6MT Master Swap Thread

All done. loving it.

 

Unfortunately, I was not able to beat the $3000 mark.

 

$2,100 - 6MT with supports + DCCD

$380 - Lightly used Spec B rear axles

$70 - 4EAT Legacy driveshaft

~$200 - various peripherals

$1,380 - Labor at a shop. Yikes.

_______________

$4,130

 

 

If I was anywhere near "home", I would have borrowed a garage or shed and done the install myself. Anything involving manual labor in NY is outrageous, I've come to realize.

 

How does the STI gearing feel? Would the Spec.B gearing be preferred?

My "fix" for the driveshaft length. Previously, that groove was resting in the center of the bearing housing and the driveshaft input was sitting about an inch further back hanging out of the dust cap.

 

OB2.5XT, I've never driven a spec B, so I'm not exactly sure how much of a difference it makes. The gear spacing is a bit short, but not terribly. If I remember correctly, it's shorter in subsequent generations, which I would not like. In 6th gear, the JDM 2005 6MT that I have is actually essentially identically speed matched to 5th gear from my OBXT 5MT. I certainly wouldn't mind having 5th and 6th be a longer gear for cruising, but I'm OK with the current setup.

Edited May 8, 2016 by dahoseman

My "fix" for the driveshaft length. Previously, that groove was resting in the center of the bearing housing and the driveshaft input was sitting about an inch further back hanging out of the dust cap.

 

OB2.5XT, I've never driven a spec B, so I'm not exactly sure how much of a difference it makes. The gear spacing is a bit short, but not terribly. If I remember correctly, it's shorter in subsequent generations, which I would not like. In 6th gear, the JDM 2005 6MT that I have is actually essentially identically speed matched to 5th gear from my OBXT 5MT. I certainly wouldn't mind having 5th and 6th be a longer gear for cruising, but I'm OK with the current setup.

 

You could have just bought a 4eat outback driveshaft and not getto rig it so it is guaranteed to fail in an amazing fashion.

My "fix" for the driveshaft length. Previously, that groove was resting in the center of the bearing housing and the driveshaft input was sitting about an inch further back hanging out of the dust cap.

 

OB2.5XT, I've never driven a spec B, so I'm not exactly sure how much of a difference it makes. The gear spacing is a bit short, but not terribly. If I remember correctly, it's shorter in subsequent generations, which I would not like. In 6th gear, the JDM 2005 6MT that I have is actually essentially identically speed matched to 5th gear from my OBXT 5MT. I certainly wouldn't mind having 5th and 6th be a longer gear for cruising, but I'm OK with the current setup.

 

IIRC 07 STi and spec.B gears share 1st through 4th, 5th and 6th are longer gears. There's a thread on NASIOC which lists the different STi gears.

You could have just bought a 4eat outback driveshaft and not getto rig it so it is guaranteed to fail in an amazing fashion.

 

It actually came from an 07 legacy wagon 4EAT. Whether the driveshaft or drivetrain was replaced with other parts on that particular car or there was a screw-up with pulling it from the wrong car, I don't know.

 

It's not going to fail because of that. My former DSS driveshaft on my 5MT didn't even have a sliding flex joint in the center. It's not really necessary. In fact, I would rather delete it again on this one. I drove around 120 miles today. No problems and the "pinging" is gone.

 

Perhaps my photos aren't great shots.

----> All I did was move the "resting" point of the joint about an inch. It's meant to slide a bit, which is the purpose of the joint. Nothing is actually touching the shaft itself. It just has exhaust rubber clamped to the surrounding bearing that does not rotate or really do anything active. In fact, I would like to delete the joint altogether if i replace the shaft with aftermarket, like I did previously with my 5MT. It still floats freely in all directions and can still pass back through if you give it enough oomph. The joint behind the center bearing still has play in both directions. I'm a big fan of simple fixes. It doesn't have to look good. It just has to work.

 

Chris and OB2.5XT, I wouldn't mind longer 5th and 6th gears. If you're already doing the swap, I would say it's worth it to go ahead swap in new gearing.

Edited May 9, 2016 by dahoseman

I'm a happy new owner of a SpecB 6MT driveline in my Outback XT!

 

Even better I was able to stay, just barely, under the $3K mark.

 

$2500 SpecB 6MT, Exedy Clutch with 3K on it, flywheel, clutch slave cylinder, starter, driveshaft, R180, all four axles, trans crossmember, rear diff mount, interior shifter trim, all hardware pulled directly from a totaled 2008 SpecB

$100 COBB Short Throw Shifter

$399.60 Installation of all of the above and replacing the throw out bearing. They also fixed an exhaust leak and tweaked the exhaust to play nice with the R180 and swapped in the SpecB steering rack since mine was leaky and it's a shitty ratio. The reason this is so low is that I also traded all of my 5MT driveline with 114K. I actually negotiated $400 but noticed after he gave me a 40 cent discount.

$2999.60 Total cost with installation of SpecB 6MT

I'm a happy new owner of a SpecB 6MT driveline in my Outback XT!

 

Even better I was able to stay, just barely, under the $3K mark.

 

$2500 SpecB 6MT, Exedy Clutch with 3K on it, flywheel, clutch slave cylinder, starter, driveshaft, R180, all four axles, trans crossmember, rear diff mount, interior shifter trim, all hardware pulled directly from a totaled 2008 SpecB

$100 COBB Short Throw Shifter

$399.60 Installation of all of the above and replacing the throw out bearing. They also fixed an exhaust leak and tweaked the exhaust to play nice with the R180 and swapped in the SpecB steering rack since mine was leaky and it's a shitty ratio. The reason this is so low is that I also traded all of my 5MT driveline with 114K. I actually negotiated $400 but noticed after he gave me a 40 cent discount.

$2999.60 Total cost with installation of SpecB 6MT

 

 

That's awesome. Nice work.

I will be happy to leave Long Island (No offense to any members from NY). Getting any work done is so incredibly tedious and expensive. I'm looking forward to returning to the west soon where prices and fees don't have the decimal in the wrong place.

So I wasn't planning on doing this swap any time soon but there's a local ad here that has a 2008 Spec B 6 speed with the following:

 

2008 Spec B 6 speed

Cross member

6 speed shifter/linkage

Sti starter

Sti clutch/ flywheel new friction disc

R160 diff matching ratio

6 speed slave cylinder

 

For $2000. The guy says he bought it from another guy that said it had 60k kms then he added a rear differential with 80k kms from a WRX. Good deal? Do I need axles for this? I have a 2005 5spd LGT Wagon. Still have lots of research to do just wondering if maybe I should scoop and hold. Would like some input before I dig any further.

Yeah after studying the first post where it lists the different options I'm not confident all of those parts are compatible. I'll just leave it alone for now.

How does the STI gearing feel? Would the Spec.B gearing be preferred?

 

Like Latent said, the 07+ STi and spec B have the same 1-4, with the spec B having a longer 5-6.

 

 

Honestly, I'm glad the 1-4 aren't any shorter like the 04-06 Sti for DD. With my old 5MT I could accelerate at a normal rate without getting into boost. That's difficult to do with the 6MT. If I shift at 3k I'm accelerating way too slow and people behind me get pissed. This is annoying for me when my car isn't fully warmed up. I hate getting into boost before the oil is up to temp.

 

The spec B 6th gear is good for cruising but I also need to downshift to 5th on the highway to get any power at 70mph unlike the 5th in the 5MT I could just give it 1/4 throttle and be gone.

 

I have noticed a 1-2 mpg increase on the highway with the 6th gear, which is nice.

 

Ideally, I'd prefer the gearing of the 5MT with the build quality of the 6MT. The 6MT is a much more robust unit. The shifting is much more solid and effortless with the oem clutch. This is just strictly for daily driving btw.

Spec.B friends can I swap an 06+ 6MT in and have it match with the rear diff? My 4th gear synchro is unhappy if it swaps over it'll be for sale for cheeeaaapppp

My "fix" for the driveshaft length. Previously, that groove was resting in the center of the bearing housing and the driveshaft input was sitting about an inch further back hanging out of the dust cap.

 

OB2.5XT, I've never driven a spec B, so I'm not exactly sure how much of a difference it makes. The gear spacing is a bit short, but not terribly. If I remember correctly, it's shorter in subsequent generations, which I would not like. In 6th gear, the JDM 2005 6MT that I have is actually essentially identically speed matched to 5th gear from my OBXT 5MT. I certainly wouldn't mind having 5th and 6th be a longer gear for cruising, but I'm OK with the current setup.

 

Why the "fix"??.....All you need is a 4eat driveshaft for your outback and it bolts right up

Interesting. I'm going to rig my 5MT starter to bench-turn the engine before I put it back in the car so will make sure that it engages with the STI 6MT clutch that's installed. Will advise how that works out.

 

And this post by Sgt. Gator, about Trans and Diff seals, is what I used to purchase my replacement seals for my 08 Spec B 6MT Trans and R180 rear Diff.

 

My 05 starter worked fine as well......Still the same starter after 272K

Original start also with only 20+k more on it

selling DCCD switches mounted in console

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/mo-console-top-dccd-6-speed-controls-extended-armrest-254194.html?p=5436702

Edited July 3, 2016 by Scooby2.5

Did this to my OBXT recently.

 

I had my old drivetrain from my swapped 03 Legacy, so I just reused 80% of the components. The only things I needed were the automatic driveshaft out of a legacy/outback and the 6 speed shifter assembly from an 08-14 STI.

 

 

-2005 STI 6 speed (05)

-KB short shifter, poly shifter bushings front and rear, 08-14 STI shifter assembly

-matching 3.9 rear diff with VLSD

-Stock Exedy clutch

-STi stock flywheel (19lbs vs. 26lb dualmass stocker)

-Group N transmission mount

-WL rear diff bushing inserts

 

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k153/rougeben83/OBXT/20160621_170825_zpsml6xzyxd.jpg

Selling a OEM 6 speed shift knob if anyone wants it.

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/mo-oem-subaru-6-speed-knob-254209.html

Spec.B friends can I swap an 06+ 6MT in and have it match with the rear diff? My 4th gear synchro is unhappy if it swaps over it'll be for sale for cheeeaaapppp

 

What fluid are you using?

 

Try the Motul/Shockproof cocktail first before swapping the trans.

What fluid are you using?

 

Try the Motul/Shockproof cocktail first before swapping the trans.

 

I've already swapped out the gear oil to Subaru stuff and it didn't fix it I'm fairly sure a fluid change isn't goinrbg to save it at this point. Selling my E36 and funding the rebuild of it. It'd suck to waste the $70 in fluid and have it not work

I was skeptical too, but it worked for me.

 

I was running the Subaru 75w-90 and was grinding anything above 4.5k going into 4th. Switched to 2 qt Redline light weight shock proof, topped off with 75w-90 Motul and it hasn't grinded since.

 

$70 worth of fluid is way cheaper and easier than swapping a trans.

 

My trans just feels much happier in general now.

The cocktails are just a bandaid to a worn synchro- doesn't fix the problem, just mask it. HOWEVER, it all depends on how long you will realistically keep the car and your priorities as to whether or not a trans swap is justified...

It's hard to say I guess I'll give it a shot gotta get all the priorities right haha

Question for a 6sp swap guru..... I swapped a v7 6sp into my 05 LGT wagon. It's all in there and working great. The issue I'm having is with my exhaust. I've got an Invidia up pipe, Invidia catless downpipe, BNR 18G turbo and an SPT catback exhaust (v2 I believe). At the flange where the downpipe meets the catback exhaust, that's the 3" two bolt flange, I have a leak. The flanges do not meet up flush. It's like the downpipe is pitched downward creating a gap on the bottom of the flange. I tried massaging the catback flange and using multiple gaskets but it won't seal. I'm wondering if I have the wrong combination of crossmember or trans mounts. I am a 6sp mount from an STi and the trans crossmember from my LGT... if my memory is correct.

 

Has anyone else ran into this issue? Possible solutions? I'm trying to avoid cutting and welding.