Sr4 to ax15 swap in near future

[shanebo]

Justin (Tougeagle) gave me a call today and we talked a while as I havent heard from him in some time. Hes wanting to get back into the Eagle scene here soon. He was going to do the EFI conversion for me on Ginger...which is now gronks project car  . I told him about my new sx4 and how Im needing to get rid of the current, and on its last legs SR4 tranny....so after talking about it with him for a while I have decided to pay him to install an AX15 jeep tranny like he did on his wagon. This will probably be in the next few months. From what Ive read it is alot stouter transmission and although it will take some mods, he knows how to do it so im not to intimidated by it....I will be sure to document the entire project so anyone else thinking about doing it will have a good point of reference.

[carnuck]

I'm doing a similar swap, but from a T18A to AX-15 (in my '82 Honcho)

[shanebo]

Tougeagle loved his and it was geared real nice. Its like walking on egg shells driving  this SR4 tranny....Im just waiting for the stick to break off in my hand or worse yet the whole tranny blow up.

[68AMXGOPAC]

I seem to remember there is this car called "Caroline" still sitting in my backyard just as it arrived : ) - well ok, maybe I did clean it out of all the things stuffed inside it - but it's still here.

[shaggimo]

Tougeagle loved his and it was geared real nice. Its like walking on egg shells driving  this SR4 tranny....Im just waiting for the stick to break off in my hand or worse yet the whole tranny blow up.

In the mean time, a couple of tips to keep your shifter "intact" lol.  Eaglegirl's sx/4 has the sr4, it can be tempermental at times. Sometime it doesn't like to go into reverse, other times it will grind into reverse after shifting from 1st. I found that it if you just row into second (not even having to let out the clutch) before putting it into reverse, it will slide right in everytime smooth as could be. No idea why, but it works. Once in a while it doesn't like going from reverse to first, same deal, row into second, this time just blip the clutch a tick, then slide into first, lol. I think this is why the miss refuses to drive the car, too many hoops to jump through, lol. I bang gears on it quite frequently  and it hasn't shed a tear, as long as you don't abuse them, you can drive em hard, hers has taken it from me for about 10k now  .

[mach1mustang351]

There is a thread in here somewhere about the non-existence of a proper pilot bearing for the AX-15 mating to a 258.  I partook in this conversation and unless someone has come up with a solution you hay have to have a machine shop make you a bushing or something.  I'm not trying to discourage but I ran into this issue and I wanted to gave the heads up.  It is a great swap.  I like having that trans. 

[carnuck]

There is a pilot bearing available, but there is 2 sizes of pilot and the crank pilot hole can be one of 4 different inside diameters.

[eaglefreek]

Tougeagle loved his and it was geared real nice. Its like walking on egg shells driving  this SR4 tranny....Im just waiting for the stick to break off in my hand or worse yet the whole tranny blow up.

In the mean time, a couple of tips to keep your shifter "intact" lol.  Eaglegirl's sx/4 has the sr4, it can be tempermental at times. Sometime it doesn't like to go into reverse, other times it will grind into reverse after shifting from 1st. I found that it if you just row into second (not even having to let out the clutch) before putting it into reverse, it will slide right in everytime smooth as could be. No idea why, but it works. Once in a while it doesn't like going from reverse to first, same deal, row into second, this time just blip the clutch a tick, then slide into first, lol. I think this is why the miss refuses to drive the car, too many hoops to jump through, lol. I bang gears on it quite frequently  and it hasn't shed a tear, as long as you don't abuse them, you can drive em hard, hers has taken it from me for about 10k now  .

Like most manual transmissions there are no first and reverse synrcos. 

[Draekon]

Tougeagle loved his and it was geared real nice. Its like walking on egg shells driving  this SR4 tranny....Im just waiting for the stick to break off in my hand or worse yet the whole tranny blow up.

In the mean time, a couple of tips to keep your shifter "intact" lol.  Eaglegirl's sx/4 has the sr4, it can be tempermental at times. Sometime it doesn't like to go into reverse, other times it will grind into reverse after shifting from 1st. I found that it if you just row into second (not even having to let out the clutch) before putting it into reverse, it will slide right in everytime smooth as could be. No idea why, but it works. Once in a while it doesn't like going from reverse to first, same deal, row into second, this time just blip the clutch a tick, then slide into first, lol. I think this is why the miss refuses to drive the car, too many hoops to jump through, lol. I bang gears on it quite frequently   and it hasn't shed a tear, as long as you don't abuse them, you can drive em hard, hers has taken it from me for about 10k now   .

Like most manual transmissions there are no first and reverse synrcos.  

All modern manual transmissions have synchros on all gears, including first and reverse.  First gear synchros were used in many transmissions from at least the '80s.

I know T5 transmissions have a synchro'd first gear, and assumed SR4s did as well.

[mudkicker715]

Sr 4 is first gear synchro'ed. not reverse. my sr4 works as it should.

[captspillane]

There is a thread in here somewhere about the non-existence of a proper pilot bearing for the AX-15 mating to a 258.  

You need both the pilot bearing and the aluminum ring its supposed to be inside of. In my case I purchased a pilot bearing from one store, I think Autozone, and only got the roller bearing itself. It was useless. The outside adaptor piece got destroyed removing the bearing, so I thought I was stuck. Ordering from Advanced returned the adaptor piece and the roller bearing already pressed together for the exact same cost. They're supposed to be replaced as a unit. I may have the two stores reversed, but the point is you need to make sure you get the entire assembly. The end of the crankshaft is more "shallow" than the 258 crank, but they have the same inside diameter and enough room for the adaptor piece and roller pilot bearing.

The NV3550 is slightly fatter where the throwout bearing rides so the internal slave cylinder from an early AX15 will not fit. It also has a subtle vent difference. Otherwise the AX15 and NV3550 can use the same external slave bellhousing and hardware. They are also the same overall length.

[mach1mustang351]

There is a thread in here somewhere about the non-existence of a proper pilot bearing for the AX-15 mating to a 258.   

You need both the pilot bearing and the aluminum ring its supposed to be inside of. In my case I purchased a pilot bearing from one store, I think Autozone, and only got the roller bearing itself. It was useless. The outside adaptor piece got destroyed removing the bearing, so I thought I was stuck. Ordering from Advanced returned the adaptor piece and the roller bearing already pressed together for the exact same cost. They're supposed to be replaced as a unit. I may have the two stores reversed, but the point is you need to make sure you get the entire assembly. The end of the crankshaft is more "shallow" than the 258 crank, but they have the same inside diameter and enough room for the adaptor piece and roller pilot bearing.

The NV3550 is slightly fatter where the throwout bearing rides so the internal slave cylinder from an early AX15 will not fit. It also has a subtle vent difference. Otherwise the AX15 and NV3550 can use the same external slave bellhousing and hardware. They are also the same overall length.

It has been a while now.  Maybe I remember that wrong.  I definitely had to machine something when I got the 4x4 AX-15 installed.  I still have a pile of pilot bearings I decided not to use.... I really need to take notes when I do all this stuff

[shanebo]

Justin did use alot of different parts from several different cars to make it work. I know it was no plug and play thing by any means, but he did make it work. I gotta dig up his thread of his conversion....I would never attempt this on my own...this is some pretty scary stuff.

[TheWraith]

Any progress on the AX15 swap?  Very curious as to what all is involved.  From reading this thread it looks like the pilot bearing/bushing can be a small tripping point but nothing that hasn't been already figured out.  Does the shifter fit the hole in the Eagle?  Any clutch issues?  Other then fabricating a cross member, what else is involved?  Looking forward to the outcome of this project.  Best of luck with it.

[mach1mustang351]

Any progress on the AX15 swap?  Very curious as to what all is involved.  From reading this thread it looks like the pilot bearing/bushing can be a small tripping point but nothing that hasn't been already figured out.  Does the shifter fit the hole in the Eagle?  Any clutch issues?  Other then fabricating a cross member, what else is involved?  Looking forward to the outcome of this project.  Best of luck with it.

I feel like I have much to share with the Eagle community on some of these swap questions and things then I realize my car is so different being a body lifted setup that the "how to's" don't necessarily translate.  I was gonna show you pics of my cross-member but it will never work in a stock height car... Sorry guys