the easiest way to do it is have a whole donor car. The price of investment towards such a roject hinges entirely on the cost of said donor car, ersus buying things individually for $$$ and still not having all the parts yet.

 

if you have the donor and the recipient cars side by side, start playing legos with them.

 

Cost will be determined by if you can do the work yourself or not, such as chopping the wiring harness and drilling the flywheel.

 

key thing here is to get a whole car for parts, give or take transmissions and suspension, so long as the engine and harness are there and everything to it to make it run.

im going to say ej it also.. before a few days ago i wouldn't had said that.

 

i just finished a motor swap on a 99 outback and i gotta say ej's are thousands of times better.. there wasnt a single bolt that was a pain to get to and the intake come off with all the wires and sensors. im blown away.(my first ej)

 

i definitely plan on building a frankenmotor for my 91 loyale..

 

 

here in alaska the subaru is our state car (not really but it shoud be)

you cant go more than 2 minutes without seeing an ea82. first gen legos can be had under 300 with a bad clutch, tranny, or timing belt.

 

1 hr from here theres a yard with 400+ 85-12 subarus.

 

 

copart.com <<thats the best way to get cheap cars.

like this 97 outback. when alls said and done it could be had for at most $400.

http://www.copart.com/c2/car_auction_search_results.html?_eventId=getLot&execution=e1s2&lotId=14620882&returnPage=SEARCH_RESULTS

or this 97 legacy brighton..

http://www.copart.com/c2/car_auction_search_results.html?_eventId=getLot&execution=e1s5&lotId=14385022&returnPage=SEARCH_RESULTS

 

 

 

can you say donor?..

Edited May 4, 201213 yr by AKghandi

Not necessarily true, actually. Timing jumped does not mean damage. I've seen more than a few jump a teeth or 3 without damage. After the Ziptie Rally roll in 2009, both cams on the driver's side had jumped, the exhaust cam almost 90 degrees!! Reset (with a new belt), and it fired right up, no damage at all. Still running those heads!

 

Ok, that is good to know - perhaps my fear of "interference" motors is somewhat unfounded...

 

getting back to the topic at hand tho...

 

I agree with Miles - get a whole car for a donor, that way you have EVERYTHING you will possibly need for a swap. And with just a little bit of hunting, they can be found cheaply - one that has been rear-ended, or mildly T-boned would be a great donor car for an engine swap.

 

for that matter, a little bit of searching can often come up with a running/driving car for just a few hundred. My current daily driver - 90 Legacy LS wagon - was purchased for $200 - had blown air struts and a trashed exhaust as result of those blown struts - swapped in standard coil-overs, fixed the exhaust and down the road we go - that was 4 years ago.

If I was gonna EJ swap a GL, and not use it for offroading. I'd probably swap the EJ transmission as well. Weld up a custom crossmember, and the custom driveline would most likely come out cheaper than an adapter plate and flywheel. You have more clutch choices, gearing choices, and the EJ tranny is better. You get AWD. The 2wd/4wd bothers me on the street.

 

But that's just MY personal opinion on how a swapped street car should be done.

Copart is a Great Website, my Wife won an auction there and She bring a Car from USA to Honduras Successfully, just using internet.

 

If I was gonna EJ swap a GL, and not use it for offroading. I'd probably swap the EJ transmission as well. Weld up a custom crossmember, and the custom driveline would most likely come out cheaper than an adapter plate and flywheel. ... But that's just MY personal opinion on how a swapped street car should be done.

 

That is the Way Hondurans (and Latin Americans) does their Swaps... Using the Entire Parts from the Donor car...

 

I've seen that many times, always with great results.

 

But You'll need to Swap other things from the the EJ Donor Car, such like Hubs & Brakes to use its Axles... etc.

 

Kind Regards.

Copart is a Great Website, my Wife won an auction there and She bring a Car from USA to Honduras Successfully, just using internet.

 

 

 

That is the Way Hondurans (and Latin Americans) does their Swaps... Using the Entire Parts from the Donor car...

 

I've seen that many times, always with great results.

 

But You'll need to Swap other things from the the EJ Donor Car, such like Hubs & Brakes to use its Axles... etc.

 

Kind Regards.

 

You can make hybrid axles to keep the ea hubs.