presslab Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 I have a GL-10 with the 4EAT. I'm considering an engine swap but I'd like to keep the old transaxle. Has anyone used an adapter plate with the 4EAT? I also see that Gloyale has swapped the 4EAT bellhousing. I'd prefer an adapter plate because it seems the easiest. How about the flex plate? Can I use the EJ flex plate with my EA torque converter? Another likely option is to redrill the EA flex plate for the EJ crank. Any input is appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 which 4eat do you have. They made a ea82 4eat and they made a EJ 4eat. I really do not know the difference but probably is bellhousing thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 He said he wants to keep the old transaxle, so it would be the EA82 4EAT. I wouldnt redrill the flexplate, its thin enough as it is. Having that many holes close together would be asking for trouble. I would see if the EJ flexplate would fit in the bellhousing first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott in Bellingham Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 I redrilled a flexplate for a guy , never heard back so assume it worked Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 I've done an EJ swap to a 3AT and the flexplate was matched to the EJ pattern just like any flywheel redrill. Worked great with a standard adaptor plate. I would assume the same would be true for a 4EAT. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 Ah, I assumed it meant drilling new holes. If its just like a EJ flywheel (duh) all thats needed is to hog some of the holes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
presslab Posted October 9, 2011 Author Share Posted October 9, 2011 Thanks guys, sounds like the adapter plate should work. I'm guessing the EJ flex plate is larger (as is the torque converter) but redrilling the EA flex plate should be easy on the mill. Anyone have a spare EJ205 for sale? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 You might check to see if the EJ22 flex-plate fits the 4EAT TC..... they didn't change that tranny much when they went to the 2.2 and it might work.... the 2.5 flex-plate/TC is larger than the 2.2 but I'm not sure the 2.2 is larger than the 1.8 4EAT..... definitely larger than the 3AT though - I checked on that one. If it doesn't work - then an early Legacy TC would probably work on the EA 4EAT...... GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 There's a few different torque converters that were used over the years....so there might be some combination of flexplate/TC that would work. But modifying a flywheel is not hard, and a flex plate is about a tenth the thickness.....I wouldn't even bother beyond a quick test-fit of parts already in arms-reach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 And for that matter why not just use the EJ trans bell-housing on the 4EAT..... or a whole EJ tranny. Cheaper than an adaptor plate...... GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Swapping bells is pretty easy. I'd go that route before using an adapter plate. It's not an option for manuals, but for the autos there is a factory part that bolts on so why not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 I was under the impression that swapping bellhousing is no small project. I've never been able to get one off a transmission that I wasn't trying to save (tried it twice....). Automatic transmissions are the one thing on a car that I don't freakin understand, or work on, so I'm no expert. But I think I'd still go with the adapter plate.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
presslab Posted October 13, 2011 Author Share Posted October 13, 2011 (edited) Thanks for chiming in Gloyale. I appreciate your threads with the bellhousing info. And for that matter why not just use the EJ trans bell-housing on the 4EAT..... or a whole EJ tranny. Cheaper than an adaptor plate...... GD I'd need the bellhousing, high-stall TC (from a Legacy Turbo $$), flex plate, possibly starter too? Then I'd need to pull the tranny, pull the bellhousing, swap the diff, set-up the diff (no small feat), etc. EJ turbo tranny $$$ will require rewiring and changing the selector for the added gear setting, changing out the rear diff (putting my LSD chunk in), set-up rear diff, etc. Adapter plate is $100, hog out the flex plate holes, put a fork in it, it's done. Correct me if I'm wrong. Edited October 13, 2011 by presslab Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 I just recently did a reseal on a '97 4EAT that was swapping fluids. Its very easy to take it apart and swap bellhousings. The gasket that goes in between the pump housing and the transmission is metal and the part number cross references for the same gasket on the EA82 4EAT. So I don't see why swapping the front diff housing (which is the bellhousing) wouldn't work. Same bolt pattern as an EA82 4EAT where it bolts to the pump housing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 Thanks for chiming in Gloyale. I appreciate your threads with the bellhousing info. I'd need the bellhousing, high-stall TC (from a Legacy Turbo $$), It wouldn't have to be from a Turbo Leg. Any 90-98 4EAT bell will work. TC just needs to match the flexplate. You can swap the bells while the trans is in the car, when the engine is out. Order a "seal tube" from the dealer, and some side output seals and o-rings. Setting up the diff isn't that hard. I would be worried about depth issues with using an adapter......possible the pump engagement might get messed with.....jsut my fear....no reason to think that really......just a few mm doesn't matter much on a manual....but for an auto? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
presslab Posted October 18, 2011 Author Share Posted October 18, 2011 It wouldn't have to be from a Turbo Leg. Any 90-98 4EAT bell will work. TC just needs to match the flexplate. Thanks again for the info. Yeah the bellhousings will be the same, but the TC for a turbo engine has a higher stall speed than the normally aspirated one... So I'd need to get one of those too, I dunno how many EJ22T 4EAT Legacies are out there but I guess this TC would be expensive and hard to find... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Thanks again for the info. Yeah the bellhousings will be the same, but the TC for a turbo engine has a higher stall speed than the normally aspirated one... So I'd need to get one of those too, I dunno how many EJ22T 4EAT Legacies are out there but I guess this TC would be expensive and hard to find... More common then you'd think. Most Legacy SS and Legacy Touring wagons had a 4EAT. The rare ones are manuals but the Touring Wagons only got a 4EAT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Ask for a TC over on www.legacycentral.org - should be any number of them around from people doing manual transmission swaps. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 I still don't think you "NEED" a turbo torque converter. Your EA82T version of the 4eat doesn't require that high stall converter. I mean, if you run a N/A EJ22, why would you need a TC from a turbo? And if you use an adapter plate, youd be using you're stock trans and TC, so why would you need a high stall for a bell swapping? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
presslab Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 I still don't think you "NEED" a turbo torque converter. You're right, I don't "NEED" one. I don't need a lot of things. But I'd much rather have a turbo torque converter if I'm going to all the trouble. I want to use an EJ205 turbo engine. The EA82T 4EAT does have a higher stall torque converter, about 2800 RPM, where did you see it was the same as NA? It looks like the Legacy turbo TC has an even higher stall at 3200 RPM. This is actually a good argument for the Legacy bellhousing, but I would need the turbo TC also. The Legacy TC has different part numbers for 4WD turbo and 2WD turbo even! I have a hard time finding real numbers for these stall speeds. I see they are different part numbers though. Does anyone have the FSM for the 4EAT on the EA and EJ turbo? Could you look up the listed stall speeds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 I believe that the N/A EJ stall speed is 2800 also. My thinking is just match the T/C to the engine you are using it with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
presslab Posted March 18, 2012 Author Share Posted March 18, 2012 To follow up, I purchased a SJR adapter plate and it all works fine. I redrilled the flex plate which was mild steel, that was easy. However there is a backing plate which was hardened steel and the carbide burr was needed. The metal cover plate under the bellhousing hits the torque converter. I think a plate from an automatic EJ would work though, as my engine was with a manual tranny. The SJR adapter doesn't have tight tolerances on the locating dowels, the holes are too big; I don't think this problem is specific to the 4EAT. But I lined it up the best I could and it seems to be okay so far. The transmission seems to be holding up to the power. I sometimes get some slip in first gear, but I'm pretty sure it's my tires that are spinning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 The SJR adapter doesn't have tight tolerances on the locating dowels, the holes are too big; I don't think this problem is specific to the 4EAT. But I lined it up the best I could and it seems to be okay so far. That's the biggest problem I have with those plates. That's going to cause uneccesary stress on the input shaft bearings on the MT's and on the oil pump on the auto. I'm in the process of refining my plate design and it will have reemed dowel pin holes that are a net-zero fit with the pins. It's also aluminium and less costly. The problem is that he has the dowel pin holes cut with the laser - same as the rest of the plate. Laser isn't accurate enough and leaves a hard slag on the surface so the holes have to be enlarged. Our plates are water jet cut and then the dowel pin holes are reemed to an exact match. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
presslab Posted May 5, 2013 Author Share Posted May 5, 2013 I thought I'd update this thread. I recently had some noise in my tranny that I thought was the oil pump. I changed a bunch of things, but it looks like a bearing in the torque converter failed. Now I can't say for sure that the adapter plate caused this, as I was sending a lot of power through that old EA82T torque converter, but I thought it was worth mentioning. I now have a newer bellhousing and a WRX torque converter. Thanks go to Gloyale for his write up about the bellhousing. Bummer though, the stall speed sucks; much lower than the EA82T one. I can't brake boost it at all now. I guess that makes sense as the EA82T one was designed for only 115 HP. Anyway, I'm going to drop the tranny again and have the torque converter rebuilt with a higher stall speed. I'm leaning toward IPT and 4100 RPM stall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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