EA81 to EJ22 Swap: 1982 Subaru Brat

[SaltyMike]

Hello everyone,

Long time no see! This is the first post that I have made in a while and I have now owned my '82 Brat for over a year. Since then I had completed a Weber 32/36 carburetor conversion along with several other smaller projects. Now, as winter in the northeast approaches, I am looking to start a new project with my Brat for next summer: swapping out the stock EA81 with its 4spd manual to an EJ22 and 5spd. 

From doing some research on the forums here, I realize that this is a fairly common swap for these vehicles which means there are many threads related to the subject, however I was wondering if anyone can recommend a handful of the best threads on this swap so I can narrow down the amount of information that I need to look at here on the forums. I will be completely honest in that this would be the largest project I have yet to take on and can use any advice I can get.

One thing I've realized in researching this topic is that I need to recognize my limitations, needs, and goals surrounding it. This Brat is not my daily driver and simply a fun weekend vehicle. I will not be driving it at all during the winter months, so I do not need to rely on it for daily transportation. My goal for this project is to have a Brat retrofitted with a drivetrain that will give it enough power to drive more comfortable with modern traffic and be reliable. Ideally, I would like to do a swap that will require as little custom work (rear end modifications, suspension modifications, etc.) as possible besides the new engine and transmission. I will not be doing any serious off-roading, just taking it out for weekend cruises. 

It sounds like a good start to this project besides doing research is getting a donor car with all of the needed parts rather than sourcing each part separately. With this being said, what parts would I need from the donor car besides the engine, transmission, and wiring? As I said, any advice is appreciated. Thank you.  

[Steptoe's photos]

Buckets of money, bandaids and a swear jar. Lucky for you the US also got EJ22 in the Impreza. Here in Australia we need to rely on early Libertys known to you as Legacy. Very thin on the ground here. The most common conversion seems to be not use the EJ gearbox , yet the 4 speed box may take gentle power from the EJ, most also seem to go for EA82 5 speed 4WD boxes. Then you have gifted people able to shove EJ gearboxes in and work, many seem not to be vibration free when using a custom single piece tailshaft. Use a two piece tail shaft you need to succesfully fit a centre bearing support bracket. With my non EJ conversions in EA81 bodies , using EA82 5 speed 4WD boxes, I found the best cross member piece to use is the 1978-1982 Mazda 626 - the last of the rear wheel drive mid size Mazda - they have this great centre bearing cross member that looks factory when bolted up under the floor of an EA81 body. Some welding mods required to mount centre bearing