EJ20 Twin Turbo and RHD Conversion

[Giraffe Attack]

I started with a $100 car with a little body damage and a lot of mechanical problems. My goal is to do a RHD conversion in order to avoid the problems that other people have had with clearance issues in the LHD models.

 

 

I purchased a complete nose from Japan (a car cut in half so that I got the whole front clip with dash and all wiring included).

 

 

I then stripped my donor car for the conversion.

 

 

 

Then I began the firewall mods to do the RHD conversion.

 

 

Then a quick couple coats of AUDI TT Battleship Gray.

 

 

Wiring and booster installed after paint.

 

 

Then an install of the under dash components after relocating all the support brackets. Everything is backwards now!

 

 

Now with the motor installed.

 

 

And a preview of the final product with JDM lights/bumper. Will also have hood modded to fit functional scoop from and '05 WRX, and JDM grille.

 

 

Still in the process of doing interior and wiring. Suspension is coming after that.

 

 

 

 

STAY TUNED!!!!

Edited August 1, 2010 by Giraffe Attack

[eulogious]

Good job man! Does it run? Is it drivable yet? Looks like you got a good start on everything, keep it up! I will be watching for sure!

[Giraffe Attack]

Yes, it does run!

 

I'm adding a 3" exhaust early next week then water-meth injection, and having some tuning done after that. (Looking for about 300hp)

 

 

car is on blocks right now while i'm building suspension and getting rear diff done.

 

After that, it's going to be time for body and paint work, then sponsor decals.

 

 

Hopefully be ready for a couple races at the end of august.

[LPGsuperchargedBrumby]

lol the things you yanks have to do to get a bit RHD twin turbo legacy goodness....all i have to do is shell out the money to buy one...they are cheap here cos of how much fuel they chew thru

 

300hp won't be hard to get...the TT EJ20 is about 260-280hp depending on the model

[Giraffe Attack]

Yeah, it's kinda hard to get cheap horsepower around here. I'm into the whole project for $1000us total. That includes all my paint/body filler material, whole nose from japan, and the car.

 

My wife is mad that I didn't do the swap in her car. Oh well.

[rxleone]

Extremely common in New Zealand. TBH I found them sluggish and unresponsive, but it was an auto I drove. They've got some weird turbo lag issue at 100kph (60mph) where the turbo's cross or something and they guzzle gas. But cool to see one done in the States good job on it!

[LeoneTurbo]

The (in)famous VOD

[rxleone]

the (in)famous vod

 

vod?

[LeoneTurbo]

Valley of Death

[rxleone]

Valley of Death

 

Hahahahaha, that's the one

[Pooparu]

wouldn't it be easier to just start with a US mail Legacy?

[Subruise]

^^^ whoah no kidding, im sure hed be in it for more than a grand tho.

 

good going giraffe

[Giraffe Attack]

Wiring all done! Spliced 56 wires. Very time consuming. My JDM harness was cut in two places so I had to merge 3 wiring harnesses together.

 

 

 

All the extra wires are now removed from the USDM plugs. Won't be needing power heated seats and sunroof controls or any other crap. Just the basics.

 

Good news is that I have all of the wiring diagrams saved as .gif files for anyone interested.

 

I'm going to be glad when this project is complete, and I can just go fast.

Edited August 17, 2010 by Giraffe Attack

[Turboturd]

I know pulling out of parallel parking is super fun/scary in RHD cars.

 

Looks really good, I'm a fan of battleship engine bays.

[Giraffe Attack]

Dash is painted and now matches the rest of my interior.

 

 

P.S.

I'm painting the whole car Battleship Gray with matte black wheels, spoiler, and hood scoop.

[Giraffe Attack]

well, got the whole front end done. all suspension built in the front. all wiring and coolant/trans lines done.

 

the front end sits VERY low to the ground. started assembling the rear suspension. removed the old rusty suspension with a grinder. removed rear diff, and installed new rear diff with a locker.

 

did all the rust repair at the windshield opening, and the quarters. removed the roof rack and antenna for a more streamlined look. will finish the paint prep and bodywork this week.

 

it's almost done. Hopefully ready for a rally on Sept. 11th.

[Kyle691]

Looking good! where did you get the front clip? how did you order it?

[Giraffe Attack]

I got the clip from Mac1 Exports in Japan. I had it delivered with a load of parts that my company ordered in a container.

 

 

Here's the first video of it running (sorry for the poor quality video, only had my cell phone handy):

 

http://www.facebook.com/v/1607395502790

 

and revving:

 

http://www.facebook.com/v/1607392462714

 

 

It runs awesome. I missed out on a few races, but will be racing in an autocross on the 18th to get used to the right-hand-drive.

 

Body work is almost done, then it's time for paint.

[Giraffe Attack]

Done and Racing!

 

 

Went to an Autocross yesterday to see how we did.

 

Worked a solid 24 hours to finish. did one lap around the block, and the straight to the race.

 

Place 10th out of 11. so not that great, but not last. It's a trip trying to learn right hand drive.

 

 

 

[Giraffe Attack]

Ok, here's a brief update.

 

After 2 races and daily driving it for a little while, I've discovered that it is the second most expensive vehicle to put fuel in that I've ever owned.

 

I found out from an Australian friend of mine that I need to run 98 or better octane to avoid detonation. 98 octane is about $4.50-$5 a gallon where I live and at roughly 12-14 miles per gallon with a lead foot, I feel that I'm never going to be able to retire if I keep this as a daily driver.

 

It's damn fun to drive though!

 

Here's a couple more pics after the paint and decal work was finished:

 

 

 

 

[rxleone]

Ok, here's a brief update.

 

After 2 races and daily driving it for a little while, I've discovered that it is the second most expensive vehicle to put fuel in that I've ever owned.

 

I'm not surprised. New Zealand is full of the twin turbo BD/BG models, and Subaru's have an absolutely horrible reputation purely because of this engine.

 

They call them "holiday wreckers" in this part of the world because the family loads them up to go on holiday.....and they blow up. Absolutely hideous design. I hope this one works out well for you though.

 

And the fuel economy is awful. Doesn't matter if you baby it or not, its just pure shit.

[Numbchux]

Wow...I didn't catch this thread before. Cool build!!

 

 

I found out from an Australian friend of mine that I need to run 98 or better octane to avoid detonation.

 

Not exactly. Most of the world (Australia included) rates their octane based on the Research number alone (RON). Here in the US, we use the R+M/2 (Average of Research and Motor octane, also known as the AKI), which is lower.

 

AKI tends to be 4 or 5 points lower than RON. Meaning 93 AKI would be the same as 98 RON. And 91 would probably be just fine for non-race days.

 

 

I would highly recommend getting a good knock monitoring system (knock-link being my preference). and experiment a little. You'll find different brands of fuel effect how much knock you're getting (in this area, Shell tends to have the most stable fuel).

[Giraffe Attack]

Wow...I didn't catch this thread before. Cool build!!

 

AKI tends to be 4 or 5 points lower than RON. Meaning 93 AKI would be the same as 98 RON. And 91 would probably be just fine for non-race days.

 

 

I would highly recommend getting a good knock monitoring system (knock-link being my preference). and experiment a little. You'll find different brands of fuel effect how much knock you're getting (in this area, Shell tends to have the most stable fuel).

 

Sweet, thanks for the info. I've been playing with a 2 stage electronic boost controller to help regulate the second turbo. It's been a great motor so far, and I've had a blast to drive. I run 92 octane with octane boost and when I get above 5200 rpm, and mash the gas, it detonates, but has ZERO problems when I run 98+. As long as it doesn't ************ the bed while I'm driving to a race, I'm happy.