Jump to content
Ultimate Subaru Message Board

93 Impreza L EJ25 Franken Swapped Tons o Pics


Recommended Posts

I have always loved my subarus and I always wanted an Impreza. Spring of 2010 I got this Impreza L for $200 bucks.:banana: It needed a new clutch and the suspension was craped out. Still a great deal at $200. The car is in great overall shape. It has Power windows, locks and A/C which is always nice to have. Only one spot of rust. Interior is in awesome shape. Motor had 228K on it but still runs great. Car all stock except for CD player. I will be swapping in an EJ25 with new timing belt kit, gaskets, water pump and the EJ22 heads on the motor. I have heard they bump up your compression and get a little more power out of it.

 

This project is gonna take a long time to finish as I have a long way to go. I want to make it a super good running NA motor first. Then later on down the road make it all turbo. First things i am doing is the motor swap and suspension. I want to do a lowered suspension set up. Maybe 2in lower. I will worry about the exterior styling once it is running good and strong.

 

Modifications

Drivetrain

1999 EJ25 block

1995 EJ22 heads

1993 EJ18 Intake manifold

12lb lightweight flywheel

stage 1 clutch

cold air intake

muffler

 

Exterior

Sokudo 17In Gold Rims

GOODBYE license plate

crappy old tint

 

Interior

Pioneer CD/MP3 player

 

Suspension

Tanabe GF210 springs

KYB GR2 struts

front and rear strut bars

 

 

Videos:

 

Pics

stock with the 17in gold rims i scored with tires for $400

4874368200_59da409191_z.jpg

 

4874366186_29cd9bf743_z.jpg

 

Clean Interior

4874350470_46f24eb57a_z.jpg

 

See the license plate Taste the rainbow. The girl i bought it from called it her little skittle

4873743875_527cf05e14_z.jpg

 

the one spot of rust

4874352152_a38b7b2bf1_z.jpg

 

the EJ22 motor i was going to use. But EJ25 power will be better.

4873737977_49e620a413_z.jpg

 

Here is where it has been sitting all summer.

4863917887_04dd1fd704_z.jpg

 

 

Plans:

Drive Train

Light weight pulleys

Bigger injectors

 

Exterior

Ver 6 front bumper

Crystal or blacked out 97 headlights(cant decide)

RS hood

STI grill

2.5RS spoiler

side skirts

rear spats

JDM tails

 

Suspension

Rear sway Bar

Rear disc brakes

 

Interior

DVD/CD player

xbox 360

WRX seats

Kicker KS650 speakers

STI carpet

 

 

 

Some pics i love

100_1192.jpg

 

100_1191.jpg

 

100_1187.jpg

 

11-07-10

100_1422.jpg

 

100_1423.jpg

 

11-8-2010

100_1434.jpg

100_1435.jpg

 

11-13-2010

Winter tires on

100_1447.jpg

100_1443.jpg

100_1449.jpg

Edited by A DOG
Link to comment
Share on other sites

09-19-2010

 

Installed KYB GR2 with Tanabe GF210 lowering springs. Thanks for the deal from member Knoonz. Onto the pics

 

Still in great condition with 10K on them

0916001738.jpg

 

0918001618.jpg

 

The suspension was probably a 1.5in drop or more. It sits perfect now. Tires fill the wheel wells very nicely. I will have to find a fender roller for the rear as it does rub a little. Very pleased with the results.

 

The tire rub mark. I'm sure after a little fender rolling it should tuck snugly.

100_1134.jpg

 

 

Before side shot

4874366186_29cd9bf743_z.jpg

 

After

100_1133.jpg

 

 

100_1136.jpg

 

100_1141.jpg

 

I decided to go with the EJ25 block and EJ22 heads for the extra power. I will be ordering up all new seals, gaskets, timing belt kit, water pump and pretty much everything to rebuild an engine. I will be running my stock EJ18 5sp tranny but I know it will blow sooner than later with the kind of power i will be making. When that happens I will throw in an EJ22 tranny.

 

I also have ordered up a good list of parts

 

  • Light weight flywheel
  • Stage 1 clutch
  • Front and rear strut bars
  • Muffler
  • All new gaskets and seals
  • New water pump

 

I already have ordered up all the parts for the engine rebuild process. So very soon i will have the EJ25 power!!! Stay Tuned for more pics of my build.

 

100_1161.jpg

 

Stage 1 holds up to 200HP

100_1163.jpg

 

12lb flywheel

100_1167.jpg

 

Dual tip muffler

Exhaust-1.jpg

 

UPDATE

10-02-2010: Late night motor session. Out with the old

SNC00577.jpg

 

10-03-2010: Getting new EJ25 prepped with EJ22 heads.

 

I had to do a stand in engine bay shot

1002002243.jpg

 

EJ25 block with EJ22 heads

SNC00586.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got the Massive Intake on the stock tube. Fabricated an aluminum shield to prevent splashing through the holes on the fender. Also created wall shielding intake from engine heat. Made a huge difference in power and how the engine ran.

 

100_1416.jpg

 

100_1415.jpg

 

Next is a 2.5 header and exhaust. Better injectors. This car is amazing though. I will never sell it

 

------------------------

10-7-10:

Over 1600 miles on motor and still running better than ever.

Winter is coming and this bad boy is ready for it. Got to get sideways on some wet pavement corners. It can power through once you actually break traction and get sideways. Gonna put the smaller winter tires on it and it will have even better better torque

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

Been a long time since a good update. The car is still running strong. I did the get the newer RS hood on with the newer 99 crystal clear headlights and grill. Looks way better. Just need to paint the hood and grill black and it will look like a purple panda.

 

Front end looks mean

aa71f359-1.jpg

 

I also found a 99 Imprea L with lots of good parts on it. So i took the rear sway bar, headlights, trunk with small spoiler, tail lights, rear bumper, front bumper and some interior pieces.

 

The parts car

076c72d6.jpg

when we left it

9144e0a4.jpg

nothing left

907357cd.jpg

 

While taking off interior parts i found this. Who knew subaru worked with Nissan

512bea8c.jpg

 

Rear end with trunk and nicer tail lights

6a4b734e.jpg

 

I will be installing the newer L front bumper and the nice black rear bumper soon.

ok condition front bumper. Has some cracks

c286e7d5.jpg

I will be putting in some Hellas on the front bumper of course. hahaha

 

some pics

4b98e82d.jpg

cc187324-1.jpg

 

I had to order up some 1/2in rear spacers because with the Tanabe GF210 springs with KYB-GR2 struts my tires hit the top of the wheel well in a hard turn. So i ordered up a set of these.http://www.paranoidfabrications.com/shop/subaru-impreza-gc8-hdpe/ Also ordered the longer stud kit so I can install the rear strut bar.http://www.paranoidfabrications.com/shop/subaru-impreza-95-07-longer-stud-kit/

 

 

I also got lots of cool stickers from ihatestickers.com going on the rear window soon.

 

I am installing these parts this week:

Rear sway bar

rear strut spacers

rear strut bar

 

Also attending a suby meet this sunday in here in Bozeman. Should be some sweet pics from that coming.

 

I will leave you with this picture of my two rigs one for the streets one for the woods.

cc187324.jpg

Edited by A DOG
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have you put on the larger diameter pipe exhaust yet? The EJ18 pipe is seriously tiny, EJ22's and 25's use the same pipe and cat sizes.

 

Yes I did put on the bigger EJ22 exhaust pipe. I am looking for the right header as well.

 

Screw the stock stuff and go straight to an aftermarket header. Equal length or un-equal length, it's your choice.

 

Don't you just love the low end grunt the frankenstein puts out?

 

~Josh~

 

Yes this thing has some torque to say the least. I spanked a stock 2.5RS last week. He followed me to the gas station to ask how i beat him. Hahahahah

 

 

I got in my 1/2in spacers with the longer stud kit. Looks like quality product. From paranoid fabrications http://www.paranoidfabrications.com/shop/subaru-impreza-gc8-hdpe/

44f4c69c.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Really nice build you have going here! Reading through it just got better and better.

Glad to see that engine is treating you well, I'm going to be building the same thing with some delta cams!

Well thank You man! With Delta cams that motor will scream through the gears. I want to do a cam eventually. Money Money Money

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did you install the spacers on all struts? It indicates that for 1/2 spacers you need longer struts, however this thing mounts between the strut and the car so you only have less thread to mount the strut tower to the car or am i wrong.

What struts would you put then, forester?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did you install the spacers on all struts? It indicates that for 1/2 spacers you need longer struts, however this thing mounts between the strut and the car so you only have less thread to mount the strut tower to the car or am i wrong.

What struts would you put then, forester?

 

 

I installed the 1/2in spacers in the rear only. Thats where i needed it. Yes because the spacer takes up room you need longer studs to still be able to mount it up correctly. I will be putting forester struts on my car next winter. Lifted for the winter and lowered for the summer.:banana:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lifted in winter and lowered in summer is nice!! I just have two cars though... A lifted one, and a low ones. heh

 

Yeah thats the beauty of having an early edition impreza. You can do anything with them. Lifted or lowered they still look amazing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Band Aid for the scratch in the fender

f6af1b13.jpg

 

 

They always loose.....well mostly

7b58a69b.jpg

 

 

 

 

Did the rear sway bar install. Went pretty easy actually.

 

 

Getting it ready

cc16b17e.jpg

 

 

1/2in spacers on KYB-GR2 with Tanabe GF210 springs

22b11f10.jpg

 

 

Putting it back together

430af77f.jpg

 

 

Finished!!

c35e68d9.jpg

 

Car handles way better!! The rear end is much stiffer overall. Now I just need to stiffen up the front end with one of those fancy braces hahahaa.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...