Jump to content
Ultimate Subaru Message Board

Guidos New Life


The Dude Abides
 Share

Recommended Posts

 

So, i have been on the board for a while.  I have had many adventures with my subaru.  But i feel its personal attachment to me over the years has made me switch gears.  It has been my daily driver, my offroad toy, and now backup vehicle.  I have come to a crossroads after the last offroading adventure.  Not out of any disrespect from the jeep guys but my vehicle will not keep up with them.  And insidently i beat the hell out of it trying to.  The car means to much to me to do this, not that i dont want to offroad anymore but not with this.  So i have starting removing the lift and the offroad tires.  

 

All that being said, quietly over the past 5 years i have been plotting and hatching a plan on where i wanted this car to go.  Now before i tell you my plan i love my car, i love it.  I love subarus and i can without a shadow of a doubt tell you that i feel these and the earlier ones before them are one of the greatest vehicles every made.  I personally feel these are the true essence of subaru.  I like the imprezas and the legacys but these cars were designed to be good in all weather and be fuel efficent.  My mind will never be changed on that thinking.  And i would hate to ruin what was in my opinion a great design of a great car.  But im going to.  With all due respect to the fellows before me who have put wrx, sti, svx, and other engine and trans configurations into these cars im coming up with a whole new plan.  The V8 swap has been discuss around here from time to time but i dont think anyone was either crazy enough, or capable enough, or rich enough to move forward with this.  

 

So my plan is to strip the car of what i dont need and can sell for extra money.  I have my ls engine and t5 already sourced but i may hold off on purchaseing because i want to get the suspension grafted onto the car.  With the research ive done on track width i can use either mustang or camaro parts.  Im torn between a solid axle rear end or independent for what im wanting to do with the car.  I fully expect the car to have 400hp to the wheels when im done.  I may also look into mustang 2 front end components but my plan is to purchase a whole car to source most of my parts on.  

 

This is not a joke or an attention seeking plan of action.  Its going to take me a few years and lord knows ill probably change my mind of which engine or rear end i want to get in there.  I love my car and want to take it to the next level.  I now start my adventure and im shareing it with all of you.

 

A journey of 1000 miles begin with a single step.

10486657_10204112374837050_5427727161312

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I was debating on wanting to go irs or solid axle.  I have looked at other foreign manufactures as well as possible replacements.  My biggest problem is the direction i want to go with the car.  I think im going to do this in stages and remove what i can out of the rear of the car first.  Get that figured out so technically i can still drive it or move it for a year.  Then make the big push for the front end and have it tied in together before the engine and trans go in.  I may try to track down another rust free wagon during this time so i have lots of good body parts to use as replacements.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Believe it or not im kind of lost between which rout to go.  I want simplicity and of course with simplicity comes less cost.  I have done a fair amount of research and alot of fox body components will fit the track width.  I could do something as simple as a ford 8.8 with the ford k member and put pretty much whatever engine i want in there.  Ford, chevy, whatever.  Run a simple muncie 4 speed with a carb motor.  I want to keep it small block because i want it to fit relatively well under the hood.  But then theres the go boldly where no one has gone before rout.  And thats where the jaguar suspension comes in.  Taking the suspension from a v12 jaguar and using the front suspension and rear irs components.  Then using the all to popular LS engine option for gobs of power hooked up to a t56.  That rout is more expensive in the engine and electrical route.  For reliability id like to keep it a N/A car.  I think 400 wheel hp in a 3000lb car would be pretty good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lift is off and on its way to its new home in Iceland.  I hope he has as much fun with it as i did.  Getting the rear tires dismounted from the pugs now so i can put it back into rolling status.   Ive also gotten a break and found a mustang complete k member on here for 100 bucks so i think im gonna pick that up just to see how it looks under there.  Ive also got a fabricator coming over to look it over and let me know whats its gonna cost to make mounting points.  Projects moving along thats for sure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This isn't a half bad idea, infact, I've seen someone stick a 5.7 350 in a first gen Legacy with rear wheel drive. It seemed to work out and was drivable. I have also seen someone stick a 3.8 L36 (GM) into an EA82 body. The motor sat up too high from the photos, but it was also made into a RWD vehicle.

 

Only thing I would say is, remember, you are adding a 450lbs motor vs a 250lbs motor, I'm not sure how well it will corner if you are thinking "Track car" but then again, their have been A LOT of front heavy vehicles that have won Le Mans and 1000 Lakes! I support your idea, as this amount of work really hasn't been put into a Subaru on here. Swapping in another Flat-4 or possibly Flat-6 has been done, V8 swaps, eh, never (At least on here)

 

Good luck and I will be watching!  :ph34r:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think im leaning more twards fox body k member with ford 8.8 rear axle.  The track widh is close to original and parts are way to cheap to pass up.  As far as engine and trans go I think im going with an LS motor.  For what they are I can get them pretty cheap and the tune ability on them is endless.  The t5 should be stout enough for the power im planning on putting down and there light as air coming in at 98lbs.  Remember mine is a wagon so its already butt heavy but weight is going to be considered here.  And thinking on keeping the 4 lug ford pattern for stealth looking approach.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Yea it wont be lifted and i figured i would need to remove the fuel tank and have a custom one done up.  Unfortunately the project has been put somewhat on hold.  Im switching jobs so were gonna need to see where money is dolled out for it.  On a side note i had a LS motor in my garage for about 2 weeks and i did some pre measuring and alignling best i could with the ea81 still in the car.  Im confident i should be able to get it in there.  I have a custom fab guy coming over to also help me get an idea on where to go next.  Either were going to fab up the rear end in the car or hes gonna take the car do some measuring and see what it would cost to make a custom frame for everything to mount in.  Exciting stuff for sure, poor guy looks sad with no lift anymore.

 

10686817_10204326370266802_3353457273376

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

Quick update.  I had a ford 8.8 purchased but then i ran into alittle hard times so i had to sell it.  Im still  on the fence to have the compact ability of a ford 302 or the tuneability of a ls motor.  Im also somewhat contemplating useing the stock subaru suspension for simplicity but my fear is that since these cars are pretty obsolite i cant get decent shocks or anything for the car.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Best thing to do is get MOOG springs for the front. Auto Tempo springs can handle 700+lbs per spring. That will help deal with the extra weight of a V8, Aluminum or not, its still gonna add weight. Struts should be fine if you get your self a new set of KYBs.

 

Just my thoughts :)

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...