Drivetrain from BH to BC interchangable?

[Ryan]

Looking at doing a manual conversion on my '94 BC5 Legacy GT type S2. Subout has offered me his conversion package which is all out of a 2000 BH GT-B, will all this bolt straight in to mine?

[ReubenH]

Well the firewall and stuff are all completely different. Only thing i am SURE of, is the box itself will fit like a glove. Beyond that i can't say.

[zarnah]

my BC5 is running a box from a 2000 B4 legacy and fits up fine, not sure about pedal box/master cylinder etc though as mine was factory manual anyhow

[Ryan]

 ReubenH said:

Well the firewall and stuff are all completely different. Only thing i am SURE of, is the box itself will fit like a glove. Beyond that i can't say.

So even if I use the complete pedal box out of the BH it won't bolt up? i.e. master cylinder etc are in different places? I don't want to have to drill holes in my firewall or anything stupid.

[Guest keltik]

Pedal box wont fit nicely. BH use a seperate brake and accelerator pedal. On the BC and BH they are one assembly. Clutch pedal and slave cylinder will fit fine. Box will fit, center driveshaft should fit.

Gear linkage will fit but will be slightly too far forward...so youll need to bend your shifter a bit. I havnt gotten round to this in mine and 4th gear is where 3rd should be and 3rd is a bit of a reach.

[hijacka]

 Ryan said:

Looking at doing a manual conversion on my '94 BC5 Legacy GT type S2. Subout has offered me his conversion package which is all out of a 2000 BH GT-B, will all this bolt straight in to mine?

first off, never heard of a 94 bc5...do you mean bd5?

and the 2000 model legacy has a 8 point bell housing bolt up were the earlier ones have a 4point bellhousing bolt up.

[Guest boostcut]

no, its a bc5. late rego im sure. probably built in 93 then first reg. in 94? and phase 1 and 2 bellhousings have the same basic bolt pattern, just with added holes. they still bolt up.

[hijacka]

ok i didnt know that..i do know that you can change the gearbox main casing over from the 8point to the 4 point ones,i have done this with my own bf5 and runs double cone syncros in 2nd and 3rd and makes easy work of down changing or quick changing through the gears.

[hijacka]

the other thing that worrys me about this conversion is that the bh gtb gearbox will prob be a 4.44 ratio front diff and the bc5 will be a 4.111 ratio..i believe it will bolt up but theres other things like the speedo is electronic and bc5 are cable so you will need some parts from bc5 manual like speedo cable,speedo drive,dash cluster,i think the driveshaft has different yoke on it aswell? so if your getting it cheap then go for it but if your paying through the roof then dont.just source one from a bc5..i have some conversion parts if needed for bc5

[Ryan]

Firstly, yep it is MY93 but registered as a 1994, so still BC5. The kit that subout has from his BH includes rear diff etc etc so thatsd not a worry, but as hijacka points out there is a difference in the speedo cables which would be a pain in the arse, correct?

So I think I would rather just source parts straight from a BC5 so that everything bolts up nicely. Hijacka, if you have parts that you don't mind parting with I could be keen?

Cheers for all your input.

[Guest boostcut]

your speedo unit should come out of the auto and could possibly fit into the bh box. id be going with the bh box myself. bc=raped bh=low kms

[Ryan]

Is there an actual speedo unit? I thought it was a cable from gearbox up to dash for mechanical, and since mines a MY93 it would be mechanical, so how could it fit up to the digital sender on the more modern BH gearbox without changing dash etc? or am i missing something

[Guest keltik]

You take the electrical sender out and plug the cable into the hole it leaves. Fits fine

[Ryan]

Ah ok thanks sounds easy

[hijacka]

yes you can replace ya electronic speedo with a cable speedo drive,i was more talking about how you won't be able to use the bh speedo cluster so you can throw out the electronic speedo drive and the speedo cluster.

i have for bc5;

manual speedo cluster

speedo drive nd cable

clutch and brake pedal box and foot rest

x-member and mount

flywheel..(with hair line cracks)pressure plate is good, clutch plate is not.

clutch master and slave clylinder with all the lines,

manual abs computer

manual ecu

rear driveshaft..(the front halfshafts will fit from your auto).

gearboxes come and go...

edit: the rear inner cvs are also different.

[Shale]

The option used by several of us down here is the ol' GTB conversion into BF5 Legacys; three of them have it now IIRC, and so far no explosions and everything fits so long as you get the whole shebang.

Strong for Subaru facilitated all THREE conversions, and Gerald will get all the parts you need for the specific swap. The gearbox is FAR stronger than a BC/BF one (which to be honest, is made of fricken' glass!) and the whole conversion is under a grand if you name-drop.

You could easily assemble a complete kit from either Strong, or an assortment of the gear hijacka has too as it'll make sh!t easy as pie. And again, I've got a wagon and coming your way anyway... ;D

BG/BD gear is known to work in the 1st gens and the boxes are stronger than BC/BF stuff. That's ya best bet methinks

[Ryan]

So using a gearbox out of a 1995 or newer Legacy would be the way to go, as well as using the parts that hijacka mentioned eh?

Thanks for pointing out the weakness of BC5 gearboxes, might have to stay clear of them!

Hijacka, you have PM.

[Shale]

1994 or newer as the 2nd gen came out then...but details schmetails Box and matching diff. Then the 1st gen stuff. And your Legacy will be even more awesome than mine. *shakes a fist*

[hijacka]

Actually theres bugger all difference in strength between the two boxes,theres is a point were 1st,2nd,3rd gear are wided(by stuff all) and some ratios differ, the earlier boxes dont have the double cone syncros(which are known to break while underload)which is prob why they were revised later on,because the selector cog in the later boxes with double cone syncros can snap easily(ive seen plenty of these boxes do this!)especially in 3rd gear,so i will disagree with you when you say they are shit loads stronger because they are not..if you want a strong gearbox then buy a dogg box for 5g otherwise put up with the factory gearbox and dont go loading it up to much(epecially in 3rd gear).

[funkytown]

disagree mate,

the number of BC/BF boxes that explode are far greater in number than later model ones.

also.. why ever innovate and change (i say IMPROVE) them if they were as good? doesn't make any logical sense

[Shale]

Also disagree. The only reason the boys have moved onto BG/BD boxes is because their BC/BF ones assploded, as did the replacement BC/BF ones.

The auto ones are no better - I've assploded a BF GT one, replaced with a BG one and it has yet to die.

[Guest keltik]

I disagree with both of you. Structurally they are the same inside. Very little changed. The main issue is chrunchy synchros and thats purely a wear and tear problem.

Unless you can point out to me which part is actually designed and manufactured weaker in the BC gearboxes - im going to keep believing theres not a lot of difference between them and the later model ones except wear.

[funkytown]

gearset changes, the width as a minimum.

[BC5RA]

They get changed because they are old and break.

Weakness is not as significant as has been portrayed in the thread.

[Guest boostcut]

 BC5RA said:

They get changed because they are old and break.

Weakness is not as significant as has been portrayed in the thread.

+1 its the fuckwit smashing it through the gears like a mad man rowing with one oar.

and hijacka,

a dogbox isnt going to solve strength problems that you are talking about. the gearbox is still weak while changing gears if not done nicely.