82 trans is shorter than the EA-81. I have a EA-82 out back and it is shorter. I have been told the EA-82 had a two piece drive shaft and that is why the trans is shorter. There, that didn't take long to deplete my memory banks. Have fun, Carl Couldn't resist for $100. Solid frame. Engine runs strong. Was told the transmission leaks pretty badly. Drove it just to park it off the tow dolly and reverse feels very weak. Forward isn't too bad. It was used as a farm car for the last 2 years and didn't see use very often. I have never swapped a tranny before and thought this would be a good oppourtunity to learn. Has the autmatic trans (Assuming 3AT) I have a 58k automatic trans in my 84 turbo wagon parts car. Should I assume this is just a procedure of unbolting the 84 trans, removing the 83s and putting the new one in. Plug and play? Or is the turbo wagon going to have different harnesses etc? Also have given thought to installing the D/R 4 speed that I had leftover from an 82 parts car. trans feels very tight (No slop) and had about 97k. What would be reccomended? And what should I be expecting as far as procedure goes? Nuts an bolts don't scare me, but is there a gasket I need? Trans swap for dummies info please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatchsub Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 Heres a writup i did for my 3at to 5 speed 2wd swap. Its not all that hard to do. Some aspects of it are different for the 4wd but those that have done the 4wd ones will chim in. http://ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=69534 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 nice find. some of us don't know if the 83, 84, or your transmission are from an EA81 or EA82 vehicle, might help to clarify if you know. that 4 speed D/R will certainly be nicer than the 3AT. and a 25 year old transmission, particularly the 3AT doesn't sound appealing. but of course it's all going in a $100 car and the automatic swap would be way easier. be done that easily in a short day if you wanted too. transmission swaps are nothing crazy. if you're not scared of bolts you won't have a problem doing it. the manual swap will require pedal assemblies, cables, wiring in the reverse lights and other fun stuff. not terribly difficult but a much more intense job than a straight swap. the easiest way to do a conversion is to have an entire donor vehicle, that makes it 10 times easier rather than trying to piece it together. figuring out how you're going to do it is the fun part.....crawling underneath, pulling it out, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyoas759 Posted March 12, 2008 Author Share Posted March 12, 2008 nice find. some of us don't know if the 83, 84, or your transmission are from an EA81 or EA82 vehicle, might help to clarify if you know. that 4 speed D/R will certainly be nicer than the 3AT. and a 25 year old transmission, particularly the 3AT doesn't sound appealing. but of course it's all going in a $100 car and the automatic swap would be way easier. be done that easily in a short day if you wanted too. transmission swaps are nothing crazy. if you're not scared of bolts you won't have a problem doing it. the manual swap will require pedal assemblies, cables, wiring in the reverse lights and other fun stuff. not terribly difficult but a much more intense job than a straight swap. the easiest way to do a conversion is to have an entire donor vehicle, that makes it 10 times easier rather than trying to piece it together. figuring out how you're going to do it is the fun part.....crawling underneath, pulling it out, etc. Sounds about how I expected. I already have a 83 with a dual range and was saving the extra one as a spare for it. That and this 83 would make a nice home for that low miles auto I've got. Since this is my first swap, I'd best keep it simple (K.I.S.S.) So going ahead with an auto to auto swap. Lift the front end up, pull old trans out, put the new one in? No gaskets? Nothing special? Just undo the bolts, axles etc. and then reverse it to put it back? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatchsub Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 So going ahead with an auto to auto swap. Lift the front end up, pull old trans out, put the new one in? No gaskets? Nothing special? Just undo the bolts, axles etc. and then reverse it to put it back? Do the steps listed in my writup for taking an auto out. Add the step for unbolting the rear diff. Then reverse what u just did to put the "new" tranny in. Done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86BRATMAN Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Both the 83 and 84 are ea81 motors. Ea82's didn't come out until 85 here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Straight swap - the tranny's are identical for the puposes of your swap. Don't forget to swap the torque converter along with the tranny and FLUSH, FLUSH, FLUSH that tranny cooler passage in the radiator - it may have chunks of old auto tranny in it. Use a good fast-evaporating degreaser, and use at least a whole can on the lines and cooler line through the radiator. In fact it wouldn't be a bad idea to install a seperate tranny oil cooler and just forget about the one through the radiator. The 3AT's aren't renown for their reliabilty, but you'll increase it's lifespan if you do regular oil changes and add a cooler to extend the life of the oil. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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