OK, I'm dead serious about this. I've been trying very hard to garner as much mechanical experience as is possible since I bought my car, and sometime over the winter while I can stand a little down time, my plan is to pull my engine and transmission.

While they're out, I'll do plugs & wires (easier out of car), timing belt, water pump, coolant flush and head gaskets.

I'd also like to rebuild my transmission... possibly w/ and RA gearset if the car will be off the road long enough for the insurance savings to pay for those gear. ;)

I KNOW THIS IS ALL COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY. My car has 50k. I'd just like to do it. I know, I have a sick sense of humor.

I'd like to know a bit more as to what's involved with a rebuild exactly. I know how to get the transmission out (mostly) and open the casing, blah, blah, blah... but what am I facing when I get in there?

I figuire I just need to pull out worn pieces, slide in new ones. Like disassemling a watch, right?

So, what should I know before I open up a busted trans to practice on?

James

I'm not trying to rain on your parade or anything, but this is probably one of the harder if not hardest things to do on your car. You should at least have some "adult" supervision if you are going to tackle this job without any prior knowledge. But, if you have the time and money available to make mistakes, I say go for it. The factory service manuals are a good place to start.

Ummm... thanks, but I already know it will be hard.

I'm looking specifically to know what I'll to do to get the job done.

Originally posted by americanyouth
Ummm... thanks, but I already know it will be hard.

I'm looking specifically to know what I'll to do to get the job done.

factory service manual, shows you how to do it

I'm working on getting one.

Originally posted by americanyouth
Ummm... thanks, but I already know it will be hard.

I'm looking specifically to know what I'll to do to get the job done.

Ummm...thanks, but I told you specifically what you needed to do to get the job done.

factory service manual isn't great for the transmission cluster, and it's a bitch of a job. Splitting the box, taking it out and having a good look is relatively easy though.

Having just rebuilt my own transmission, which was FUBAR I can't recommend doing it for the fun of it.

Paul

What was that saying again?
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
If you have little to no mechanical experience at all, rebuilding a transmission would be the last thing you should start on.

Why bother bro? Ill give you my tranny after I destory it, and you can tinker with it till your hearts desire.

FWIW will will need a HD shop press to press bearings on/off.

:)

...and your grandmas oven when she ain't lookin'!

Originally posted by 03WRXMA
Why bother bro? Ill give you my tranny after I destory it, and you can tinker with it till your hearts desire.

FWIW will will need a HD shop press to press bearings on/off.

:)



Sure. Send it over!

I do have some mechanical experience.... how else shall I get more?

btw... shop press is really np.

Ummm...

So, no one's really answered my question so far.

-What will I need to do this?
-Any tips, suggestions, time estimates, etc...?
-What problems will I run into?
-Good resources?

I don't really need to know that this will be hard, I'm a n00b, my transmission works fine, etc... I know that already!

Originally posted by americanyouth
-What will I need to do this?
-Any tips, suggestions, time estimates, etc...?
-What problems will I run into?
-Good resources?

Just tossing in my two cents. ;) I won't bother arguing whether or not you should do this yourself, but I'll personally be taking the rally car to Exeter Subaru for my transmission rebuild.

If you do it yourself, you'll need a lift or a truck grade jack and truck jackstands to get the car at least a foot and a half off the ground. Jack on the front crossmember and rear diff with a wooden block for protection to lift up the front first with the e-brake on, then the rear. Jacking onto huge jackstands is a little more difficult than little ones. Probably a blinding flash of the obvious, but I figured I'd point it out.

You'll need a transmission jack or a modified jack to lower the transmission out of the car. After doing multiple transmission swaps on Kha0S's WRX, trust me, you want a transmission jack.

Standard set of metric tools and clutch alignment tool. Since the tranny will be off the car, might as well do clutch, flywheel, and throwout bearing.

You'll need shop manuals to give the breakdown of everything that needs to be done. I believe everything can be done by hand except for extracting and pressing some bearings. I'm not a tranny expert, but I believe that's the only part of the job that requires mechanical advantage.

Regarding the tools you'll need once you get inside, I have no idea. The factory shop manuals should give a hint at what you need. Subaru Techinfo (http://techinfo.subaru.com/) is your friend. Sign up for a free account and you can download free PDFs one section at a time, or purchase entire PDFs for a couple hundred bucks.

Remember, the shop manuals are addendum format, so you can't just get 1998 and call it a day. You'll need to get 1993-1998 for the full manual to your model year but, since the tranny in the RS was new for 1998, the entire tranny breakdown should be in the 1998 addendum. Again, check Techinfo for more.

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Thanks Sean!

Oh, I will be doing this.

I hope someday I have the knowledge and cajonnas to attempt this hehe. Course hopefully I'll never need to.

para

I'm cheating my brother owns half of a tranny shop.:D

James-

I will be doing headgaskets on a L we (the other james) bought with blown gaskets in prep for my on shortblock install.

If you are in search for knowledge come by. I'll give you some advance on when we do it but it should be in the next week or two.

Todd

Awesome. Thanks Todd. Drop me a pm. :disco: