So i am doing a engine swap on 86 rx. and i cant decide if i should change the transmission along with it. I have a AWD diff lock transmission and if i can avoid changing it would be great. I am putting in a EJ2.2T with slight modifications to it. I know the SJR makes adaptor plates and i was planning on going that route. but i also dont want to break my transmission the first AutoX i go to. Whats the communitys thoughts on this?

as far as I know the internals of the EA transmissions are very similar to the EJ series transmissions, so power wise I think it will hold,

 

but! there are people who break the trannys on stock WRXes, so anything is possible...

 

having said that, I would go for an EJ tranny, more and better clutch options, fits without a hassle to the engine and you have a viscous centre diff, which is never a bad thing

but! there are people who break the trannys on stock WRXes, so anything is possible...

 

this is what I tell people all the time. the trannies are tough if you don't beat the crap out of them. but there are those who can destroy WRX trannies on stock power.

 

 

I think the best example, is reddevil (formerly the supercharged 2.2 wagon, now twin-charged). he's run 300awhp through a stock legacy 5MT (virtually identical internals to the EA82 5MT), and 12 sec 1/4 miles. now that he's thoroughly above 300awhp, he's starting to break them pretty severely.....

The RX tranny will not transfer power as evenly through the drivetrain as the AWD legacy tranny would. The VC evens out the power flow, while the open center diff does not. An RX with one wheel off a cliff won't move at all without locking the diff. A Legacy will drive away like nothing was wrong because the VC will send power to both the front and rear even if one wheel has no traction at all. Ultimately this means that more HP through the RX transmission stresses components more unevenly than the AWD of the legacy would. It's also old and presumably has a few miles on it. Putting a lot of HP through an aged transmission not designed for it is always a recipe for disaster.

 

Also the EJ22T is going to have a pusher style clutch and won't mate as easily to the RX tranny as it would to a true Turbo tranny. It would require some clutch part swapping.

 

GD

ok thanks for the info i think for what i'll be doing with the car it may be best to swap the tranny as well.

Also the EJ22T is going to have a pusher style clutch and won't mate as easily to the RX tranny as it would to a true Turbo tranny. It would require some clutch part swapping.

 

GD

 

First off, match the clutch to the trans, not to the engine. If you stick with the EA trans, use an XT6 flywheel and clutch setup. Its not hard to ovalize the holes in the flywheel for it to work. Or you could do what I did and talk to Baccaruda...

 

Take into consideration that unless you find a cable pull EJ tranny (which can be tough) you'll have to swap out the clutch pedal for a hydrolic setup and then you have to worry about getting all that stuff to fit. Which doesn't seem hard, but definately takes some trouble shooting.

 

Also remember that if you go EJ tranny, you will have to modify your drive shaft and figure out some sort of shift linkage.

 

Just so you know, I have an EJ swapped RX with EJ trans setup and a EJ swapped GL wagon with an EA trans setup. I speak from experience.

 

My official reccomendation though, is to do the extra work to go EJ everything.

I like Tex also have done three EJ swaped EA cars. two with EJ20G's and EJ hydrolic trans, and one EJ22 N/A with EA RX AWD D/R trans.

 

the two using EJ trans swaps i used WRX hydrolic clutch setups. with a N/A trans i may keep the EA trans, but with any turbo swap i would go with the EJ trans. the hydro clutch setup is not all that hard to install. if you can do the engine swap and get all the electrical hooked up, then you should have no problem getting the clutch master installed.

 

the main reason i would go with the EJ trans swap is for the better clutch and flyweel setup. even with the XT6 clutch setup if you get 200 WHP the XT6 clutch is going to be at its limit of holding force... with a hydro clutch setup the holding force is much greater.

 

my $0.02

 

-=Suberdave=-

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