I've got an '87 GL Wagon with a bad automatic transmission (push button 4WD), and I started tearing it apart this morning in order to swap it for the 5-speed D/R from my '88 GL Wagon with a blown engine. The problem is that I thought all automatics had a 3.70 gear ratio, but the rear differential says it has 3.90 gears. Did automatics really come in 3.90? If so, I guess I won't have to swap out rear-ends like I thought I needed to.

i just did a 5spd swap on an 87 gl wagon i got that had a bad auto tranny. [3at] it had the 3.90 ratio rear end also. i was really surprised cause everthing i read said autos were 3.70 . so, from my own experience i guess some autos did come in 3.90. saves us swapping out the diff!! this car also has funny hubcaps that say- 25th anniversay edition- on them. does yours?

Nope, mine's got alloy wheels. I can't help but wonder what happened to the transmission in mine--it was already shot when I bought the car. After looking at it today, I realized that there's a big crack in the bottom where the cooling fins are, but the crack bulges outward, as if something inside pushed it outwards and cracked the housing. Ah well, it'll be nice to have a Subaru to drive when I'm done with this--I'm having withdrawals, and it's only been a week since the engine blew up in my good car.

hey, nice lookin car. if you have any troubles on your swap, just post and you will get an answer. i wonder if water could have got in the tranny and froze? or someone bottomed out hard on a rock? thats weird. well, good luck with the swap. its nice to have a 5 spd!

maybe the tranny blew and sent a peice of shapnel into the bottom!

From what I have read EA82 Turbos got the 3.7 rear diff and the EA82 non-turbos got the 3.9 rear diff. Another thing I have read is that with automatics the front diffs have a different ratio the the rear and the transfer gear is not 1:1 but .933:1