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roll call for EJ into EA swaps


Snowman
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Okay, so who has put an EJ engine into their old EA subaru? I know this swap is becoming very popular these days, and having done it myself, I know why.

 

Please share your specs, stories, and pictures here, and maybe we could compile all the data into a "FAQ" thread and sticky it here, like has been done in the offroad forum. Please include what kind of car it is, what engine you put in, what transmission you are using, and what adaptations had to be made to cooling systems, exhaust systems, etc.

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I have an 86 GL10 wagon with:

 

No engine (EJ22 awaiting major tuneup), RX transmission & LSD, kevlar clutch disc, HD pressure plate, newer radiator, 2.5" open exhaust with perf. muffler.

 

5-lug conversion using 1990 Legacy FWD axles, knuckles, XT6 other parts. Also have 5 "revolver" legacy wheels for it to wear.

 

4" PK/BYB lift kit installed except for the strut extensions... have to wait till the engine's in so the car is heavy enough to jack the suspension together.

 

New KYB GR2s (RX rear, Legacy w/ WRX springs in the front) and new brakes all the way around PLUS my super sick stainless steel brake lines, lengthened to compensate for the lift. I can see that you're impressed :D

 

19mm RX sway bar in front, 20mm XT6 sway bar in the rear, XT6 seats in the cabin. Remanufactured XT4 power steering rack.

 

left to install are the toyota tube bumper, the wiring, the rebuilt heater plenum, then after it's running, an analog dash conversion, 2 secret mods, and tailgate lock/handle, screened windows, and more 12v outlets in the rear for camping... After that I will sell the brat and purchase a propane conversion for the wagon!

 

 

Here are pictures of my newly-finished EA/EJ adapter plate. I have yet to plane the outer surface smooth and I need to install its helicoils tomorrow morning.

 

hm, pics in a bit...

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Well, seeing as i have 1.5 EJ-EA cars, i'm in a unique postion, where i know what it looks like, and have the parts of 2 cars apart that upon installation i can take pictures of what people may find important, those that know what will be important, and what those that are contemplating the swap see as important.

 

Basically mine boil down to:

 

1994 Legacy 2.2 4EAT into a 1980 GL 1600 with EA-82 5spd DR

 

This one is a squirrel's nest, once i get the 88 swap running i'll be cleaning this one up a fair bit, which should give me enough experience to know rather quickly what is necessary and what is not.

 

Future mod's to this vehicle, which I feel are aplicable to the swap are the installation of an RX transmission with the 4.11 final drive (apparantly not easy but possible) and the "real" dual range 1.59 I feel that with only 2wd this setup gets the front tires spinning real easy, if this is for a non offroader, i'd reccomend the 5mt from the engine donor vehicle, with EA-82 turbo axles. however the RX has the added benifit of a center locking diff, which would give you the added traction on road so you don't roast your front tires, and also give you the real traction that only 4WD can provide.

 

one i'm about to complete

 

1991 Legacy 2.2 5MT into a 1988 DL SPFI with GL 5spd DR

 

This may also get a RX transmission, but the EA-82 is a heavier car, and on this one i have larger tires than on the ''water wagon'' so i believe peeling out will be harder in this vehicle.

 

 

CLIFF NOTES

 

Tell me what you want pictures of during the build and i'll be sure to get them. When this post gets resurected in june 2006, i'm sorry but its too late.

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I'm putting an EJ motor into an '88 EA81 Hatchback.

 

The hatch has a custom 4" body lift, running 6-lugs and 29" Swamper TSLs.

 

The EJ motor will be a combination of a 2.2 block from a '93 Legacy and 1.8 heads from a '94 Impreza. That combo should give me about an 11:1 compression ratio. I will be using the 1.8 intake, wiring harness, ECU and y-pipe.

 

I'm going to mate the EJ to the stock 4spd D/R from the hatch. I personally believe it to be just as hardy as the vaunted 5spd D/R, but the clutch may be a different story. We'll see. I know someone on the board is running a 4spd with a 150hp+ ER27 with no problems, so I am optimistic.

 

I've finished building my own 1/2" aluminum EJ to EA adapter plate. I haven't modified my flywheel yet, but that should be a cinch. I've stripped and rewired the EJ harness.

 

I will be using the stock hatchback radiator with one or two fans on the front side behind the grille wired in reverse. I will be running an EA81 Oil pressure sender plumbed with adapters up the ying yang and an EA81 Temp sensor mounted in either the top radiator outlet or in a section of pipe that will split/adapt the top radiator hose.

 

Old EA81 is pulled. EJ18 is pulled. Still need to pull the EJ22 and swap heads.

 

The big stupid annoying thing I'm waiting on now is the completion of major rust surgery on the shell of a body I've got with the engine/tranny out and most of the running gear off. The NY winters have taken their toll on the hatch, but it's not terminal. I just can't put the whole project back together without fixing the whole floor, tunnel cargo area, etc. and making sure it never rusts again. So that puts a kink in my fun, but it will be great to take care of that once and for all...

 

Here are some pics. I, too would be happy to take picture requests as it's going along...

 

Finished adapter plate on EJ18

EJplate01.JPG

 

In-progress pic of 1/4" plywood template showing impression taken from engine bell housing, notice the reference print-out of Subarino's plate on the left...

EJplatetemplate01.JPG

 

Here's all the wiring you need:

EJharness01.JPG

 

Here's all the wiring you don't need:

EJchassisharness01.JPG

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I used a scroll saw and 5 or 6 jigsaw blades to cut my adapter plate

 

 

 

adapterplatewithengine7ix.jpg[/img][/url]

 

Those top 4 holes were just helicoiled tonight. I was going to buy bolts too but the hardware store didn't have the right length. Now it occurs to me that maybe I should thread in some studs? I think bolts would be better...

Also, after cutting mine to match the profile of the engine, i would instead endorse other people to cut theirs with a more generic and broad shape such as hatchmonster's, pictured above. It would also leave more metal around all 6 of the major holes. Cutting it to the exact shape is much more time consuming and it is difficult to cut it satisfactorily straight. If I ever make another adapter plate I won't do it the same way I did this one.

 

...

 

I'm looking forward to installing these:

 

stainlesssteelbrakelinesbaby9g.jpg

 

Stainless steel braided, teflon cored brake lines (+30 HP!)

 

Also, I got this rooftop cargo box for free. I may paint it black.

 

cargobox8ng.jpg

 

That's the wagon's heater disassembled all over the top of it. It'll go back together quickly after i get another particular part out of a junkyard car's heater (the door with the vinyl-covered foam).

 

I hope to have it towed into my garage next week. I'm getting shelves for all the crap in there so there's room for the car.

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Well i havent posted much on the board for the last 2 years but my 84 brat is getting an EJ swap but all i have to say is that it will be faster then a new WRX :brow: YES IT RUNS !!!!!!!!!

I think this it the first EJ20T swap in to a EA81 car other then the Ausie's well correct me if im wrong , i know its the only one in the west coast of Canada , its year in the works and hope it will be finished this spring . Its a 2002 WRX Engine,5speed tranny rear diff. and ECU, XT6 5bolt hubs+brakes front and rear,WRX master cyl. + hydrolic clutch, custom CV axels, drive shaft and sway bars, WRX custom peddle set , custrom fuel tank + pump , custom alu. rad with pusher fans, K&N filter 3inch SS exhost with down pipe no cats. estamate 300HP at the crank in a car that has half the bulk of a new sti 478100_0515-med.JPG

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1986 tan wagon, ej22 from impreza, wiring from legacy, had to swap throttle bodies for the right (4-wire) throttle pos. sensor, used gi-joes flexible radiator hoses, wired two fans in reverse and put in front of radiator, using stock radiator, using EA82 flywheel machined by mudrat, and using XT6 clutch kit mated to the infamous 5 speed D/R. ecu and stuff is behind glove box. i vote for heli coiling studs INTO the adapter plate,if you use aluminum. if i had to do it again, adapter plate would be made from steel, not aluminum, too much of a pain to cut, and i paid to have mine cut by a farm with a plasma cutter, steel is way easier to cut. the wiring i would do first, instead of last, especialy since its getting to be winter time, but that didnt stop me form being in the shop till 3 a.m. on 30 degree nights......note........

 

 

 

find the exhaust manifold that goes with whatever EJ motor oyu use, and make or buy a 2'' or 2.25'' exhaust for it, i didnt, and i can feel the motor out of breathe above 4k.......not good. AND!!! if oyu get the accord rear spring mod like i did, cut the damn springs, even if you get the kind like me, the ones i got were only 3/4'' longer than stock, but twice as stiff, back end only drops like an inch when car weight is on tires, take 2'' off springs, trust me. now i have to pay to get the springs off and on the struts...AGAIN!!!

 

 

 

~Josh~

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4199New_lights.jpg

1986 White and Mat Black Wonder Brumby,

EJ22 from a 1993 Liberty wagon,

All LPG. No fuel system connected.

Distributor ignition.

 

No framerail modifications at all,

19mm Portside and 32mm clearance on the starboard side.

Standard EA81 Crossmember

(it dropped right in the middle of the slotted holes),

 

L series (EA82) rectangular engine mounts,

(you need 4, cut, weld and extend 4 into 2 top plates)

 

Standard radiator with new larger nipples soldered on at radical angles.

EA81 A/C fan behind radiator on thermoswitch and over-ride.

Will look at forward fans as well in the summer I think.

 

Steel adapter plate by Rising Sun

RX flywheel machined by Rising Sun

RX Clutch kit and pressure plate

RX DR fulltime box with diff lock

3.700 LSD

3" BYB lift.

I cut the header plates (my personal touch)

and had the pipes bent on, around the skid plate mounts.

 

I am also looking at the EJ18 head swap,

LPG LOVES HIGH COMPRESSION MOTORS.

 

I need every scrap of power, to run the alternator, to run the 600+ watts of lights!:brow:

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1979 Brat,

 

4 generations of subaru:

1979 brat: body, radiator, moustach bar

1981 wagon: Entire running gear+ea81 power steering rack

1987 wagon: 3.90 5 spd D/R, welded rear (LSD for the street)

1987 T-wagon: Rear discs, LSD, fuel pump.

1989 XT6: Flywheel, clutch pack

1994 Legacy MI, 2.2 N/A+harness (250k mi, wrapps out like a dream)

 

Mudrat adaptor plate, flywheel, six-lug, skidplate, 3" lift, rust repair.

 

Other mods: one piece driveline, 2" straight pipe exhaust w/expansion chamber & thrush muffler. Frenched the frame rails to clear the motor with the body lift, custom radius rods, powersteering lines.

 

Car is an absolute blast to drive, soo much torque,

recent problems: blew out some old fuel line recently, fixed that, then I tore the tranny mounts clear out of the body, picture captive nuts not so captive anymore. there was a little rust down there, but I've not been nice to the car, a possibly weak spot, I know of others that have done the same thing on lifted rigs. So I'll be welding in some 1/8 angle iron when time allows.

 

there's some pics in my gallery

-N

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Most know that i have done this conversion. Im over here in Australia with one of only a few Hatch backs. Car is an 83 Hatch with an ej22 engine. Gear box is an ea82 dual range 3.9 ratio box. Adapter plate is 12mm thick ally and done the same way as most are doing them now.

 

Most recently mods are... upgrading the exhaust to a 2.5 inch with a straight through ultra flow muffler and a resignator. Exhaust headers were changed to different length pipes with the cat removed. Sounds much meaner than before.

 

Also have recently got a 3.9 LSD rear diff (clutch pack type) and turbo disk rear brakes. These have been 2 very good mods that i recomend if you can find the parts.

 

I could fill this page with the rest of my mods but i better keep it short.

 

I am more than pleased with the performance gain i have got from the engine conversion and highly recomend it. It's good to see several people making there own adapter plates and realising it's not as hard as it looks.

 

I have a lot of pics both of the conversion and of recent pics of my car that i update often. Link is http://community.webshots.com/user/subarino

 

Dave

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Okay, so who has put an EJ engine into their old EA subaru? I know this swap is becoming very popular these days, and having done it myself, I know why.

 

Please share your specs, stories, and pictures here, and maybe we could compile all the data into a "FAQ" thread and sticky it here, like has been done in the offroad forum. Please include what kind of car it is, what engine you put in, what transmission you are using, and what adaptations had to be made to cooling systems, exhaust systems, etc.

 

why would one do this?

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Okay, so who has put an EJ engine into their old EA subaru? I know this swap is becoming very popular these days, and having done it myself, I know why.

 

Please share your specs, stories, and pictures here, and maybe we could compile all the data into a "FAQ" thread and sticky it here, like has been done in the offroad forum. Please include what kind of car it is, what engine you put in, what transmission you are using, and what adaptations had to be made to cooling systems, exhaust systems, etc.

I'm still in the process of installing the complete drivetrain from my daughter's '95 Impreza into the chassis of an '84 Turbo 2dr hardtop that has already been made into a Brat/convertible. The hardest part of this is the relocation of the Impreza suspension to BOLT up to the '84. It's a 2.2 EJ with AWD automatic and I'll be using all of the Impreza wiring harnesses and computers. Gary in Cleveland
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