17 replies to this topic

[JWX]

ok, I want to put the RX tranny in my hatch. but what all do I need I'll make a list and you guys can see if I'm missing anything
flywheel and clutch parts
the tranny itself
what axles do I use?
the linkages and stuff
the drive shaft (I'm going to get a one piece one made up)

[GeneralDisorder]

Axles are going to be your real problem - you need 25 spline EA81 axles.... and those seem to exist, but no one knows what they came from, and they are EXTREMEMLY hard to find. www.cvaxles.com can build them for you tho, and I think they will take any your non-25 spline ones as core..... but if they don't, your initial set is going to cost about $109 per axle - Jerry was having a set made because he couldn't find any....

You also need the 3.7 rear end, as your hatch is a 3.9.

GD

[MilesFox]

you should be able to swap a doj onto a TURBO ea81 axle, if the axle diameter and race are the same size

i can fit a 25spline doj onto a 2wd axle, but it has a lot of play. it works for a get me by, but i dont recommed running with it

other than that, swapping rx tranny is the same as 5spd. but you will have to figure out the diff lock system

I am assuming the RX has 23 splines in the rear

you can also do the ea82 front lower control arm if you want to use ea82 axles, like in my trashwagon5 and rguyver's hatch

[GeneralDisorder]

Miles - Turbo EA81 axles are the same as 4WD EA81 axles, and the DOJ swap apparently doesn't work - unless you are a rebuilder shop and can mix/match parts till you get it right. I'm sure that's what cvaxles.com does - they have so many parts lying around that they can make it work one way or another.

GD

[MilesFox]

ok, then the doj swap i mentioned will fit on a 23 spline turbo acle(from 3eat turbos)

so then he will have to either shorten a 25spline ea82 turbo axle, or have the ea82 front suspension conversion

[GeneralDisorder]

Yeah - but isn't it easier to just have cvaxles.com build em for you? Then you wouldn't have to worry about em for 100k miles or so.... and when you did, they could build you more for $55 each. Not to bad considering...

The EA82 swap would be intersting, but what does it buy you? Probably easier for you to get JY axles and parts eh Miles?

GD

[MilesFox]

well it depens on cost or how much work you want to do

suppose if there is a pair of complete ea82 struts with ea82 control arms, for cheap or already available, i would say its woth the time on a serious projact

and also having ea82 front suspensin will give you bigger brakes and suspension travel

it will also afford the option of using XT6 suspension on an ea81 body, and with the rx tranny

[JWX]

tell me more about this ea-82 control arm swap that might be the ticket so I can use the 5-lug wheels too and do ya'll think it would be possable to switch the the RX tranny to 3.9?

[GeneralDisorder]

Sure - anything is possible - prohibitivley expensive I should think. The bolt arangement of the front diff is different than that of the rear diff, and so the ring and pinion gears will not fit from a 3.9 rear end... now swapping in the 3.9 from another tranny..... may be possible, but would require splitting the tranny case, and John (Mudrat79) tells me this requires several special tools which are not cheap.... and even then it may not work as the full time 4WD tranny is bound to be considerably different than a regular D/R - being that it has a center diff and all..... didn't the XT6 have a full time 4WD manual with a 3.9 diff? Maybe one frorm that would fit.

Are you intending to off-road this car? If so forget the RX tranny. The Lo range is only 1.2:1 as opposed to the normal Lo range in a D/R tranny of 1.45:1 - couple that with it's 3.7 diff, and it makes for a useless off-road tranny (no crawl ratio at all to speak of).

To get the 5 lug, you would have to swap out to an EA82 style suspension (has it's own problems such as alignment [you ever get yours right Miles?], and some custom fabrication - welding the control arm mounts to the cross-member, etc...), and then swap over to the XT6 suspension which is yet another modification on top of the EA82 swap, and I'm sure would have it's own pile of problems with the EA81 car... never heard of anyone doing it, but it would be cool.... just a lot of work to get it on, and to get it right (ie - proper alignment).

GD

[MilesFox]

Originally posted by GeneralDisorder


To get the 5 lug, you would have to swap out to an EA82 style suspension (has it's own problems such as alignment [you ever get yours right Miles?], and some custom fabrication - welding the control arm mounts to the cross-member, etc...), and then swap over to the XT6 suspension which is yet another modification on top of the EA82 swap, and I'm sure would have it's own pile of problems with the EA81 car... never heard of anyone doing it, but it would be cool.... just a lot of work to get it on, and to get it right (ie - proper alignment).

GD

yeah we fixed it at lumpy cam's. we used the fresh ea81 inner tie rod (we lengthened) from ed and and used the ea81 tie rod end.
but we had to ream the knuckle on the ea82 knuckle to fit the ea81 tie rods. i originally had ea82 outer tie rod on the way out.

but that was not the problem
the problem was my rack was not centered when i did the mod. she is all good to go making the trip back east ("out midwest")

so here it is

You have to take the rear portion of the ea82 mount (the 2 flanges the lower contol arm bolts thru) cut ott the rear one by grinding the welds and taking the piece off as its stamped on

fit that BEHIND the lower control arm mount on the ea81 crossmember. thread a bolt thriu and weld on the mount (it will fit the contour of the crossmember) there will be extra metal on one end, so you can cut that off before you mount it

the strut brace rod will fit , but only with the new mount. the ea81 lower control arm will fit in the ea81 mount, but the axle will be too far forward and rub the frame, and hyper extend enough to rip the boots or pop them off. and the strut brace will need modified

so make the mount and put on the ea82 control arm, strut rod fits.

I used the EA82 struts, knuckle, and brakes, so i did not have to modify the ball joint hole. i made my mod with the ability to use unmodified replacement parts

i used a spring compressor to remove thestrut cap
I used a EA81 strut cap, with the hole modified to fit the ea82 strut shaft and nut. i drilled a straight hole, but i should have made the half moon shape to keep the struts still while the nut is tightened
i used part of the ea81 shaft bushing to lengthen the ea82 strut bushing, and ea82 springs and plastic boot. i cut the ea81 bushings to use the fat part

so now i can have an ea82 strut that fits on the ea82 strut tower, and the ea82 control arm to fit the axle

i had to lengthen my tie rods because i had a manual rack. The MOD was supposed to use ea82 inner and outer tie rods, to fit on the ea82 POWER rack.

i recommend using ea82 struts and tie rod ends.
if you use an ea82 strut and knuckle, you will have to drill the holes out for the ea82 tie rod end and the ball joint hole on the new control arm

dam, i should do my write-up while i m on a roll !
does any one have pics of crossmembers, control arms, or struts i can use?

so now my mods will accept an xt6 lower control arm, and knuckle. i will swap my modified EA81 strut cap to the xt6/impreza/legacy struts

i have the idea of using the ea82 swaybar brackets and put them on ea81, they swaybars will bolt to the new lower control arms

that way i can take off the ea81 swaybar to make room for dual exhaust

[JWX]

its an on-off(not like what you guys do up there just dirt roads, my yard stuff like that) road car possibly turned in to a rally car later on in its life. I want FT4WD but want to be able to lock the diff and I want the low range which is why I want an RX tranny. so the EA-81T's or other wise had 25 splines and the RX tranny has 23, right?

[MilesFox]

allthough xt6 5spd has 3.9, the rx trans has low range wich is ultimately lower gear./

but RX low is still tall enough to drave around on, you just use more gas cause youre ROMPIN' it!

myoss feece take the RX to 75 in lo-range on the hiway

[MilesFox]

http://www.warpthree...ce/Glossary.htm

[GeneralDisorder]

I was simply saying that the 3.9 front diff from an XT6 FT4WD tranny *might* be a closer fit than anything else if you were to attempt to convert an RX tranny to 3.9 - not that he should use the XT6 tranny.

RX tranny is 25 spline, as are all turbo EA82 trannys. EA81 axles are 23 spline.... except some have been found that are 25 spline, but it is not clear what these came from, as the general consensus seems to be that the EA81T cars had 23 spline just like regular EA81's...

No one knows definatively what car a person would look for to find 25 spline EA81 axles.... in fact it may be that they never existed beyond a custom build from some axle shop. The only set I know of (or indeed, that anyone knows of from what I can tell), is a set that Mudrat79 pulled from an EA81 Turbo coupe. But other turbo coupes of the same vintage have been examined (with matching numbers on their tranny, so they were factory), and found to not be 25 spline. Very weird, and it's probably best to just have a set made.

GD

[JWX]

ok thats what I thought that turbo EA-82's were 25 and the others were 23. I was just a bit confused and the reason I want 3.9 gears is cause I don't think I'm going to turbo this until I go to the EJ series engines and wanted to keep my accl. the same

[JWX]

ok so heres my list so I can start shopping and one more question will jerry's kit help me here?
tranny, rear diff
25 spline EA-81 axles (from cvaxles.com unless I score on the board)
ok two more questions can I get my flywheel re-drilled for the EA-82t PP? that way keep my TDC marking and stuff?

[MilesFox]

jerry's wpuld make you an excellent shifter. but send him the one from the transmission you are using, and your ea81 4wd handle

[JWX]

ok when I get all the stuff I'll give him an email. (and a bump)