Hello everyone. I recently purchased a pretty clean 87 Gl wagon with a fwd 5spd.

I purchased it with the intention of lifting it and doing the gambler and to take the family and dogs down the beach fishing. Unfortunately its not awd and im looking to do the conversion.ive looked through the forum searches on the subject and it looks to be pretty straight forward if i find another "loyale" chassis but here in south Texas they few a far in between. Ive seen a few ea81 brats for sale for cheap but from what i gather there is some incompatibility on axle widths and splines? Could anybody clarify this for me or link me to a build?

You can't use EA81 components. You have to use EA82. If you don't know the difference, check the dizzy location. EA81: Front of the engine. EA82: Left rear corner coming out of the cam cover.

Also not a great platform to go all big modding. Parts are getting scarce. I'd think I'd want something where spare parts are common as dirt and cheap

Thanks for the input guys but i think im hooked on it already, im good with the tools so i guess ill wait for another donor or buy an awd gl wagon. Theres some for pretty cheap its just that they are a 1000 miles away.

Also, note, these were mostly 4WD, not AWD.  There were only a few later versions with AWD back then.

 

For clarity, and any new person who may read this later, and not be aware, 4WD is not for use on dry pavement.  Only dirt, wet ,snow, ice.

You need an 88+ AWD box from a XT 4wd or RX. Earlier RX (86/87) were pt 4wd.

And possibly will need to change your diff if it's the wrong ratio (3.7 vs 3.9).

Yep. You need to look for a non-turbo car. They have the 3.9. Turbos had a 3.7 ratio. It's a small change numbers wise, but your power and mileage will suffer if you swap. Not a lot, but noticeably.