I found a 05 forester in really good condition but the engine is blown... I have a 96 legacy L sedan with a 2.2l that runs like a dream but the body is not exactly inspectable... I'm wondering if I could swap the 2.2 into the forester without too much of an issue? I've never done an engine swap on a subi but have plenty of engine swap experience on a variety of vehicles. Thank you all ahead of time for any useful insight.

You’ll need to use the forester heads and intake on the EJ22 block. 

Plug and play doing this from my understanding. If the foz was an EJ251 you’ll be down on power. A properly maintained EJ251 is a great engine in my book, almost up there with the EJ22. 

Thinking about it you might have an EJ253, someone will know for sure. 

Cheers 

Bennie

2 hours ago, el_freddo said:

You’ll need to use the forester heads and intake on the EJ22 block. 

Plug and play doing this from my understanding. If the foz was an EJ251 you’ll be down on power. A properly maintained EJ251 is a great engine in my book, almost up there with the EJ22. 

Thinking about it you might have an EJ253, someone will know for sure. 

Cheers 

Bennie

Yah I had an 03 forester that I loved. Mabey I'll look for another engine to put in and leave my Ole reliable 96 alone. Always risky buying an engine not knowing what it came out of and what it sounded like when it was running. Any advice? What should a decent ej25 go for anyway? See them priced all over the place. What should I look for? Thanks again for the info.

yes, the 05 will be a 253 - have one sitting in our yard as a parts car

also have an 04 that is being driven.. it is a 251