jboymechanic Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Would the transmission, rear diff, drive shaft, pedals, crossmembers and other 5MT components from a first gen legacy (1990 to 1994) swap directly into a second gen legacy like my 1995? If so, what parts are needed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SchwarzeEwigkt Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I did a writeup on this six or seven years ago and determined that the cost is just too much to be bothered with. For me, anyway. It was going to be something like $1800 to do that on my '97 Outback. I looked into it because I was concerned my 4EAT was going to fail soon and wanted to know options. For what it's worth, it hasn't 75k later and all I've done is flush the fluid a couple times and put in some Lucas transmission treatment the first time (did a little good) and Trans-X the second time (did lots of good). Oh, and I replaced the little filter for the MAP sensor that had cracked and caused a vacuum leak and thus rough(er) shifting. But to answer your question, no not from that vintage. You'll need a transmission, clutch release hardware, flywheel, clutch, different crossmember, pedal box, clutch switch, driveshaft for a manual, shifter, linkage and hardware, interior trim pieces, differential, wiring all from a 95-99 (IIRC). And you'll need to trick the ECU. You might do better if you buy a parts car with a blown engine or rear end damage that totaled it but didn't compromise the drivetrain. If your reasoning is anything other than "I love my car more than my free time and any amount of money" it may make more sense to get a different car that already has a 5MT. There are quite a few writeups on this topic if you search around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Manual transmission Subarus are so common it's just easier to buy a car with all the stuff already there. You really need a complete donor car anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 The tranny, diff, and driveshaft will work. Not sure about the crossmember and the pedals, I think they have to come from a 2nd gen. Which isn't that big a deal, tons of them in junk yards. The interior stuff definitely needs to come from a car like yours. I think it's a very worth while swap. If you have a car that's in good shape, especially in a place where cars rust out, why not keep it alive? I have almost all the parts to swap my legacy to a 5speed when the auto craps. I have a car with no rust, good engine, and everything in nice working condition, why junk it and buy something that potentially has a lot of silly issues? It's almost always cheaper to fix what you have. Otherwise you'll get a new car with all the same issues all over again. BLEH! You're going to need, - Tranny - Tranny crossmember - Shift linkage - Driveshaft - Diff from whatever, but be warned, you might end up needing rear axles to match the diff Or a diff that matches your rear axles. I have two different diffs, and an axle that doesn't fit either... And I***know that older stuff has yet another type of inner rear axle. - Cable clutch pedal box, so from a 95 or 96 legacy. - Flywheel, clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing, pilot bearing. - The longer bolts that go with the flywheel, yes, it's OK to re-use those. - Interior bits from a car like yours. - The older transmission is going to have a cable speedo, your car has a digital one. So you'll have to swap the VSS***from your transmission. - Your 95, if L model, has 4.11 gear ratio. So, if the transmission you get is a 4.11 (a lot of early legacys are) you won't even have to swap the rear diff. And it won't mess up your speedometer reading. Other than that, just some basic re-wiring. Connect up reverse lights, NSS, and connect two other wires together. It's not a gigantic re-wire like some people think. There's a thread somewhere detailing the wiring.... That's about all I can think at the moment. I've put a bunch of research, thought, and gathering parts into this. If you have a good car, do it. If your car is a rust bucket. Dump it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jboymechanic Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 There is nothing wrong with my car, I just hate driving an automatic. Not to mention my '96 Brigton averages 27 mpg while I only get 24 mpg out of the '95 with auto. There is a first gen legacy wagon in town, really rusty, that I could get super cheap, it has stick in it. After hearing opinions, I'm not going to attempt this (at least not any time soon). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Its much easier to swap an auto to stick, whereas if going FWD to 4wd, getting an already 4wd car is the way to go. If you get all the parts for cheap(whole donor car) it is esentially fool proof since labor is free when you are doing it yourself. I vote go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 As I said, it's really not terribly hard. Go for it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jboymechanic Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 I think I may keep my eyes open for a wagon with a blown motor or something of that sort and swap the motor out of my automatic legacy and then strip it down for parts. Then I could reseal the oil separator plate or whatever it's called that leaks oil all over the place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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