Hello All, 

I have a 1981 4spd 4wd GL wagon with a perfect body and interior and a 1986 5spd 4wd GL wagon with a perfect drivetrain. I would like to know if I can swap the entire drivetrain (front/rear) from the 1986 into the 1981??? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Sure. You will have to pound a dent in the frame rail on the drivers side so the valve cover of the EA82 will clear.

I would recommend just swapping the 5-speed in with your existing EA81 engine, if it's in good shape. You will get a minimal power increase with the EA82, but they come with more issues... Personally, I would rather just put a Weber on the engine you have.

If you really want to upgrade, an EJ22 from an early Legacy fits right in with no pounding 

 

A lot more involved though...

+1 I would just swap the tranny and rear diff if necessary. I would NEVER opt to install and EA82 in place of an EA81. Not saying it's a bad motor, but it has many more things that can and will go wrong if you're not vigilant with maintenance. I do not believe pounding a dent in the rail will allow for proper clearance either. Iirc, you can't drop an EA82 into an EA81 body that hasn't been lifted without cutting an welding. Not to mention, if you did somehow manage to shoehorn it in there, now you can't do any valve cover, cam tower or head gasket work to it with the engine in the car. Nope, wouldn't do. Definitely wouldn't do it. Nope. Definitely. Yeah, bad idea. Definitely. lol

I did 3 of them like that back in the day, completely stock, no lift. 

 

Had an EA82T in my hatch. Took the front halfshafts out in the summer.  

 

But that was when the EA82 was the NEW engine... Oooo... Overhead cams!!  

 

The EJ was still just a twinkle in Subaru's eye.

Yes it's possible.

Can you do it? I don't know, can you?

 

Did you google or read about others trying and discussing it?

 Iirc, you can't drop an EA82 into an EA81 body that hasn't been lifted without cutting an welding. Not to mention, if you did somehow manage to shoehorn it in there, now you can't do any valve cover, cam tower or head gasket work to it with the engine in the car. Nope, wouldn't do. Definitely wouldn't do it. Nope. Definitely. Yeah, bad idea. Definitely. lol

 

Actually, the lifted cars it would be even harder, as the engine and the disty move lower in between teh frame rails.

 

Unless you are talking about an 8in lift or something crazy.  then the engine would be fully below the frame rails.

 

just not really an upgrade to go from EA81 to EA82.

Hello again, 

Thanks for the advise back then. I’ve taken some time to consider my options and have decided on using the 81 GL wagon body(white), the dual range 5spd from my 86 wagon(silver), and 2.2 EJ from a 96 Legacy(silver) that I recently picked up. I’ve been doing as much reading up as time allows but still have questions!?!

1. How can I tell what the gearing is in the 81 rear diff?

2. Will I need to swap the rear diff from the 86 to match the transmission? 
 

3. If so, will I need to swap axle shafts? Front/Rear?

I will have a thousand more questions I’m sure, super excited to finally be moving forward!!!

 

If unsure of diff ratio (there’s usually a sticker on the back of the rear diff on these older Subaru’s), swap in the rear diff from the donor car. It will bolt in no worries. 

Drive shafts - use the MY units front and rear. 

I thought you’d have more EJ conversion questions than what you didn’t have there  

Cheers 

Bennie