icanbarelydrive55

So my reverse has basically pooped out on my 83 wagon. It has the 3sp automatic, and its 4wd (Which also pooped out when the solenoid in the side of the tranny went bad). After finally getting some time on my hands, I've decided I want to attempt the 5 speed conversion from an ea82. I have read numerous threads on the topic, and I believe I have a general idea of the know how in what parts to use from each, but just to beat a dead horse, I want to finalize my findings with you all and make sure I am not missing anything huge. With that said, here it goes: I need an 85-89 5 speed manual transmission with the dual range 4wd ea82 crossmember custom fabricated to fit into ea81 ( Contact Jerry?) ea82 pilot bearing ea82 flywheel ea82 clutch/pressure plate ea81 original tranny mounts installed onto ea82 tranny ea82 drive shaft (For some reason I was getting mixed signals on whether or not the driveshaft needs to be customized in some way) ea81 MANUAL pedal box assembly with with cables (an ea82 manual pedal box will not work from what I've read??) ea82 Speedo cables? ea82 rear diff?? the ea81 diff is 3.7, I don't know if the ea82 is the same or a 3.9 Am I missing anything with all of that? I know there's the whole flywheel holes being to big, but that didn't seem like a big deal. Also, does it matter if the tranny is from a turbo ea82? I am located in Louisville, KY, and access to most of these parts for me is going to be just hoping that there is some stuff on ebay, so if anyone has some things they're willing to get rid of that would be rad. Thanks so much for all you guys who are posting this stuff. I don't contribute my fair share when it comes to this stuff, but hopefully with this I'll be able to!

Naru, if it has failed is there anyway to buy a new solenoid? I honestly think that it is the solenoid, and I've looked online but can't seem to find an exact fit (retrofit from a Mitsubishi maybe?) but idk If would be able to get a replacement...regardless I'll try that tomorrow when I have some time and shoot back here. Thanks for the tips!

Hey all. I unfortunately haven't been able to play as much around with my 83 GL (AT, push 4wd)as I would have liked to the past year because of a pos van that I bought, thinking it would be fun to build out for my climbing trips... Anyways, I've been doing a general maintenance overhaul this winter and soon started randomly blowing the turn signal/4wd fuse (which oddly enough also works my power windows and the intermittent speed for my windshield wipers...weird). I say random because I could replace the fuse and it would work for a day, but then sometimes I would replace the fuse and it would blow immediately. So, after thinking it was the right turn signal bulb from corrosion, which I replaced, it stopped blowing. Well after 3 days the fuse blew again, and this time for good (I went through like 10 bucks of 15amp fuses thinking it would work, I was in denial). I finally was able to stop the fuse blowing, by disconnecting the 4wd harness right above the transmission in the back of the engine bay (below the spare tire), so now people aren't giving me the evil eye for not using my turn signals (is that what bmw drivers feel like all the time?) So I "assume" a short is somewhere in that wiring. The thing is, I've checked from the 4wd switch located at the passenger side of the tranny "accessible" (hardly) underneath the car, and all the way to the main wiring harness located at the driver side by the firewall before it enters the firewall and I cannot find any outward appearing problems like cuts or nicks. I haven't gotten deep into the console area so that could possibly be it, but I just don't think it's a wire cut...could the switch that attaches to the transmission be the culprit for the fuse blowing, or possibly the switch on the shifter or somewhere along there???? I'm learning patience here