northguy Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 I'm lining things up to do a 5 spd d/r conversion from a 4 spd d/r in my 83 Brat. The donor car is an 89 ea82 spfi. What do I need in the way of pieces/parts to make the cross over? Which clutch do I need? Do I need to do something with the flywheel? It's not happening for a while, but I want to have all of the things I need in place before I start. Any help is appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greggbrat Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 Hey North Guy, I just did this conversion about a month ago on my 82 brat. You need a 5sp D/R (of course). You can find them in the junkyard mated to EA82 motors. You might not need a different flywheel. Basically you need to look at your flywheel. If it fits a 220mm clutch then your flywheel is fine. If it fits a 200mm clutch then grab the flywheel out of your donor car. As for the clutch you need an EA82 clutch disk, pressure plate, flywheel and throwout bearing. You might even be able to use the one from the donor car if it is in good shape. (Note - make sure you use threadlock on the flywheel bolts......it would really suck if that came loose) People have different concepts of which combination of parts to use but I can tell you I used all EA82 clutch/flywheel parts and the conversion worked wonderfully. Dont forget to have a clutch alignment tool handy when you do the conversion. You will also need the tranny crossmember from the donor car but you will need to swap the tranny mounts from your old 4sp tranny. And the tranny mounts will require drilling a few holes (in the tranny mount, not the tranny) to get them to fit. There is also the issue of getting the linkage to work. There is a kit available from Bratrsus....I think that is his username on here. I am told it cost $100 plus shipping. This apparently takes care of all the linkage issues. If you dont want to pay the money for the kit then The 5sp D/R tranny linkage will bolt right up without any issue....except for the D/R linkage. I took the 4wd linkage from my 4sp and attached it to the 5sp and it fit quite well. I did remove a few washers to get everything to line up as it was a tight fit. I also fabed up the 4wd low sensor with a bolt to extend it to reach.....but this is not required because its just for the 4wd lights on the dash. I also took the wiring harness of the 4sp and with a few connectors attached it to the 5sp. Also I took a grinder to the make the metal shifter boot holder a bit larger so all the linkage would fit into the original interior boot. I know all this sounds a bit confusing but just make sure you get a good idea of how the 5sp is attached on the donor car and then look at your brats 4sp linkage and it will all make sense. And make sure you swap the 4wd linkage before you install the tranny or it becomes very difficult to reach and swap out. When you are all done the 4wd drive shifter knob will sit about 3" higher than it did originally......but it still works just fine and is not in the way at all.....it basically just sits higher than original. You will also need a longer driveshaft because the 5sp is actually shorter in length than the 4sp. You can get any two piece driveshaft off an EA82 wagon or you can have your original brat driveshaft lengthened (which is what I did). If you use the two piece driveshaft you will need to have the carrier bearing welded into the driveshaft tunnel under the brat. Feel free to ask me any questions........I am a self avowed expert on this swap now. :-) Be careful of advice from people that have not actually done the swap.....while well intentioned they might be giving you incorrect information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted May 8, 2004 Share Posted May 8, 2004 Good advice, Greg. Bratsarus1 has probably done more of them than anyone else on the Board. I would go with the single piece driveshaft (really depends if you have someone local who can do that for you altho shipping from down here shouldn't be too bad unless it gets damaged in transit). Replace the clutch with new while you're at it; no point in repeating the process in the near future because you used a worn clutch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northguy Posted May 8, 2004 Author Share Posted May 8, 2004 Thanks for the info. The USRM says that if I'm doing a Brat, the driveshaft will work fine. It's other ea81 drivelines that need to be lengthened or a driveline from the donor used. The USRM must be mistaken. If I use a 1 piece driveshaft, do I still need to have a carrier bearing welded in place? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted May 8, 2004 Share Posted May 8, 2004 Sounds to me like the way to go is to just have your old driveshaft lengthened, that way we won't have to mess with the carrier bearing. Also, the driveshaft from the donor car has a bad U-joint or two, so we'd have to find another driveshaft if going that route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted May 8, 2004 Share Posted May 8, 2004 If you use the two piece driveshaft from the donor car, you'll need to install the carrier bearing and holder from the donor also. Having a one-piece shaft made will eliminate that hassle. In my Brat that resulted in slightly less vibration and noise; also peace of mind since there wasn't much metal to mount the carrier bearing holder to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northguy Posted May 9, 2004 Author Share Posted May 9, 2004 Does one have to be concerned with balancing the driveshaft if it is to be lengthened? And is there a way to determine the additional length ahead of time? (I just like to have everything in order before taking my car "offline.") Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greggbrat Posted May 9, 2004 Share Posted May 9, 2004 The shop that does the lengthening of your driveshaft will have the equipment to balance it also. As for the length you will need 51" of new tubing. Basically they remove the joints of both ends of the old driveshaft and then reattach them to 51" of new tubing. Double check my numbers please! If its too long you will never get the driveshaft on the vehicle. Too short and it wont hold into the rear of the tranny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted May 9, 2004 Share Posted May 9, 2004 I believe Greg has the correct length (51") but check with Jerry (bratsarus1) to verify that. Greg is also correct in that the shop that lengthens your driveshaft will also balance it. Also, spend the bucks to get Jerry's modified linkage; it's worth it since the final installation will look identical to the original 4 speed setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greggbrat Posted May 9, 2004 Share Posted May 9, 2004 Edrach.......while Bratsrus1 kit will likely make it much easier to get the linkage setup it is not required. I did it myself (no welding) and it looks all original except the 4wd shifter sits about 3" higher than original. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northguy Posted May 9, 2004 Author Share Posted May 9, 2004 Right now, with the original transmission "stuff" in place, my d/r lever already sits a couple of inches higher due to the lift. Does this mean the d/r lever will be 6" higher? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greggbrat Posted May 9, 2004 Share Posted May 9, 2004 Hey Northguy, I am not sure. My lift kit should be installed within the next week so I will let you know how it works out for me. It would probably be a problem if it sits that high so I would fab some sort of fix. Send me an email in a week to find out the solution on the D/R lever. And keep in mind I have only heard good things about the kit from Bratsrus1........I just hear too many people giving advice to throw more money at a fix when I can likely do it myself. If money was in great supply I would definitely get the kit. I am a bit believer in using junkyard parts. One more thing. Make sure you get the correct transmission for your needs. Your brat probably has a 3.9 rear differential gear ratio. Make sure you get a tranny from a car that also has the 3.9 rear diff. (there is a sticker on the rear diff indicating the gear ratio but you might have to scrape through 20 years of sludge to read it) And make sure the donor tranny has the 1.6 low range......and not the 1.2 low range. I believe the 1.2 low range trannys only came in the turbo models and also only came with a 3.7 diff......but just be sure you are getting what you want. You can also put a limited slip rear diff in your brat. There are some very rare 3.9 limited slip differentials out there in the junkyards but there are lots of 3.7 LSD's available. What you can do is basically take the internal LSD out of the 3.7 LSD diff that you get from the junkyard and install it into your 3.9 diff.....hence making a 3.9 LSD. I have the parts to do this but havent actually done the work yet. There is a guide (hopefully its correct) in the USMB repair manual section on how to do this. Note - if a 3.7 rear differential has an LSD it will actually say "3.7 LSD" on the rear differential tag. I dont know what a 3.9 LSD says on the tag because I have never seen one. This has turned into a short novel. Let me know if you have any other questions. Gregg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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