Jan Heine Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 Ok, so I found my dream Legacy 1992 wagon, straight body, 87,000 miles, one owner, etc. to replace the 1994 we have, which had an accident (before we bought it) and a distorted shell, alignment problems, etc. Problem is that the "new" one is automatic, and I want a manual. I looked through the service manuals and the gearbox swap to install a manual transmission (from our old car) to replace the auto seems straightforward and mostly bolt-on. I plan to do the seals on the engine, timing belt, etc., at the same time, since it's an engine-out job. Any potential pitfalls or advice? I also am considering changing to solid lifters at the same time. Is that an easy job? (I have access to a lathe if I need to make parts to blank off the oil ports to the hydraulic lifters.) And while I am at it, is it difficult to install the rear stabilizer bar from an LS or Turbo on our L+? Thank you for your help. JH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subikid90 Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 The AT to MT swap is easy if you have a donor car. If you want you can swap wiring harnesses but it is only a few wires you need to deal with. http://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3224033&postcount=7 Here is the wire up for a 2nd gen. It should be pretty close to the same for your car. The lifters I have never heard of someone swapping them so I have no answers there. The rear sway bar will fit if it is from a non turbo legacy, LS will work. -Subikid90 1997 Legacy GT 5spd & EJ251 w/EJ25D heads ~10.5CR 1998 Legacy GT Limited waiting for EJ22T hybrid swap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subie.ftw Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 How much would something like this cost? I'm thinking about doing a swap on my 93 sedan with 93k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baddog Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 What is with all these people in Portland....I never EVER see them. I am not hard to spot lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleeper2001 Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 What is with all these people in Portland....I never EVER see them. I am not hard to spot lol I am here at 19th and Clinton......you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subikid90 Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 How much would something like this cost? I'm thinking about doing a swap on my 93 sedan with 93k. This really depends on how hard you look/lucky you get. If you have to find each part separately then it can get spendy. If you pick up a wreaked car with everything you need it can be fairly cheap, like $500ish. What is with all these people in Portland....I never EVER see them. I am not hard to spot lol Go to the westside, you will probably see my white subi rolling around lol -Subikid90 1997 Legacy GT 5spd & EJ251 w/EJ25D heads ~10.5CR 1998 Legacy GT Limited waiting for EJ22T hybrid swap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vlammenos Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Hey people. I have a similar question. Sadly, my 2009 Legacy 2.5i SE is an auto, and isn't the GT. (ugh. it was supposed to be given back to my parents, but never was.) I've been thinking about doing an engine/transmission swap to turn it into the GT. does anyone have any advice, other than buy a new car? i've been looking for the perfect one, but I really can't find it. Please help!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snederhiser Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Hello Jan; The swap should be straight forward, seeing how you already have the parts. I would nix the hydralic to solid lifter idea. The stock cams are ground for hydralics, I would check your present cams for wear (flat cams). Mine have 180k on them and sound perfect. Changing with a good oil and filter to keep the engine clean is your best bet. Steven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleaidestar Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Hey people. I have a similar question. Sadly, my 2009 Legacy 2.5i SE is an auto, and isn't the GT. (ugh. it was supposed to be given back to my parents, but never was.) I've been thinking about doing an engine/transmission swap to turn it into the GT. does anyone have any advice, other than buy a new car? i've been looking for the perfect one, but I really can't find it. Please help!!! No advice really, do you really :eek:know what you want to get yourself into though? I'm an optimist man, all I see are $$$ signs when I looked at your post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleaidestar Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 I asked the same thing when I got my 95l and the advice I heard was do a liscense plate swap for a legacy equipped with a 5spd transmission and park it in my driveway. I looked into it still but figured its my only car, and I can't drop the 1200 I needed for the parts and incidentals. Your 2009 legacy is way more advanced and probably more headache to work on than my car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yager Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 I have a 93 that needs an auto trans, willing to sell yours? I will arrange the shipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan Heine Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 Somehow, this two-years-old thread got revived. We had the swap done back then, and it's worked great. A few minor gremlins still to sort out - we swapped the instrument cluster (both cars were within 1000 miles of the same mileage), too, and now the door opening lights no longer work in the instrument cluster (the red LEDs showing whether a door is open). Instead, the driver's door indicator comes on when the car is in gear and the headlights are on. Is this just a case of swapped wires? If I cannot resolve it, I am thinking of putting back the auto instrument cluster, despite the now-unused "D N R" indicator... Any help on this before I take out the dash would be appreciated. The auto transmission was sold immediately on Craigslist and hopefully has given a new lease of life to a beloved Legacy. Sorry about that. Overall, if you cannot find a manual, the swap is highly recommended, but you'll need to keep the car to amortize it. In our case, it's the color I wanted, low miles, good condition, and I hope to keep it forever, so the $ 2000 plus the cost of the donor (which we already owned and otherwise could have sold) was worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
09SubieLove Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 If i wanted to do this in my 09, would it be ridiculously expensive, or would it be doable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmedic Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 If you have to ask, it's gonna be expensive. The only economical way to do it would be to buy a wrecked 09 MT (or at least a 4th gen but there are minor differences from year to year) pull off everything that's different, and sell the spare parts. Doubtful you'd ever get all the subsystems (ABS, cruise) to operate properly if you did it any other way, and then you'd wind up with a hacked-up car that would be much more difficult to resell than one with an intact slushbox. I've done a few swaps like that (not on an 09 specifically) and it's worked pretty well for me, but I've been wrenching on cars for 20 years, I've got plenty of tools, room to work, other cars to drive, and a network of patient friends and dealer techs to reach out to for help when the need arises. I would strongly discourage anyone from attempting it on their DD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mckinniss52 Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 any chance you can send me directions on how you wired it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.