cd45 Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 OK, here is where I am. The tranny in my 1984 Brat went out. It was 3AT, and I planned to change it anyway, just not yet. I have a 1980 GL Wagon with a 4SP S/R, that works well. The only real problem with the wagon is that it has no title. It sat for 10 years, and started up the first time I turned it over. It has the EA71 engine, and does not leak oil. I want to pull the tranny and put it in the Brat. Will it work? I know I will have to pull the rear diff, to go with the tranny. Are there going to be any problems that I will have to look out for? I really want to get the Brat back on the road, and this seems to be the quickest, cheapest way to do it. I was looking to get a 5SP D/R but, money is tight right now, and I already have the wagon sitting here doing nothing. Please let me know if I am on the right track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Won't work as the '80 has the wrong engine/tranny bell-housing. Look at the location of the starter and you'll understand. With the introduction of the EA81 they moved to the side mount starter instead of the top mount with the result that the older transmissions will not bolt up to newer engines. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cd45 Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share Posted March 31, 2008 Thanks GD, I went and looked. Now I am back to square one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one eye Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 You can change the bellhousing out from one motor to the other though, I've done it before. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[HTi]Johnson Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Yep. Single range beats no tranny, but not by far. It sure beats the crap out of a 3at!!! You could take the bellhousing off the ea71 and bolt it to the ea81 engine. It won't be hard because you'll have the tranny out anyways. And it'll make changing the rear main seal WAY easy. Changing the rear main is a must because you already have it apart and it would 1 min to change. If you wait to change it, you have to remove the tranny and flywheel to get to it. You'll need the pedal assembly from the donor car too. But you need to find out if it will work since it's a ea71. Shifter components too and a way to plug some of the hole up where your shifter will be...like a piece of metal. Because the automatic shifter requires a bigger hole. I used a piece of sheet metal, caulked it and pop riveted it in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cd45 Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share Posted March 31, 2008 OK, I was under the impression that the tranny was one piece. I did not know that the bell housing came off separately. I will check on it as soon as the rain stops this afternoon. I plan to pull the engine and do a complete reseal on it, pan, valve covers ETC. I understand all that will be going on, just wanted to see if I could do it, or wait until I found another tranny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[HTi]Johnson Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 The tranny has a bell housing. The engine has the other half. If you look at it, you'll see where it splits in the middle. The engine side is the side that needs to be removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cawain Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 OK, here is where I am. The tranny in my 1984 Brat went out. It was 3AT, and I planned to change it anyway, just not yet. I have a 1980 GL Wagon with a 4SP S/R, that works well. The only real problem with the wagon is that it has no title. It sat for 10 years, and started up the first time I turned it over. It has the EA71 engine, and does not leak oil. I want to pull the tranny and put it in the Brat. Will it work? I know I will have to pull the rear diff, to go with the tranny. Are there going to be any problems that I will have to look out for? I really want to get the Brat back on the road, and this seems to be the quickest, cheapest way to do it. I was looking to get a 5SP D/R but, money is tight right now, and I already have the wagon sitting here doing nothing. Please let me know if I am on the right track. I don't think the EA-71 bell housing will work on the EA-81 engine. The EA-71 crank center is larger than the EA-81 and the outer part of the crank is smaller than the EA-81. So the rear main seal in the bell housing will not work on the EA-81. Also the fly wheel and clutch, and pressure plate will not fit the EA-81. I base my findings on the fact I am trying to convert a trike I built from a 1981 Brat to an automatic trans. I am having to change the engine over to a EA-81. My EA-71 engine had the starter on the laft side (drivers) not in the center. I would suggest that maybe you could pull the trans side bell housing off the automatic and put it on the four speed. I could be wrong, but I think it will work, than the trans would bolt up to the EA-81. With a little thought you can do what ever you want. Just my two cents worth, Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one eye Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 I don't think the EA-71 bell housing will work on the EA-81 engine. The EA-71 crank center is larger than the EA-81 and the outer part of the crank is smaller than the EA-81. So the rear main seal in the bell housing will not work on the EA-81. Also the fly wheel and clutch, and pressure plate will not fit the EA-81. I base my findings on the fact I am trying to convert a trike I built from a 1981 Brat to an automatic trans. I am having to change the engine over to a EA-81. My EA-71 engine had the starter on the laft side (drivers) not in the center. I would suggest that maybe you could pull the trans side bell housing off the automatic and put it on the four speed. I could be wrong, but I think it will work, than the trans would bolt up to the EA-81. With a little thought you can do what ever you want.Just my two cents worth, Carl You can pull it off the motor side and swap the two. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 EA71 and EA81 bell-housings are not interchangable. The bolt/mating pattern is different. There are 3 different bell-housings from 1980 through 1989 - EA71 top-mount, EA81, and EA71 "fat-case" side-mount (late model STD hatch). In order to use a side-starter transmission with narrow-case EA71 you MUST have the EA71 side-starter "fat-case" bell-housing. The EA81 housing will not work. Thus, the EA71 bell-housing will no more work on the EA81 than the EA81 housing would work on the older EA71. Additionally, the EA71 would not accept the EA81 flyhwheel. There's probably some mish-mash of clutch components that would make it work, but you would be limited to a 200mm clutch disc rather than the desireable 225mm from the 83+ 4WD's as they never made a 225mm flywheel with the EA71 crank pattern. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one eye Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 If you get the bell housing of like a 2WD hatchback 5sp , can't you do it then? Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 If you get the bell housing of like a 2WD hatchback 5sp , can't you do it then? Jeff There is no way to make it work. There is no bell-housing that will adapt an EA81 to a top-mount starter transmission. The EA81 was introduced as a side-mount in 1980, and all transmissions were changed to use that style. The early 80's (80, 81) EA71's were kept top-mount to use the remaining stock of those style transmissions I would assume. 2WD makes no difference - they were side-starter too when the EA81 was introduced. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one eye Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Ok I remember what I did, GD you are right, I had a 79 brat EA71 and A, I think 86?? EA71 2WD 5sp, hatch I replace the motor in my brat with the motor out of the hatch, I was able to change the bellhousing in those two, since they where both EA71. Sorry I was Wrong:-\ Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 I see what you mean - 2WD EA71 Hatchbacks were 4 speed's (STD) - that's why I didn't understand your last question there. A 2WD Hatch with a 5 speed would be an EA81 (GL or DL). But yes - that combination works. That's how you put a side-starter tranny into a gen 1 with the older top-mount EA71. But you have to find the late model EA71 bell-housing to do it. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one eye Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 I see what you mean - 2WD EA71 Hatchbacks were 4 speed's (STD) - that's why I didn't understand your last question there. A 2WD Hatch with a 5 speed would be an EA81 (GL or DL). But yes - that combination works. That's how you put a side-starter tranny into a gen 1 with the older top-mount EA71. But you have to find the late model EA71 bell-housing to do it. GD Ya you pretty much got it. That was what was going through my head but it wasn't really quite right. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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