gearbox conversion

Dean.nabbe · Post by **Dean.nabbe** » Sat Jun 14, 2014 7:12 pm

i am looking to convert my 87 Brumby from manual to automatic.. i can drive manual just fine(i drove B-Doubles interstate for 7 yrs)
Autos are easier for off road, and help save damage to hubs, drive-line etc. therefor costing me less in the long term..

does anyone know what gearbox i need to look for and or where i can look in Melbourne to get it converted?

thank you in advance

henpecked · Post by **henpecked** » Sat Jun 14, 2014 8:48 pm

many MY touring wagons ( 1982-1984) came with 3sp auto, so I would think they would be straight bolt-ons - provided the trany tunnel in the brumby was big enough. Saw an auto brumby for sale here in SA last year, someone posted here to say all auto Brumbys were private conversions- so it can be done.

I asked here many moons ago if anyone knew if there was a size difference between auto and manual transmission tunnel sizes in MYs - but got no response.

I intended to do a auto and eng ( 20ejSOHC + 4speed auto ) from a 1997-1999 forester into an existing MY auto, was told that would work.

Dean.nabbe · Post by **Dean.nabbe** » Sat Jun 14, 2014 10:16 pm

i'm not overly mechanically minded, so i naturally assumed i would need to look for a transmission from a similar or close year and model.. i was looking at 1987 leone..

from what i was reading previous, apparently a supercharged brumby came out with an auto..

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Sun Jun 15, 2014 8:47 am

You can fit any of the MY Series (80-84) autos (3 speed) into the Brumby without any need to modify the size of the tunnel. From memory it's the position of the shift hole that is different. I would recommend you find someone wrecking a MY Touring Wagon and grab all the bits out of it. The L.Series (85-94) auto has the same internal gear section but the bellhousing and transfer part are different to the MY Series. If the MY Series box you buy is stuffed, you can swap the MY parts over to the L box.

The EJ auto is a much larger box due to it being a 4 speed box, so this won't fit the MY Series without modifing a lot of stuff.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sun Jun 15, 2014 8:48 am

Only wish a few more ticked the supercharged auto Brumby at the dealers, we'd a seen a few more about the place. Where'd you read that ??!!
I'd reckon an auto 3 speed 4WD box from an EA82 L Series would fit the back of EA81, not sure about the flex plate bolt pattern on the EA81 crank. Think I read and recall EA81 VEA82 fly to crank bolts differ, EA82 larger thread M10 instead of M8 EA 81 ? And the donor tailshaft would be two piece and correct length since an L 5 speed and its tailshaft all fit in nicely.

It likely a suck it and see process

Dean.nabbe · Post by **Dean.nabbe** » Sun Jun 15, 2014 9:06 am

steptoe wrote:Only wish a few more ticked the supercharged auto Brumby at the dealers, we'd a seen a few more about the place. Where'd you read that ??!!
I'd reckon an auto 3 speed 4WD box from an EA82 L Series would fit the back of EA81, not sure about the flex plate bolt pattern on the EA81 crank. Think I read and recall EA81 VEA82 fly to crank bolts differ, EA82 larger thread M10 instead of M8 EA 81 ? And the donor tailshaft would be two piece and correct length since an L 5 speed and its tailshaft all fit in nicely.

It likely a suck it and see process

I read it in the brumby wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru_BRAT

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Sun Jun 15, 2014 9:11 am

steptoe wrote:I'd reckon an auto 3 speed 4WD box from an EA82 L Series would fit the back of EA81

Have you tried this Jono?? The bellhousing bolt pattern is the only thing that matches.

steptoe wrote:It likely a suck it and see process

LOL.. at the price most mechanics charge.. suck it might cost some $$$

niterida · Post by **niterida** » Sun Jun 15, 2014 9:50 am

Its true - 1983/4 a Turbocharged (not supercharged) auto Brat was available in the good ol US of A - between 3-400 of them were sold.

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Sun Jun 15, 2014 10:07 am

Are you certain this is a logical path to go down?
The only real "driveline" components after the gearbox are the tailshaft and driveshafts/CV joints. All very cheap/easy to replace. Also I'd be very surprised if any of them failed prematurely as a result of having a manual gearbox vs an auto - these components in anyone's manual MY getting around would likely have thousands of kms on them and still going strong.
Only scenario I can think of is someone severely abusing the car with frequent high rpm clutch dumps, trying to do burnouts etc, or poorly setup lift kit with bad CV angles, or very high horsepower motor + abuse.

Also, fundamentally - if it's reliability you want, I wouldn't be fitting a 1980s auto to my car. If it was already auto, I'd convert it to manual. Just the opinion of a mechanically minded person anyways.

Dean.nabbe · Post by **Dean.nabbe** » Sun Jun 15, 2014 10:41 am

I'm an experienced driver, but new to off road, so if I can I'd rather automate the gearing rather than possibly break something missing a gear a selecting the wrong one.

Just financial common sense to me.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sun Jun 15, 2014 11:14 am

RSR 555 wrote:Have you tried this Jono?? The bellhousing bolt pattern is the only thing that matches.

Never tried, that is why said reckon, using LEGO analogy of fitted an L five speed behind both EA81 and EA82 instead of both a Brumby 4 speed and an auto 3 sp L 4WD -something else I have chucked coz no interest at the time of removal.

Might be time to mutter "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"

Would be easier to find standard bits if you ever do break them, than for a converted unit- if you ever broke that ??

This fourm is chockers with people doin' there own thing despite discouragement from some quarters, not necessarily in here.

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Sun Jun 15, 2014 11:27 am

Dean.nabbe wrote:I'm an experienced driver, but new to off road, so if I can I'd rather automate the gearing rather than possibly break something missing a gear a selecting the wrong one.

Just financial common sense to me.

It's a sound theory but just highly unlikely to save you in the long run in my opinion. I think the purchase and messing around to convert would be more cost / trouble. Keen to see what happens either way though!

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Sun Jun 15, 2014 12:42 pm

Dean.nabbe wrote:I'm an experienced driver, but new to off road, so if I can I'd rather automate the gearing rather than possibly break something missing a gear a selecting the wrong one.

That's called learning! If you miss a gear you're more likely to stall as these engines aren't exactly ball breaking power houses!

Also no one has mentioned that the auto relies on an electronic clutch pack (the L's do anyway, which I'd say is the same) to engage and hold drive to the rear end. These can wear out and slip.

I'd stick with the manual - it's a direct lock front to rear and if you're good with a clutch you shouldn't be stressing out the drive train to breaking point.

You will also find your fuel consumption will increase with the auto, it will rev higher at cruise too.

But if you're super keen to do it find a donor MY touring wagon so you know you've got all the bits you need such as cross members etc. while you're there shove the power steering and the AC in for good measure!

PS would be a good advantage offroad

Cheers

Bennie

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Sun Jun 15, 2014 5:05 pm

El_Freddo wrote:Also no one has mentioned that the auto relies on an electronic clutch pack (the L's do anyway, which I'd say is the same) to engage and hold drive to the rear end. These can wear out and slip.

I was always under the impression that these 4WD clutch packs were fluid driven and only the DCCD were electronic. I've changed a few over from L.Series to MY and never seen any wiring to support an electronic clutch pack?

The 3 speed autos were very power hungry but worked really well in our old delivery Brumby, which was EJ18 MPFI and the MY auto. This was done back in 1994 when we were importing from Japan.

I'm not 100% sure but subydoug may have bits left over from when he converted to manual?

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sun Jun 15, 2014 10:00 pm

oh, just remembered my L 4WD 3 speed auto hated reversing and slow speed turning in 4WD. Limits you to 3 gears forward, one backwards and no low range. A big auto trans cooler would be handy too

Post by **Bantum** » Sun Jun 15, 2014 10:28 pm

Hmm - if your going to the trouble of converting to an auto - I'd go for something a bit more modern - like a complete engine / gearbox etc. from a late model Forester / Liberty or similar.

I'd also query if you have actually driven a EA81 auto ?
From personal experience driving my '82 wagon, found it can be sluggish getting about & uses more fuel than the Brumby.

But like others have said - 'each to their own', so I'd be interested to see what you go with ...

Cheers, Bantum ...

Subydoug · Post by **Subydoug** » Mon Jun 16, 2014 8:46 am

Threw it all out.

Doug

Dean.nabbe · Post by **Dean.nabbe** » Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:50 am

cheers peeps... been doing a bit of research elsewhere also, i think i'm gonna stick with the manual, but wouldn't mine trying to get a 5 speed, mostly for the actual drive to where ever i'm going..
i'm turning the Brumby into a camping car(i go with a few mates every long weekend) so can leave all the camp gear in it for next time.. also joining a car club to get club rego, save paying full rego to only use it a few times a year..

i've also heard a rumour that i could rip the innards out of the current box and insert compatible 5 speed innards.. does this sound plausible?

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Mon Jun 16, 2014 3:55 pm

It's a fairly easy and straight forward conversion to put an L series 5speed gearbox in.

Dean.nabbe · Post by **Dean.nabbe** » Mon Jun 16, 2014 6:49 pm

yeah, i just gotta find one.. been struggling locally to find anything short of whole car buy which is out of budget atm