Numbchux

This is something that a member of RS25.com posted over there, and I found it very inspiring, and thought I'd share: I know we’ve all been there at one point; we hate our cars because it takes so much to turn it in to something that it’s not. We spend so much time, effort and money to replicate our favorite version Impreza, or make it our own, and all we get are head aches and empty bank accounts. (Garrett ‘poormansporsche’ knows exactly what I’m talking about.) The unexpected break downs, receiving the wrong parts, the bloody knuckles, the waiting for the container to arrive from Japan, the dirt and rust ridden undercarriage, the bolts that are so tight you’d swear someone welded them in place, it all takes a toll. Then there is the discouragement of those that bought faster, better built, newer Imprezas that always seem to pass us on the long straight at the track or squeeze out those extra tenths of a second while auto-crossing. “Those bastards! Once I swap my VX WRX/STI/RA motor I’ll be faster…” We’ve all been there. Some traded up because they’re sick of it or lost hope. One day it finally sunk in, despite the persistent resistance, “My RS/L/Brighton/Wagon/OBS is an inferior chassis.” Finally they succumb. “I’ll always love and miss my RS,” they say, “but a swap just wasn’t possible so I bought a WRX.” Threads like this pop up all the time and responses are mixed. Some look at it rationally and congratulate them on their new purchase while others label them as traitors, half joking but sometimes not. Despite the surprisingly successful “Fanboyism” thread there are still those that claim they’ll never sell, never leave the cult. They have pride that is easily mistaken as arrogance but they have the right! Their car paved the way for later models, for the WRC, made Subaru what it is today! I am one of the forsaken. The challenge and cost were too large for me. I wanted my car to be turbocharged. I wanted a stronger transmission. I wanted a quicker ratio steering rack. I wanted less compliant suspension bushings. I wanted larger sway bars. I wanted coilovers. The wants continued to build and so did the costs, to intimidating amounts. Then rationality set in. “Why should I spend all this money to make my intended econo-box as good as a STi?” That’s when my will was broken and hope was lost. That’s when I put my Impreza Wagon up for sale. Fast forward three months and there I am, a grin that looks to be splitting my face in half surfaces as I turn the key and start my new-to-me 2005 STi. The interior is ten times better! The sound of the exhaust is menacing! Good God, look at that hood scoop! It’s a sensory overload and I haven’t even let out the clutch and began moving. The initial drive signs the papers, finalizes the terms and agreement, stakes it’s claim; that face separating grin is here to stay. The ride is firm and tight like a car that is meant to be on a race track should feel. The handling is confidence inspiring to the point that I thought my chest was going to break the seat belt. Oh my, the power orgasmic! “I’m glad I decided to upgrade.” I say, not knowing that I’d be sitting here three months later contemplating whether I should keep my beloved STi or go back to the will breaking, money draining, soul rending state of owning a project car that I thought was once a lost cause. Everyone I talk to about this conundrum reacts the same way. “You just bought it!” “It’s everything you wanted!” “Tim, you make no sense.” I’ve heard it all before. The problem is that all the fun of the STi came too easily. I made a few phone calls and signed some paperwork then it was all mine. That was it. I don’t appreciate the crisp steering as much as I would if I installed those Whiteline steering rack bushings myself. I’m not as proud of the instantaneous power as I would have been if I had spent hours upon hours merging wiring harnesses and finessing that beefy turbocharged 2.5L motor in to an empty engine bay. I don’t appreciate the years of engineering put in to this car, the time spent testing it off the beaten path as much as I should. I don’t appreciate the blood, sweat and tears put in to this car because they are not my own. As the saying goes, “Without the bitter the sweet wouldn’t be as sweet.” I am a DIY Guy that likes to do things the hard way. I’ll end with a few encouraging words to those still struggling, those with their vision still vivid and full of hope. Don’t quit. Never stop. You are a unique breed that have ban together here to share your knowledge, gather information, ask for help, and whore your projects. Without you sites like this would diminish and the moral of the Subaru community surely would follow. You are the building blocks, the back bone of automotive enthusiasts and it should be known. You and your projects serve a high purpose than only your personal enjoyment, they are inspiring. One day I will rejoin you with another project car of my own. Until then, I salute you. original thread here: http://www.rs25.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61226

boy, that's an awefully open-ended question. but...it's got a rather simple answer. since you didn't mention a budget, an EJ22k...350bhp from the factory. but, good luck finding one. only available in the 22b, only a handful made, and never imported into the US. my point? this is an extremely common question, and everyone wants an easy answer. but there isn't one. fact is, the answer isn't the same for everyone. each person wants a slightly different final result from their car, and each person has a different budget, and different skills. where it might make more sense for one man to buy a motor to put out the power he wants, it would make more sense for a different man to build one for less money to the same specs, because he has the experience and equipment to do it himself. we can't tell you exactly what combination will meet your needs best, but tell us more about your situation, and we can give recommendations. give us an idea as to your budget, skills, timeframe, and desires, and we'll help as best we can.

I've had problems with my power window functionality on all 4 EA82s I've owned. and all were solved by cleaning the contacts in the switches. I just use soap, water, and a small screwdriver....

My buddy keeps telling me I'm brand loyal (btw, he's got 3 cars, a lifted jeep, a 'stang for the track, and an '86 GL wagon for DD.....), and I just tell him I'll buy anything with the low CG and perfect balance of a horizontally opposed motor, longitudinal engine/tranny, symmetrical AWD/4WD, amazing reliability, offroad capability, etc. etc. etc. etc. huh....looks like I eliminated pretty much everything else on the planet. I did own an '84 Audi 4000S Quattro for a month or so in high school. similar car to drive, and had a pretty impressive following, but man were parts hard to find. then I got into the subarus. now I've made a switch to Toyota for my offroading. and I think GD hit the nail on the head as to why.....parts for older soobs are almost impossible to come by in this part of the world. they've all rusted out and been crushed by now (or they're owners love them too much to part with them). junkyards have a loyale, and 35 legacies. And most of the wheeling in this part of the world is rocks. solid axles and lockers are king. making jeeps the rig of choice.

torsion bar = more travel....

EA82s are not interference....but, if the driver's side belt breaks, the car will not run (disty is run off that side)

that's easily possible on any soob. just need extremely unequal length headers. there are a few aftermarket options for the EJ N/A motors, and you could pretty easily fabricate some for the EA82.

they are. phase II EJ22's didn't start until '99, but the phase I's were interference starting in 1997. yes, borla makes headers for them, but they're rather rare. and there aren't any cheap immitations (which typically don't have the cracking problems that the genuine borla ones do).

dual port EJ22e + borla headers and custom 2-2.25" exhaust all the way back with a nice resonator and a straight through muffler (magnaflow or similar). or do what I did, gut both cats, leave off the muffler, and rock it stock there's a dairy queen right next door to the Domino's where I work. on warm days there's easily 15-20 people standing outside the DQ. when I open it up to jump out into traffic EVERY one of them stops what they're doing and watches me go by.

well, waterproofing precautions will have to be taken in either case....neither option would really be much easier. a carbed setup will have a disty....I could never keep those damn things dry on my EA82s.

well, it all depends on what you want out of it. and there are many of us who have taken slightly different routes (although I believe the OBD I EJ22e with an RX trans behind it is probably the most common), and all of us love what we got. the simplest/cheapest option is an OBD I EJ22e from a Legacy. the OBD I wiring is slightly simpler than OBD II, and early legacies can be had for virtually no investment. best sleeper? EJ257 and a GT40R...I think 500+awhp in a loyale would qualify. again, the engine management route depends on what you want out of the whole setup. if you intend to keep it close to stock, use the stock management, aftermarket will probably mean quite a bit of work tuning, and some sacrifices in driveability.

yep, and the important part from the post above: "the smallest plug (should be 2 pins tall by 4 long) are ALL grounds. this was part of the problem with my origional install. I saw these grounds, but could not find that connector (my donor legacy had only 2 plugs). I later got another copy of the wiring diagrams, that looked identical, except when referring to these plugs. this diagram only had the 2 plugs, and showed the same ground wire cluster to go through the larger of the 2 plugs. instead of a plug of their own."

I was in a similar predicament about 4 years ago. had this '92 3AT FWD Loyale that came from Florida (virtually rust free), and had begun to replace it with 4WD EA82s. started with the POS Iowa '85, which almost broke in half, then the 2 lifted ones. then I used the parts from the '85, along with the motor from my mom's former daily driver ('92 legacy), among a few other parts, to make what really is my dream subie. But, when the original opportunity presented itself, I couldn't afford to take on the project. my parents wanted me to just sell it before it turned into total junk. but I refused. leaving it sitting in the yard beside the garage for years. until last summer. What was my first car, and earned the nickname P.O.S.U.V., turned into the FrankenWagon, and one of the sweetest, and most famous EA82s in the state! long story short. keep him, keep your eye out for a rusted out D/R GL for virtually nothing (4WD conversion parts), strip that and then look for a Legacy EJ donor. accumulate parts, and even more knowhow, and when you're ready, you'll be able to make Bucky into everything you've ever dreamed. One of my favorite things, is when people at work ask me how many miles are on the car, and I reply, "well, just rolled over 183k on the body, so it's rather young. The motor's going on 250k, and the tranny had about 200 before it was pulled from it's original car, and was in someone else's wagon for 30-40k before I put it in mine." it really says a lot about how much you care for the car, and how much you're willing to do to keep it alive.

no numbers....but I've seen them side by side, the valves in the single port heads are noticeably different. I'll look around on NASIOC and the like for any documented differences.

yea, that's about right :cool: there's a crossing at the iron range orv park that's got nice hardback ground under it that's a lot of fun. not really challenging, but entertaining, and no worries doing it alone.

What makes you say that? I've got my 22e bolted to an RX trans via an adapter plate. and love it to death. only dissapointment is the lack of on-street traction devices (but I intend to drop a front LSD in there before too long).

yep, Phase II didn't start until '99 it'll have single port heads too (higher flow than dual port, but fewer aftermarket exhaust options).

bingo! And the only way to truly take advantage of a closed deck motor (i.e. the only reason to cough up the cash) is with a full build, hundreds of dollars just in machine-shop costs, pistons, rods, WRX heads, standalone EM, etc. etc. etc. AND, the power to weight ratio of an EJ22e-swapped EA car is probably pretty comparable to a Tleg. if you're going to start with a better power plant, you might as well start with an EJ20G or the like (which a few people have done)

yep, and it's just the SHAPE of the pistons that's different (for lower compression ratio). not the composition. AND, there are so many people doing crazy huge builds on the 22t that it's pretty easy to get your hands on some used pistons from one to drop into your 22e to drop the compression. I bet your EA82 trans would hold up to 200hp pretty easily as long as you don't abuse the crap out of it. in fact, as far as I've been able to tell, they didn't change the internals of the trannies from EA82s to your basic EJ 5MT. just the center diff, front pinion gear, and assorted gear ratios. be a little gentle, and run scotty's cocktail in it, and you'll be fine. as for the adapter plates, check out http://www.mroseusa.com

I may have found just such an application......hopefully my junkyard run this afternoon will be successful. more details to come :-p

btw, 22t and WRX trannies use a hydraulic clutch. which means in order to use one, you'll need some UBER fabrication to make it work. pedal box, cutting a hole in the firewall, mounting a clutch master cylinder. YIKES!!!! YES, the N/A tranny will hold up to the extra power. just keep the rotating mass stock (no lightweight/underdrive pullies, no lightweight flywheel). I've got a buddy with a EJ20g putting down 320awhp through a '96 impreza L 5-speed. it all depends on how you drive it. if you shock it alot, you'll rip teeth off. I wasn't suggesting using a 4EAT, only that that setup put down that much power through one (ATs rob quite a bit of power). 22ts are overrated and over priced. if you're willing to put some time, effort and research into your build, you can get just as much power out of an N/A motor, for a fraction of the cost. I say get an adapter plate and an XT6 pressure plate, and use your tranny (it's FT4WD right?)

obviously....but if there wasn't mud involved, the extraction wouldn't have been such an ordeal. I love water crossings. as long as there's pretty solid ground underneath it, and the water is rather clean. I'm not pointing the finger of blame. I've had my fair share of damage extracting buddies rigs who did something stupid. I've also told a few people that there's no way I'm destroying my rig because they got in over their head.

couple things to keep in mind. the use of a lightweight flywheel will put more shock on your tranny. keep stock weight rotating mass, and it'll be gentler on the tranny gears. I've worked on a couple Turbo'd EJ22e's. one was a '96 impreza L with a PP6 piggyback ECU, with a TD04 pushing 5 psi, and 22t injecters. it put down about 135 awhp through a 4EAT and a 12:1 AFR at the top end (with a better tune should have hit 150). the other being a '97 L with a TD04, WRX TMIC, 22t injectors, and a manual boost controller. ZERO management mods. he daily drives it at 8-9 psi, and has turned it up as high as 14. and he beats the crap out of it. he's put easily 20k miles on it that way. both with 100% stock EJ22e bottom ends. within the next 6-8 months I intend to push about 5 psi of boost through mine. and to hook up a wideband O2 sensor and an AFR gauge to see how well the stock ECU compensates. I'll probably upgrade to a PP6 soon after. the hard part is management. the biggest investment will be the ECU and harness. or you'll need some sort of tuneable Management, which will involve a sacrifice in driveability. in the long run, this is a question probably better fitted for a newer gen forum (NASIOC, RS25, legacy central, SL-i etc.).

only EA82 rev limiter is the weak valve springs.....valve float comes at about 7k (depending on the condition of yours, my '85 would hit about 6800, both '88s could break 7k, and my '92 loyale could hit 7200).

I haven't heard of anything like that...but when we did my buddies car, we put a T fitting on the oil pressure sender, and then he welded a port right onto the oil pan for the return. and then he used the heater core lines for coolant.