? updating running gear on83 BRAT EA81 driver

[we7x]

Greetings to the group,

I've been a 'lurker' for a long time and keep watching the threads about EJ22 updates.

I have a 83 EA81 BRat, which I dearly love.  It is not a daily driver, but when it is taken out, it is often for a long distance...two or three hundred miles each way.

  I am planning to do some minor rust removal and paint work; but I just ran across a local 95 Legacy 2.2 4WD manual transmission, with 209K miles, that has some well bent sheet metal.  It is being sold as a parts car.

  It is all there, having just been towed to the owners home after the accident.  I have only seen pictures at this point.

  They are asking $500 for the whole thing.  I was not planning on this project, but the opportunity to get a whole donor, close to home, has arrived.

   As I understand, I will either need to use an adapter plate to retain my 4-spd D/R tranny, or forgo the D/R and use the non D/R 5-speed tranny from the donor chassis.  Is this correct, or is there another tranny option

  I also understand I will need to do a lot of wiring modifications to accommodate the FI computer and different ingition system.

  The owner says the car does have some minor oil leaks, (with 200+ K on it I'm not surprised) but that it was running just fine prior to the accident.  The major damage is to the right front suspension.  If it was not for the broken strut and bend lower A-arm, it looks like it could have been driven home.

  Am I overlooking anything serious?  Any major or minor "GOTCHA'S"

 I am going to look at the car this evening.

  Thanks for taking the time to read this.

  Rod J