Greetings.

 

Still doing research on engine transplants for a gen 1 (1978) Brat. I know SOHC motors will require notching, and although many say it cannot be done, I know for a fact that it has, so "someone" has done the research on exactly how much needs to be cut out of the framerails to squeeze a DOHC Subie engine into a gen 1 brat.

 

With that..... does anyone have any pictures of the modifications done to the framerails to accomodate said engine transplants? Any additional info / descriptions / explanations / measurements / etc are greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

It has been done, I seen it in person. I think the person who did it was billybobgoatboy here on the board, i think that is his user name, something along those lines. His is a sweet ride, so talk to him if you can. Should be pretty self explanitory, cut frame where the motor hits, fab up a box from some 12 gauge or so sheet metal and weld it in where you cut the frame. Boom, done. Proceed to install EJ powerplant.

-Bill

I know Zefy on here has dropped a DOHC EJ25 into his gen 1 Brat. He'd be the man to get ahold of.

This is not my BRAT. I just like to save interesting car images and remembered that I came across this one on here a few months ago. Hope this helps.

 

 

^^^ Nice.

 

You wouldn't happen to have larger copies of those pics would you?? Looking to REALLY closely examine exactly what was done..... kinda hard to see those.

 

I do appreciate it though.... thats EXACTLY what I'm looking for.

Hi,

 

I have an 1981 brat with an ej22 in it. Attached are two photos of the drivers side subframe. I took these pictures earlier this year. I could not get a good picture of the passenger side with the engine in. These are not the best but I hope they help some. Also attached are photos of the engine in place.

 

 

 

 

Awesome..... thank you.

 

It's hard to tell..... is there any part of the back side of the head tapping on the frame? It looks REALLY close......

 

Also, did you have to make any modifications to the mounts? Or was it simply a drop-in affair once the framerails were cut? I'm 100% serious about using a twin-turbo JDM legacy motor in my Brat. Just want to make sure I do ALL the research beforehand.

 

Sorry... newb here (to this forum).... I know I might have found this with a search..... but I've just been told that a DOHC motor will not fit under any circumstances, kinda got tired of hearing it, you know?

Edited December 16, 200817 yr by ninefourteener

Oh also Lumpycam has a EJ25 in his Gen 1, ran low 15's in the 1/4 mile too, running RWD.

-Bill

Awesome..... thank you.

 

It's hard to tell..... is there any part of the back side of the head tapping on the frame? It looks REALLY close......

 

Also, did you have to make any modifications to the mounts? Or was it simply a drop-in affair once the framerails were cut? I'm 100% serious about using a twin-turbo JDM legacy motor in my Brat. Just want to make sure I do ALL the research beforehand.

 

Sorry... newb here (to this forum).... I know I might have found this with a search..... but I've just been told that a DOHC motor will not fit under any circumstances, kinda got tired of hearing it, you know?

 

I can't remember what exactly it is, but I seem to recall that, on left hand drive cars, there is something that gets in the way of the second turbo. That'll be something to look into as well.

Awesome..... thank you.

 

It's hard to tell..... is there any part of the back side of the head tapping on the frame? It looks REALLY close......

 

Also, did you have to make any modifications to the mounts? Or was it simply a drop-in affair once the framerails were cut? I'm 100% serious about using a twin-turbo JDM legacy motor in my Brat. Just want to make sure I do ALL the research beforehand.

 

Sorry... newb here (to this forum).... I know I might have found this with a search..... but I've just been told that a DOHC motor will not fit under any circumstances, kinda got tired of hearing it, you know?

 

It is hard to tell from the pictures. The head is above the bottom of the frame and would clear it had to go lower. I left the bottom piece of the frame so I could keep the front bolt of the engine cross member. For the motor mounts I mounted a plate on the cross member to match the angle of the motor mounts and slotted the original motor mount holes wider.

The brake booster gets in the way of the second turbo and even though it'd be pretty sweet, there's really no gain from a twin turbo setup.

 

 

I was planning on making a EA81TT for my old '79 wagon and figured out how to do it but there was still a bunch I'd have to do with making it work right.

Does it get in the way of the turbo..... or of the downpipe?

 

The reason I wanted to go with that particular motor is primarily because you just don't see them very often. The "rareness - cool" factor... thats all.

 

With that though.... that's good info.... that's why I'm here.... make my mistakes now.... before it costs a lot of $$ to learn the hard way.

It is hard to tell from the pictures. The head is above the bottom of the frame and would clear it had to go lower. I left the bottom piece of the frame so I could keep the front bolt of the engine cross member. For the motor mounts I mounted a plate on the cross member to match the angle of the motor mounts and slotted the original motor mount holes wider.

 

I must admit, I'm pretty interested in your setup... not just the placement of the DOHC, but your choice of transmissions, rear diff, and how you were able to mate them (axles) up with what appears (based on your avatar) to be the stock hubs/wheels.

 

Do you have about 20,000 hours of custom metal fabrication in that thing... or did the drivetrain work out with very little "issues"??

I must admit, I'm pretty interested in your setup... not just the placement of the DOHC, but your choice of transmissions, rear diff, and how you were able to mate them (axles) up with what appears (based on your avatar) to be the stock hubs/wheels.

 

Do you have about 20,000 hours of custom metal fabrication in that thing... or did the drivetrain work out with very little "issues"??

 

My EJ22 is a SOHC motor. Not sure if or how much wider the DOHC motor is. The drivetrain is the stock drivetrain for now. I just used an adapter plate to mate them. The 1981 GL brats had the dual range 4-speed transmission so I was able to do that. Your brat should have the single range transmission which is set up different than mine. When my transmission stops working I am going to put in an EJ AWD or an RX awd transmission. I did a little write up on my brat on the old forum, so the pictures are not there. Here is the link:

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=88632&highlight=1981+brat

Ahh... ok, I wasn;t aware that you had the dual range drivetrain.... that makes a lot of sense.

 

Still researching what will work/fit.

 

Thanks for the info!

Does it get in the way of the turbo..... or of the downpipe?

 

The reason I wanted to go with that particular motor is primarily because you just don't see them very often. The "rareness - cool" factor... thats all.

 

With that though.... that's good info.... that's why I'm here.... make my mistakes now.... before it costs a lot of $$ to learn the hard way.

 

all of the above. turbo, uppipe, and downpipe, all take up space currently occupied by brake booster, shift linkage, and clutch master (if applicable). with some substantial modification, you could relocate the second turbo to be more friendly....but, as mentioned, the amount of work shows very little gains. it's a ton of fabrication for an overly complicated motor with comparable power numbers to single turbo motors of similar generation.

 

 

now, if you've got yourself a RHD postal legacy.....go for it. in any other situation....don't. the extra bucks to purchase an EJ20G verses an H is worth it.

Yea... you're right. It'd be cool, but not worth all the fabrication, just for a "cool" motor. I'll keep an eye out for a good motor/tranny out of a wrecked WRX.

 

Obviously the rear diff will have to match....Still need to research exactly what I'm going to do about the stubs though.... even if I converted to a WRX hub/brake assembly, the stubs would be too long... and I think the splines on the stock stubs won't match up with a WRX tranny and rear diff. I think I read somewhere there's a 16 vs. 18 spline difference?

 

Oh yea... and then there's the issue of squeezing a DOHC motor into a gen1 brat... still looking for detailed pics of exactly what, and how much, was cut out of the frame.

Obviously the rear diff will have to match....Still need to research exactly what I'm going to do about the stubs though.... even if I converted to a WRX hub/brake assembly, the stubs would be too long... and I think the splines on the stock stubs won't match up with a WRX tranny and rear diff. I think I read somewhere there's a 16 vs. 18 spline difference?

 

go ahead and put the idea of putting WRX suspension in the back of a brat out of your mind. would be an insane amount of fabrication to get it to work right.....and if you can do that, move to the UK and get a job at ProDrive!!

 

in all seriousness. a wrx rear diff is an R160, just like a gen 1 brat rear diff. all you have to do is put the wrx inner DOJ cups on the brat shafts (will probably take an adapter race...but very doable!).

Hi.Here's a link to some pics of a wrx rear end in a brumby/brat not a gen 1 though. Anythings possible.

http://www.ausubaru.com/coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=94

 

Luckily with subaru you can mix and match shafts ,cups ,ball and race etc and get something to work.

I'd like to go ahead and revive this thread..... perhaps anyone has pics or useful info on a DOHC EJ swap into a Gen 1 Brat? I know it's been done... I don't think anyone that's done it has read this thread though

The first pics on the thread are of my 79 brat, those pics are deciving, there is a 3" block lift on the x member in with that 2.2, so the motor is sitting very low. framerails were cut and 2x2" 1/4" wall square tube was sleeved in and boxed. My dohc 2.2t would fit in easy, but I don't want to mod the suspension to Handle that much power, too much fab time for a front heavy lifted brat, albeit badass...

 

If I was to do it again on a gen 1, I'd get the motor/trans, and just mock it up, cut it and box it, get a jdm half cut or a usdm wrx wreck, forget about the new school suspension unless your really bored and worry about getting it to run proper first. There was a beautiful forest green gen 1 wrx brat in NZ...

 

 

I'm never on this site,

fallingoats at gmail