mikaleda Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 i just came across a subaru for $350. my step dad needed a motor and i needed parts for mine so we bought it. its a carbon copy of mine samee color and everything except its an auto. it also runs and drives and has 117K iles on it. i got it for so cheap because it as t-boned and damaged the subframe. my car is getting high in milage (230k) except for the motor i recently replaced. my transmission works ok, but ive been hard on it and i think its probably gettting close to time for a clutch. my thought is to convert my car to the auto and swap hub assemblies, axels, driveline, ect. how hard would it be to convert to the auto. im not worried abot the mechanical stuff thats self explanitory. im wondering would i need to swap the dash? Id imagine i would need to swap cluster and the wiring harness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtdash Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Read thru Legacy777/Josh's swap: http://www.surrealmirage.com/subaru/swap/swap.html Basically the reverse, but more work....yours is likely a 'cable' clutch setup vs. the hdyro/hydraulic used on the Turbos and EJ25D cars. The dash doesn't need changed unless you 'need' the AT Gear display on the dash...but the harness could be a real PITA....AT>>MT is MUCH easier. ....personally, I wouldn't bother. It that is a '90 AT it's the 4.11 and should work in any '90, '91, '95-'98 Subaru w/the 2.2. Any torque bind? TD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikaleda Posted July 22, 2016 Author Share Posted July 22, 2016 That post told me basicly what I needed to know, I was hoping that the dash harness would be universal with plugins for both auto or stick. I will just swap out the entire dash since it's in better shape than mine, then I just need to swap wiring harness at the firewall and that should be that. The rest is just mechanical stuff I know I can figure out. I can swap the pedals and stuff while the dash is out. The only reason I think it won't be all that hard is, I have two cars same year, model, gear ratio, color inside and outside. The auto with 117k miles on it runs perfectly and has a beautiful interior. I'm already planning on swapping the doors, hatch, hood, fenders, and most of the interior. My bearings are growling so putting the hubs out of the 117k mile car is good fix. If the sub frame wasn't damaged on the auto I would just fix it. Mine is quite clean and rust free body. I've replaced all 4 struts and the motor with a 30k Mile replacement USDM motor. I have been extremely hard on the drive train of this car the way I have driven it and I know all four bearings are going out the drive line is getting tired, and my rear axels are tired I'm sure as well. Probably will take me about a month, but I just got my old Scottsdale up and running and gas prices are cheap so ill just drive that for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 swap subframe and repair that one? Or did you mean unibody/chassis damage. If equipped and you want it to work the Cruise control computers are different but easily plug and play swapped. AT cooler in radiator. Driveshaft length different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikaleda Posted July 22, 2016 Author Share Posted July 22, 2016 Here are some pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 That's not a sub-frame that is THE frame. Sub-frame is front or rear crossmember or some structural part that bolts on. Swap shouldn't be terribly difficult since you have the whole car. Dash isnt terribly difficult to remove if you have to, just time consuming. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikaleda Posted July 23, 2016 Author Share Posted July 23, 2016 Well what I'm planning on doing is parking the two cars together and pretty much swapping everything onto my frame anyway so time consuming doesn't bother me. By the time on done I'll have a new car damn near. Oh ya, while pulling some of the interior I found the original sales receipt. It was sold in Dec. 1989 (same as mine) for $15,999 out of levinworth WA. With 138 mi on the odo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikaleda Posted July 24, 2016 Author Share Posted July 24, 2016 Something else I just thought about, the 90 MT has a different IACV than the autos do. Can I Plug and play the auto intake without swapping the wiring harness under the drivers fender? I mean I guess it wouldnt be all that hard to swap that harness as well since I will be swapping fenders and dash and doors anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikaleda Posted August 5, 2016 Author Share Posted August 5, 2016 Well I decided not to swap the auto in when I swapped the front hubs off of the other car and realized how bad my bearings were. My milage shot back up to 27-28 mpg from 25 and my low end power is back as well as the chatter I though was from the clutch is now gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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