i have done this to an 83 wagon, ea82 parts on the ea81 crossmember.

 

but you will need to have the mount off the ea82 crossmember. if you look, you will see how its stamped to the crossmember, grint away at the seams and chisel it off, and the contour of it will match on the ea81 crossmember.

 

i believe it would be possible to carry over the ea82 swaybar, and that will eliminate the ea81 swaybar, and allow better room for dual exhaust.

 

i used the whole ea82 strut. if using ea82 control arms, and ea81 struts, you will have to ream the hole out for the balljoint styd.

 

but you can modify the ea81 strut cap to fit on the ea82 strut, (mine i used the ea82 spring)

 

you will have to swap the INNER tie rod out with an ea82.

 

mine was a manual rack, and it would not fit.

 

but if you had a power rack, i would think the swap would work. and if it s a tirbop crossmember with the rack still there, it wil be late model enough for the swapt to work with the tierod.

 

if it doesnt fit, as in my case, you can lengthen the inner tie-rod itself.

 

use the outer tie rod end specific to the strut/knuckle you use.

 

if you use ea81 tie rod ends onan ea82 strut/knuckle, you will have to ream the holes out on th eknuckle

 

now with all that done, yo would use the ea82 axles. all this will gain a little suspension trave,. and the track will be a tad wider, and i believe it will set your caster forward also(good for the stink-bug posture as its called)

 

all this done to mine, i am going to install xt6 struts and axle/ 5lug hubs on the ea81 body

Well garner, i dont think that it will take you long, just it took us a year cause we only played with it during our free time, and werent rushed to get it done. as we had other things to do in the mean time too. plus chris lives 50 miles from here so it was even harder for him to get things done. plus with me bing in a new house and getting things settled down there....

if you have everything you need, and dont have to figure it out as you go(knowing what to do beforehand) it shouldnt take long to do.

 

doing the suspension mods would be best with the crossmember out of the car, before it goes in!