I have ghosted this site and others trying to find the answers to my dilemma. I want to do a tranny swap. My 1984 Brat 4 speed to a 5 speed. Luckily, I have found many used L lines and XT's in my local junkyard. The first tranny I pulled had a button actuator for the 4wd on the transmission. My question is do I have to find a vehicle with the same manual configurations as my Brat? Attached is a pic of my manual configuration. Can anyone point me in the right direction?  

The push button isnt as popular to my knowledge because of the lack of hi/low, either will work jst depends upon you application, also the push button requires a wiring harness and ecu

If you plan to go to the fuel injection I would start the fuel injection and the push button 5-speed from the same car so that you don't have to rebuild 2 wiring harnesses or just go with the standard dual range 5 speed and have a stand-alone harness for your fuel injection

First off, am I clear on the intel that there are several 5 speed transmissions from various L line models '80-'89 and XT models '85-'93 that can bolt up to my engine without really too much of a hassle from a conversion kit? What I'm discovering is the most important detail of this project is the 4wd lever or actuator.  

Ya, thats exactly what I said, you want one with a lever if you want dual range 4wd period. Meaning hi/low 4wd and 2wd, th e push button is 2wd and 4wd hi to my understanding, and the push button requires wiring i guess. Like i said it depends your 4wd application, is most of yor 4wd on or off road? Like do you take it out crawling or do you wanna just have it for winter

You want a dual range 5 speed. It's straightforward and awesome. It will have two sticks. One for gear changes, one to activate 4wd modes. Push button is single range and vac operated you will have to run a vac line and wire the switch in.

Checkout www.offroadingsubarus.com/forum --> members ride --> new brumby Bernadette. In this thread are details of the swap including pics of adapting the dual range EA82 lever rod to the EA81 interior hi/lo lever for a stock looking interior.

 

Push button 4wd only engages the rear wheels via a cable actuated by a vacuum canister that's operated by a set of electric solenoids.

 

If you get an MPFI or MPFI turbo box it'll have the larger 25 spline diff output stubs. The a vortex XT model came with an AWD gearbox that bolts straight into the EA82 L series - much nicer to drive on the open road while still keeping the true 4wd function.

 

Cheers

 

Bennie

my xt6 has a center diff lock thats worth noting. as far as i know the 4-cyl xt's did not have this. that gives you awd and the option to switch to real 4wd. no low range in these tho, i believe you need a rx transmission to get awd and hi/low range, and i dont think they had a lockable center diff.

Brilliant! Thank you all.