Glen, you mean L52 not G52 right . The top shift conversion will be a piece of cake if its for the Front case. The crawler box only uses 1 rod and 1 fork( a rear case uses 2 and 2 ). Wil sell the crawl box rod and fork for 25 buck + refundable core. When you build the crawl box you just install the new parts. You will also need a shift base that will bolt where the tin cover is. The 86 CV won't allow enough movement. I seen a wright up about have the clerence the IFS cv joint to work. I've never done this before but it didn't look that hard.

how much stronger is a g54 than a g52?  i plan on swapping out the old l43 for a 5 speed eventually and i've been checking my options.  if i could find a g54 or w56, i'd probably put it in

Not much stronger but the G54 has larger bearings so it should run cool which would make it last longer. The W56 would be the better choice but a G54 would work great if not pushed hard or used behind anything with more power than a stock 22R.