Hey guys,

I am thinking about taking on an EJ22 to EJ20T heart transplant for my 99 OBS, had a few questions:

 MY OBS has the 5 speed MT

 

1) what years of WRX with EJ20T should I look for?

 

2) What all components do I need to take from other car: brakes, ECM, harness, exhaust, etc (not looking to change dash)?

 

3) what should I absolutely avoid in the process? (tips/tricks)

 

4) Should I keep my "glas trans" or should I grab the WRX tranny and rear end to match the gears too?

 

 

Thanks everyone.

 

this is a killer forum. Cheers.

step one- learn what these designations mean: EJ20G, EJ20R, EJ20H, EJ20K, EJ205, EJ207

The transmission in your car is really no weaker than any 02-03 WRX transmission. They supposedly got a little stronger after that though. But there are plenty of people running regular Impreza transmissions in their turbo swapped cars. But if you plan on building it to have more power, then think about upgrading the trans as well. You need the motor, and everything associated, as well as the wiring harness at the least. You need to have the harness merged with yours. Upgrading the brakes would be a good idea with upping the power level!

the harness merge will be the most complicated, difficult part of the swap.

 

do you have to pass emissions where you live? this will affect the engine management choices you have

Thanks "shesaid",

 

I live in Cali so yeah i have to pass emissions, which really shouldn't be too much of an issue if I grab the engine out of another car that passed here in cali- so long as it doesn't throw a CEL the levels will be within state spec.

 

"step one- learn what these designations mean: EJ20G, EJ20R, EJ20H, EJ20K, EJ205, EJ207"

- know of a good resource to find spec info on these? I just ran a search but only came across posts that were tagged because of problems rather than an engine spec resource.

 

The brakes for sure will get grabbed. I'm not going to be building a crazy tuned car by any means, just hate the lack of punch on the uphills going snowboarding or having to pass multiple slow trucks on the highways out here. Needs a little more rump roast when I hit the gas!

 

Edited March 21, 201412 yr by poolskaterpt

those are the turbocharged 2.0 engines sold in cars outside the US market. you wanna look at which options best suit your needs/finances. the 20H and 20R are twin turbo, so they're less popular.

 

NASIOC has a ton of build threads. run some searches over there.

oh, man. I just realized you never mentioned buying a Jap clip and swapping it. If you mean using USDM parts, you're golden. sorry - my head was up my butt. Get a wrecked 02-05 WRX and swap away! emissions won't be a problem

She said,

Yeah that's my plan is to grab the full long block, harness etc off of USDM smashed WRX.

 

So will the harness still pose quite a challenge or were you thinking of JDM to US splice being such a pain?

She said,

Yeah that's my plan is to grab the full long block, harness etc off of USDM smashed WRX.

 

So will the harness still pose quite a challenge or were you thinking of JDM to US splice being such a pain?

either way, it's a lot of work. merging harnesses is a PITA. if you google "WRX swap" you'll find tons of build threads from many different forums that can help you see what it looks like. lots of these guys take great care to document and photograph every step of the process.

Shesaid,

 

I was on basic searching last night and came across tons of build threads.

 

One in particular caught my eye involving swapping 2.5L dual port heads onto the 2.2L making the EJ22 approx 2.35L and allowing the bolt on of the WRX exhaust system including turbo unit with top mounted intercooler. No harness swap required and posters said they did not have to swap engine management systems due to slight decrease in compression with the 2.5 heads allowing up to 6lbs boost with no worries.

 

Your thoughts?