froggymike

Looks like a motor mount or dampener of some kind, assuming the two diagonal support things are rubber. But it doesnt look Subie to me. Then again, I'm only familiar with older models (80, 87ish).

Time for a trip to the junk yard! I will replace the knock sensor tomorrow as the old one is fried. Fluid has leaked out the side cause it was melted by the previous owner. Then I will re-time it correctly with the green plug things plugged together. The cruise control and AC do not work. The tranny is still leaking a bit, but I can't tell if it's the tranny or the front diff, or both. Murph seems to run a little hot, but that could be because of the slightly incorrect timing. Oh, and I am still not sure if the kick-down relay is working. Tomorrow. PS. How do you lube the sun roof guide? pics at SonicfrogBlog

The 87 T-Wag still has the stock 20 watt per channel stereo in it. What do you guys recomend for an upgrade with out spending wads of cash.... cause I don't have it.

At last! I have posted picture of Murphy the T-Wag on my blog :-) There is a more complete selection here. Pictures of Murphy PS. Music from my current and former bands can be found in the parent directory.

In case I have to do it, is it safe to remove the kickdown relay on an 87 auto trans with out draining the tranny fluid?

Update: Drove it tonight to school (getting masters in Ed). The Murph did well. I found the cruise control doesn't seem to work. Will pick up a knock sensor tomorrow if I have time. I didn't hear the tranny relay trip, can I pull it and check it without having to drain the fluid?

The turbo wagon, I have named "Murphy" due to all the problems I had replacing the engine, runs "good" but not great. Finished it yesterday. Here are a few of the problems I'm having at the moment. Throttle response is a bit sluggish and the check engine light is on. Boy they make those brite in this serries. The turbo light comes on sooner than I expected (about 2k rpm). But that might be due to the check engine problem. I don't have passing mode with the auto trans; you know, when you mash the gas pedal to the floor and the tranny kicks into high grear. There is a sensor screwed into the block, just in front of the flywheel opening. It's fried. What is it?

My old and new engine both have a turbo. The old engine turbo seems to turn with less resistance than the newer one. Which should I use?

OK. On new engine, here is the list of accomplishments: Removed all that needed to be removed, including intake manifold, water pump, timing belts, gaskets and cam, front and rear-main seals. I installed the seals and valve cover gaskets. The engine is almost ready for its new home. Now for the setbacks: The long intake manifold bolt head broke off, so it tool me an hour to weasel the manifold up and off. I thought the reason it wouldn't come off was because there was a lot of corrosion on the bolt. The more likely reason it took me an hour was that I forgot to disconnect the EGR pipe that screws into the intake manifold (duh). The crank-shaft pulley bolt would not budge, instead breaking my home made flywheel stopper I have had for twenty years. Wedging a C clamp onto the flywheel did the trick, but my torque wrench wasn't torquie enough, so eventually I had to go and buy a breaker bar (should have done that long, long ago). Had to make three shopping trips to various parts stores for bits and do-dads I forgot to get last week-end. And last but not least, I trashed the new rear-main seal trying to put it in with a plastic cup. The seal went in crooked, and the edge of the cup bit through the inner part of the seal. Oh, and I'm pretty sure the tranny I bought from LA is the wrong one, so I guess I'll try and seal the old one as best I can in the meantime. So tomorrow is another auto shop day. Thank god I have a garage AND bought that engine hoist last week. I would have spent more money on a rental.

I bought an auto tranny from LA for my turbo-wag and think they may have shipped my the wrong one. Are the 25 splines on the front half-shafts or the rear drive shaft???

Oh, I SOOO wanna do that to my 87 I'm rebuilding. I had an '80 named "Cy", short for Cyclops. I loved that car.

Today is the day for swappin', and I don't mean wives' 'cause I don't got one. I'm prepping the new(er) engine for my 87 T-Wag. When I pulled the flywheel off I noticed a plate with five or six screws in back of the block. What is it and does it have a gasket? If I can't find a gasket will silicon do the job?

OK. THIS week-end I WILL definitely swap the engine and tranny. I think I have the A/T removal figured out. Through the spark plug hole I can see that there is a lot of carbon deposits on the piston face of the new(er) engine. What is a good additive that will get rid of that and also clean the fuel injectors?

A) That is one of the cutest BRAT's I've seen, and I can't believe you fot that T PU for $600. Mine is a '94, has a dent or two, has 250k plus miles on it and people pull up beside me and offer $2000 to buy it on the spot. PS. I swapped my '87 GL Wag for the truck, even exchange, 5 years ago. The truck had two burned valves and a broken valve spring.

Yeah, I'm jones'n for one too. When I get my Masters and get a better job; then maybe. Just maybe... PS. Hope to get the 87 T-Wag done tomorrow (engine / tranny swap).

Thanks for the tips. Has anyone else noticed that Chilton's Guide is not as informative as it used to be, or is it just me?

What is the best procedure for installing new ones? Should I lube them with a bit of oil or even spit while installing? Chilton's is very vague on this. This is for the 87 T - Wag Engine / Tranny swap that didn't get done yesterday. Oh, and one more question. Does the torque converter share fluid with the auto-tranny, or with the FWD differential, or is it self contained. I hope this is not a dumb question. In my twenty-sum-odd years of tinkering with cars, I have never dealt with an automatic transmission before.

UPDATE: So yesterday turned out to be a quagmire, kinda like the one after the first week of the Iraq war, sans sand storm; a quagmire only because I wanted everything to be done NOW and that wasn't going to happen. I rented an engine hoist (cherry picker) on Saturday and they didn't give me an engine sling, which makes the hoist useless when trying to lift an engine. I called them and they didn't have one, so I returned the hoist and got my money back. I ended up buying a hoist for $150 (and of course the hoist didn’t come with a sling either but I found a way to improvise. Thank God for bungee cords. Just kidding … I used high capacity tie-downs). I could have rented one, with sling, from another company in town, but the realization hit me that the engine / tranny swap was probably going to take several days, and the rental fees would have come close to the purchase price. Plus, in a couple of months, my lead vocalist will be swapping engines in his Pontiac Fiero and was planning on buying a hoist for the job. When he starts his project, he’s agreed to buy this one from me, and if he doesn’t, I can sell it on e-bay. Then I started shopping for the bits and gaskets that I need to do this right. But again fate was against me. Each auto parts store had only one or two of the needed parts in stock, so I had to go all over town to get the stuff, and I’m still a piece or two. So now it’s 5 pm. Had to assemble the hoist. So now its 6:30 pm. And I’m too tired and frustrated from the lack of progress to do anything else. I did manage to get a little prep work on the new(er) engine last night. But dinner called… AND the new season of Family Guy started at nine. It Rocked

Dateline: Sunday 05/01/2005. The day is finaly here. After a long week of school work and work work, I am FINALLY swapping everything. I'm not familliar with the auto tranny and the torque converter. I didn't realize it sat behind the flywheel (where does that name come from anyway?). Are there any gaskets on that thing that need to be replaced. Anything I should watch out for concerning removal and re-install of the AT?

You said clunk. I thought you said KLUNK ;-) Clunk at start-up; my money is on Blown Head Gasket. I've had plety of 'em in my day (had a Honda in college that popped every 6 mos) and that is a tell-tale sign at start-up.

I had a car that used to go klunk... it was a loose tranny. I would check for that just to be on the safe side.

Purchased an imported engine and A/T today ($500 and $250 plus tax n shipping). If it gets here in time, I will have the wag running by Sunday, fingers crossed. I must be carefull though. My band has a gig on Saturday nite and I don't want to mash those fingers.

It was sitting for over a month. I may stick with A/T and give my sore, worn out clutch knee a rest... but having a 5spd in the turbo wag WOULD be cool! Ill see what the prices are for each, then decide.

Tested the compresion. About 90 all around. Drained the oil. It really, really stinks. I have worked on a lot of cars and never smelled anything like this. It smells like ten-day-old dead cat. Me thinks the engine is fried. Gonna get a new (used) one. Also the A/T is leaking from the gear housing and the torque converter (both pink and yellow fluid). So I will probably get a new tranny too. Is it difficult to switch from Auto to Standard tranny. Are the half shafts the same, ect.???

Does the dash from an 86 turbo look different from the dash of an 87 GL-10? Just bought the $500 turbo wag tonight and discovered the dash leaves much to be desired. And how hard is it to switch the tranny from auto to 5 spd (both 4WD)?