91 Liberty AT to MT conversion

Faawks · Post by **Faawks** » Mon Oct 28, 2013 5:00 pm

Is this hard to do?
I have 2 complete cars now, one has a horrible body and smokey motor but a good 5 speed gearbox.
I want to put this in my Liberty that is currently an auto.

Would the diffs be different ratios?
much difference in electrical? ecu? dash?
pedal box easy to remove/install?

Also, are the cranks different?
I only ask because I come from a ford background and the early models had an AT and MT crank, the main difference was the bolts.
Silly I know but it caused complications in the past.

Cheers in advance.

vincentvega · Post by **vincentvega** » Mon Oct 28, 2013 6:04 pm

I just did this to my 91 lib. I used a 92 donor car.

parts you will swap across:

flywheel
clutch (replace with a new one if its worn and check bearings while you are there)
gearbox
starter
tailshaft
rear diff
shifter and linkages
clutch pedal and cable just bolts up.
brake pedal (just swap the manual pedal and arm into the auto assembly. trick is to take the brake light switch out)

electrical is easy. i just took the TCU out and shorted the start inhibitor wores together at the gearbox and have done 500kms so far without issue. I will add neutral / reverse switch wiring when i get time.

Good info here but he has gone a bit over the top.
http://www.surrealmirage.com/subaru/swap/swap.html

cranks are the same. Everything just bolts up. Keep all your bolts and parts organised so you know what goes where and you will be fine. Any questions let me know as I literally did this last tuesday so its fresh in my mind.

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 11:10 am

I concur with VV above but I also change the wiring loom. I know the car will run the same but I've had engines that go into limp mode because the ECU is thinking the car is in neutral and when you start driving the car hard, the ECU thinks you're going to hurt the engine (revving so hard in neutral) and then brings up the 'check engine' light. If you drive the car around like you are driving miss daisy, then you'll have no issues.

Faawks · Post by **Faawks** » Fri Nov 01, 2013 8:12 pm

Thanks guys, that was a real help!
I'll be making a start on this tomorrow.
I'll most likely bridge the connections to begin with, and then change the loom later, was it hard to change?

is there a spigot bearing in the back of the crank?
when I did auto to manual on the falcons I always had to add or remove a spigot bearing.

also, how about the dash? I noticed the auto one has the position lights down the middle of it, that will all be ok to just stay there?

Point · Post by **Point** » Sat Nov 02, 2013 10:08 am

when I did mine I cut the loom attached to the gearbox off and bridged the connections there. I wired up the reverse/neutral switches too. Doing it this way I haven't cut into the original loom and I could do all of the soldering on the bench instead of in the car. It's just a short loom that plugs in.

Spigot bearing is pressed into the flywheel.

With the instrument cluster, I took the front off it and stuck some black electrical tape to the back of the window for the gear indicator. You could leave it, but it looks a bit untidy.

The only thing I haven't got working is the cruise control.

I also unplugged the TCU under the dash.

vincentvega · Post by **vincentvega** » Sun Nov 03, 2013 8:46 pm

You don't need to swap the loom! That's a huge amount of unnecessary work.

Maybe in later models where the ecu and tcu communicate but in an early car its not needed.

I also made a patch loom up like point said. Its the best way to do it. The loom you need just unplugs from the auto box.

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Mon Nov 04, 2013 8:42 pm

Faawks wrote:I'll most likely bridge the connections to begin with, and then change the loom later, was it hard to change?

I would also just bridge them out. I'm only pointing out what Subaru have put in there cars. They do this for a reason, not just for the fun of it.

I've changed probably 6 or 7 Libertys over my time and only a couple have had the wiring changed. Personally I swapped mine, as I have pulled 100s of them apart (used to import and wreck them), I also find it easier to change the pedals when the dash is not in the car but again, this is only my opinion. I also pull out the heater cores whilst I'm hear and get them cleaned out professionally.

Faawks wrote:is there a spigot bearing in the back of the crank?

Nope, the spigot bearing (6201) is fitted into the flywheel and can be fitted once the flywheel is in place.

Faawks wrote:also, how about the dash? I noticed the auto one has the position lights down the middle of it, that will all be ok to just stay there?

No harm in leaving it there but if you have all the bits off the donor car, why not use them I say.. but hey this is my choice only.