Dear Scoobie drivers

"Matthew Phillips" (flatsidewaysfl) 11/04/2016 at 10:22 • Filed to: None

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Dear fellow Subaru owners

My subaru has 258K on a 1995 2.2 H4 engine which I’m sure isn’t making 135 horsepower anymore. I’m not sure what I want to do with it when it goes. should I buy another car and do a WRX swap as a project, or should I just buy another EJ22 and keep on trucking ? -Matthew

MonkeePuzzle > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 10:27

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hows the rest of the car? any rust? how are the rubbers, such and bushings etc? diff in good shape?

marshknute > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 10:27

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Yes

Matthew Phillips > MonkeePuzzle 11/04/2016 at 10:28

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no rust, the body is pristine, bought it in WA state.

Matthew Phillips > marshknute 11/04/2016 at 10:29

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Yes to what !

CalzoneGolem > MonkeePuzzle 11/04/2016 at 10:29

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This. If the whole car is knackered you don’t want to just pop in a new engine.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 10:31

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You could turn into Jake and put an eBay turbo on it.

Matthew Phillips > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 11/04/2016 at 10:34

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what ?

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 10:35

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You’re due for HGs soon, so I’m in buy another car and WRX-swap this one territory.

SantaRita > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 10:35

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Just get another subie with the engine you want. do you need the wagon or would a Legacy GT serve you?

Matthew Phillips > SantaRita 11/04/2016 at 10:40

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the wagon keeps me out of buying an Suv or truck (which I want but don’t need) so yes.. I need a wagon.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 10:40

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I would vote that you find a later EJ25. They make more power than the 2.2 and they are just about everywhere. I also believe they require less modifications to the electrical systems compared to a WRX swap which basically requires you to rewire the entire car.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 10:40

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Jake put an eBay turbo on his Miata. Questionable, but kind of funny.

CalzoneGolem > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 10:41

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Why don’t you just rebuild the engine in it?

MonkeePuzzle > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 10:41

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but how are all the parts that put the power down. if you drop in a new engine you’ll notice the trans is old, and then new trans and you’ll notice the diff is old, and then new diff and you’ll notice the CVs are old, then new CVs and you’ll notice the shocks/struts are old, then new shocks and you’ll notice the bushings are old.

its not a problem, just worth knowing before you throw in a new engine.

Roadster Man > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 10:49

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From my experiences with a WRX, swapping in a WRX engine will make your Legacy far, far more unreliable.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 11/04/2016 at 10:50

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The only question is whether it works or not...

Matthew Phillips > MonkeePuzzle 11/04/2016 at 10:51

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all of those will need replacing

the CV shafts themselves definitely need to go. if I do a WRX swap I might just go ahead an attempt a manual swap as well.

Matthew Phillips > Roadster Man 11/04/2016 at 10:51

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hmm, what do you recommend ?

Matthew Phillips > CalzoneGolem 11/04/2016 at 10:56

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Where’s the fun in that.

MonkeePuzzle > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 11:09

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well sir, I think my vote is WRX swap then. that at least means trans is updated. :D

Aaron M - MasoFiST > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 11:16

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If there’s no money or space concern, sure, swap a turbo mill in there. EJ207 is JDM goodness, EJ205 is cheaper and more commonly available. Get a hood from a Legacy GT for the TMIC, and everything will bolt up...you probably want the transmission from said WRX, and you probably want it as new as possible (so 2005 if you’re buying the engine and transmission together). You can try the STi driveline swap but you just tripled your work, conservatively.

The engine and transmission bolt into the same mounts, the physical installation is easy. You will then have to splice the two wiring harnesses together. Do you like electrical work? I hope so. There are off-the-shelf solutions available these days, though: http://www.iwireservices.com/subaru-harness-merging

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 11:18

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Here you go:

Needmoargarage > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 11:35

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Just buy another EJ22. EJ205s are expensive for what you get, and fairly unreliable as swaps. I would only do Turbo DOHC Subaru engines only if you are interested in a somewhat pricey project.

Matthew Phillips > Aaron M - MasoFiST 11/04/2016 at 11:38

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let’s hope I can get 50k out of the current set up lol

I might just end up buying a old WRX instead.

CalzoneGolem > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 11:39

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I imagine it’s about as fun as swapping in a different EJ22.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 11:41

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It’s not a terrible idea. Subaru engine swaps are among the easiest but it’s still a huge amount of work...one of the reasons it’s so popular is because people want the turbo mill in a lighter GC or older Legacy. Swapping engines in a chassis where you can just buy the turbo version is a waste of time and money. That all said, projects are fun, and not everything you do is to save money.

CobraJoe > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 11:52

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How much time and money do you want to spend on it?

If you have a lot of time and some fabrication skills: LS swap it. 300-400hp in stock form, dead reliable, cheapish and easy to source.

Or find a spare block and rebuild it with some good parts. High compression pistons, some better flowing stock heads, maybe cams... See what you can get out of a NA flat 4.

Or go for a WRX swap, I’m sure it’ll fit easily enough, but let me give you a couple of suggestions before you get to work:

1: Make sure the rest of the car is worth spending the time on. If rust is eating through the floor boards or it needs significant body work, it might be worth looking for a better body to stick a new engine in to.

2: Make sure the engine you’re planning on swapping in drives like you want it too. Go test drive or ride in a similar year WRX to what you’re planning on swapping. It would really suck to finish the swap and then hate how the engine puts out the power. (I’m not really a fan of the turbo engine in my Legacy GT.)

AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 11:53

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Counterpoint, what about an FA20? Newer and more fuel efficient while potentially being more reliable.

vicali > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 11:56

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300+ on an ej22 is not uncommon, are you sure you need to do anything?

Technically at 240 it should have had it’s 4th full service including timing belt;

http://www.cars101.com/subaru/subaru_maintenance.html#90-99maintenance

But I would guess that a huge majority of high milers are not getting complete maintenance done. Usually your trouble with these is they start burning and leaking oil..

If you want to swap that’s great, but I’m sure you don’t need to.

Matthew Phillips > vicali 11/04/2016 at 11:58

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So should I rebuild and turbo the current engine ? or buy another Ej22 and rebuild that to whatever spec ?

Roadster Man > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 12:16

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I’d go for another EJ22 or do something loco like try to squeeze a subie H-6 in there. The turbo engine in my ‘05 WRX (EJ205 I think) was a nightmare, just problem after problem.

Matthew Phillips > Roadster Man 11/04/2016 at 12:20

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gotcha.

vicali > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 12:22

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I think you should sit down and look at what you want. There are a ton of better suited Subarus out there already much faster than a 95 Legacy wagon..

I see a ton of people who hear how much ‘Subarus are like lego’ and the JDM WRX STI letters start flying around.. it’s not quite as easy as it sounds in your head.

Like the others have said, if you swap in a fast engine you are going to have to get it to work with the transmission, ecu, diffs, etc.. It’s not like it’s a bolt-on mod.

Matthew Phillips > vicali 11/04/2016 at 12:23

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All i’m hearing is buy a 5.0 fox body...

TahoeSTi > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 12:29

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I just Picked up and 2006 Outback XT w/manual transmission and 68,000 miles on it, I wouldn’t buy a new car but if you have time to shop around you might find a great car for good price. Took me almost a year to find the outback I wanted. And there’s no need to swap it already has a ej255 motor.

vicali > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 12:39

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yeah- well, your keys and your goals are pretty far apart..

I’m not saying you can’t make it cool, there are tons of really nice outbacks out there - I’m just saying if the first thing out of your mouth is to swap in a JDM STi Turbo into your outback you’re going to get static.

uofime-2 > Matthew Phillips 11/04/2016 at 12:55

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Ej22s are pretty hard to kill. Turbo’ing an NA is not a wise use of time or money when turbo engine swaps are available, inexpensive and straightforward (relatively).

One of my friends put an EJ207 with a JDM sti 5-speed in his BD Legacy sedan. It’s not a very logical thing to do but its a very cool car. He sourced the parts himself and had a shop do the work. IIRC it was about 6-7k all in, parts and labor. he’s running a JDM ECU, which means emissions tests are, umm shall we say creative... when required.

If you want to be unique, go for it, but it would be far more logical to just buy a whole new (used) car.

Matthew Phillips > vicali 11/04/2016 at 15:34

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I’m thinking just rebuild the EJ22, swap on a the front clip and hood of a newer outback, some better wheels and a lower. That 96 in the image on top looks sick.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Matthew Phillips 11/05/2016 at 09:46

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rebuild it.