gwilson87 Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 New to the forums and I figured I should post my own process of doing the EJ22 swap. There are many threads of peoples swaps and each one contains much information about things the person went through and all of them help people like me with little automotive know how. So first, Thank You to everyone who has posted information about these swaps! The car. The engine was running pretty good but it would not pass emissions. Possibly low compression, possibly just a vacuum line. Instead of chasing things around I got the wife's permission to start my swap. The swap stuff started about 2 days ago as I got the engine and trans pulled ready for selling, (4x4 Welder already is getting the trans). *after power washing the engine bay. I picked up a car for the donor yesterday for $180. Rusted, 1992 Legacy, 202k miles, manual 5sp, AWD. Also found a front cross member with a power steering rack for $20 at a junkyard I'm going to pick up after my vacation. Also getting a 5sp, d/r for the swap as well. More pictures and information to be coming as I get into this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crockettbrat Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 Good work! Hope all goes well for you! I love my ej brat. Getting on the frwy is always so much fun now. Going up hill accelerating in 5th gear is a blast. Good luck and keep the pics coming! I'm thinking of starting another ej swap project too. We'll see... Cheers, Daniel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 i think you have jackman wheels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crockettbrat Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 I'm also a land rover freak and recently found a set of jackman wheels for the landrovers. I was so psyched! Aparently lrover folks hate them, but as a subie nut I obviously have a different opinion! I'll post a pic when I get the chance. Daniel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cameron 1 Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 nice wife i wish mine was like that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilson87 Posted June 15, 2009 Author Share Posted June 15, 2009 I don't know what jackman wheels are... I just wish mine didn;t have a dent on it from some PO hitting a curb. Tomorrow I pull the front crossmember and finish the stereo wires (donor car came with a pioneer cd player so might as well upgrade that also) Tuesday hopefully cleaning/pulling the EJ22 and getting it all prepped for installation. It will have to sit until at least a week because im waiting till the Salt Lake City junkyard has half off day to go get my 5sp d/r. Might settle in on some wiring in the meantime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilson87 Posted June 17, 2009 Author Share Posted June 17, 2009 Started to pull apart some of the legacy today. Took a decent amount of time because I don't have torx bits to get the steering wheel off. finally found two bolts that dropped the entire assembly down low enough to pull the dash out and leave me with wiring harness with plenty of fat to be trimmed. Here is the current shot of how my donor car looks. On an AWESOME note, I have found about $9 in spare change when I pulled out the center console. Already recouping some costs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psyko Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Good looking build and good looking Brat. Should make for a great combination. I still get a kick out of swapping 200k+ engines into a car and thinking nothing of it. Long live the EJ22. i think you have jackman wheels Naw, they're EA81 wagon. You can see the curve on the back wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilson87 Posted June 17, 2009 Author Share Posted June 17, 2009 I still get a kick out of swapping 200k+ engines into a car and thinking nothing of it. Long live the EJ22. My buddy's father in law swapped in a 300k+ engine to a family members car once and its still kicking along. Long live indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilson87 Posted June 19, 2009 Author Share Posted June 19, 2009 Latest update: EJ22 engine pulled and chilling in the brats engine bay dangling from the hoist. Started playing with wires, got frustrated again and stopped. Hopefully getting the crossmember and steering rack tomorrow. Bad news is I was told the GL at the junkyard was moved into a back corner and is now underneath another car so that should make for some interesting times at the junkyard. Here are a few pics of the engine pulled. Engine pulled. Empty (sorta) legacy engine bay. Trans will be pulled sometime next week after work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilson87 Posted June 21, 2009 Author Share Posted June 21, 2009 Latest update, the legacy wiring harness is pulled and thinned down some. Hopefully I will get it wired enough to start it. I wont be getting the transmission till friday. Also still need to find a proper fitting front crossmember to get power steering. When im back at a computer I will upload some pictures. As far as I know I cant upload any pics here from my phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilson87 Posted June 23, 2009 Author Share Posted June 23, 2009 So I'm having a conflict of interest one might say, so I'm looking for some feedback/opinions. With my swap should I keep my AC? I haven't had AC in any of my vehicles for a really long time so its not as if I will be missing it. Also this brat will primarily be used just around town and off-roading. Another thing is power steering. I am having troubles finding the proper crossmember and power steering rack that isn't too wide. Thusly, I am thinking of just making my stock brat x-member work until I find said power steering setup and install it later on. Obviously having power steering will help out when offroading, but I dunno how soon it will be able happen. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated as far as what you have done to make AC work in your swaps and etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baccaruda Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 you could make a set of "hybrid" A/C lines that meet the stock evaporator at the firewall and merge with the EJ compressor on the EJ22. Wiring up the compressor might be interesting but would certainly be less work than the engine wiring itself. I think most people use the stock crossmembers in their EA cars; you may have to slot the holes for the motor mounts and perhaps grind off a couple of alignment "nipples" on the bottoms of the motor mounts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilson87 Posted June 23, 2009 Author Share Posted June 23, 2009 I am now tossing around the idea of converting my ac compressor to an air compressor for on board air. I tend to pinch flat tires a lot while I am biking and having air would be handy for that. Also possibly being able to air down tires for future off road excursions could be usefull as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yo'J Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 I was thinking about air struts. Spendy, but possible. An onboard air system would be way cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilson87 Posted July 1, 2009 Author Share Posted July 1, 2009 In the process of moving to a new place the work on the brat came to a crawl. Tomorrow I am getting the 5sp d/r from the junkyard (half off wednesdays!!! ) Hopefully I can find a proper fitting crossmemeber with power steering to put in. I also got a nice section of square steel tubing to be used as a body lift. Pictures to come soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilson87 Posted July 2, 2009 Author Share Posted July 2, 2009 So for those of you who care, Pull and Save in West Valley Utah considers subaru d/r trans as a transmission and a transfer case. Sucks for me because it ended up costing the same as a trans would have at the junkyard down the street. Anywho... Here are some pics of goodies picked up at the junkyard today, and a few fun transmission pictures. Magnaflow exhaust Fuel pump from turbo fuel injected Loyale Snazzy subwoofer for under the seat or something if I can figure how to wire it up. The legacy transmission (held up by radio flyer, been in my family for as long as I can remember) Transmissions. Appearing from left to right: GL 5sp d/r, Legacy 5sp, Brat 4sp d/r. Note the size differences, the brat trans is 10" longer than the soon to be swapped in GL trans. That means the Legacy driveshaft will be shortened to fit in there. Yay for more projects!! More pictures and random writings to come as things get pieced together. Maybe one day I will be able to post a picture of my brat out on at least the road, hopefully a dirt one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baccaruda Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 If you run oversized tires after the lift, you may not be able to fit your spare under the hood any more. You might install an electric air compressor there.. good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilson87 Posted July 5, 2009 Author Share Posted July 5, 2009 If you run oversized tires after the lift, you may not be able to fit your spare under the hood any more. You might install an electric air compressor there.. good luck! I was thinking of putting in an air tank there for when I do the ac to air compressor mod later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4x4_Welder Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 That a/c compressor is no good for an on-board air system, it needs a supply of oil that gets circulated through the lines. A York piston-type compressor is what you need, you can find them with a serpentine belt setup on late 90s heavy trucks. I know Kenworth used them on the 600s. I would do an electric onboard air system like ARB's, or even Oasis Air. I'm keeping the a/c in the swap I'm doing, don't know how just yet but it looks like I can just bolt the GL compressor on the EJ and use the EJ ones pulley. We'll find out- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilson87 Posted July 12, 2009 Author Share Posted July 12, 2009 AC to air will be one of the last things I do to the brat. First it needs to be put together, which I got a few more pieces towards the final product. Still trying to figure out the driveline issues because six states distributors wasn't really stoked to help make a driveline for a subaru. He said "no subaru is worth that much effort". Anywho, more to come on that later. New part goodies have been received. Adapter plate made from 1/2" steel. A friend of a friends father in law has a few of these he had made and might be willing to sell some... New XT6 pressure plate, pad, bearings etc. Built to last also! (duralast) Hopefully I will get my flywheel redrilled in the next few days. Probably drop it off at the machine shop monday and pick it up later that day. Still in debate of whether to drill it myself, and then have the machine shop resurface and balance it for me, or just have them to the whole dealio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Still trying to figure out the driveline issues because six states distributors wasn't really stoked to help make a driveline for a subaru. He said "no subaru is worth that much effort". Tell them they aren't worth you're money then. We recently had a GL driveline lengthened to fit a D/R into a Legacy. Cost was $205. If they don't want you're money, then go somewhere else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilson87 Posted July 12, 2009 Author Share Posted July 12, 2009 He said he could get my legacy driveshaft shortened to fit the brat. It is about an inch top short. Cost would be about $85 so im going to have to wait till the next paycheck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilson87 Posted July 17, 2009 Author Share Posted July 17, 2009 WAHOO!!!! Things are starting to move forward! Got my adapter plate in after a few slight adjustments. One hole was slightly off and needed to be ground a little bigger. Then I had to drill out the threads on the top of the engine block to make my plate work. My adapter plate doesn't use the split pins, it is instead threaded so that I put a bolt in from each side. Worked really well and went very smooth even by myself. Engine bolted together ready to drop it in. Good shot of the adapter plate and the bolts threaded into it. Kinda had to put it in crooked to get it all to fit. It is in!!!! (mostly) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilson87 Posted July 17, 2009 Author Share Posted July 17, 2009 (edited) Also forgot to mention my flywheel. About $70 to get it re-drilled and re-surfaced. The guy at DD machining did a great job. Here are a few pics. Flywheel put in, few fingerprints but it was clean before putting the clutch in. Here is my lack of impact gun way to torque the bolts. Dutch oven lid lifter held between PP bolts to hold the flywheel in place as i use my Harbor Freight breaker bar to get things tight. Edited July 18, 2009 by gwilson87 Picture wasn't showing up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.