I found a great old friend I'd lost contact with and after talking about cars for a while he said he had an Impreza I could have for free. Being that I'm a huge Subaru fan but never even owned one, I had to take him up on the offer. It's ugly but it's mine and it's a Subaru! Needs: EJ22 rebuilt or replaced (crank bearings burned up, I think), bumper, hood, front left fender, grill, core support, front left turn signal, a lot of body work, and a manual transmission conversion. I noticed the "FWD" fuse block up on the top left corner of the engine bay, I've been reading that will make the auto run in just FWD mode. That's pretty interesting, I'll be doing a lot of research, and maybe this will be a nice car for the track someday when I've got some more money!!:biggrin:
Nice find! That car has a ton of potential. You are correct to a point that the FWD use will make the car FWD. That fuse is supposed to be used in the event that you get a flat tire or other event where you do not want the rear wheels connected to the driveline. By putting the fuse in the holder it will supply power (or is it disconnect power, I forget which) to the center clutch pack essentially making the car front wheel drive. The manual says to go only a very short distance like this. There is speculation whether the clutch pack is fully disengaged or is just "slipping" if it is just slipping it would result in increased where on the clutch plates. enough talk about techy stuff though. This car would be great on the track. a 5 or 6 speed transmission and a turbo/EG33 swap would make it a real monster.
Wow, thanks for the responses guys. And dynapar, you don't have to hold back the tech talk I love it! As for the swaps, I would absolutely love to do either a turbo converted EJ22, USDM WRX EJ20 or even that EG33. I've been been reading some of the threads on the EG33 swap, it looks damn cool. I've got to get it running for a while first, but the 5 speed swap could be happening soon. I'll need to take some more time to figure out the details and how much work it would be. Any directions you guys can point me in?
you might find some one on here with a spare 5mt. but if not, check your local junk yards. you might get lucky and come across one for an ok price.
Well if you are interested in the EG33, this would be a good place to look. http://mnsubaru.com/forums/showthread.php/38256-Project-3.3RS As for the 5spd swap my bit of advice is plan ahead. A 10 yr old transmission from a legacy might work behind a naturally aspirated 2.2l, but if you switch to something a little more powerful there will be issues. Subaru 5 speeds are known to be pretty fragile, over the past few years they have become much better with stronger gears and what not. Just something to be aware of while you are figuring out what you want to get/do to the car.
Thanks for the advice, that 3.3 RS looks like its gonna be a lot of fun. I think the 5 speed would just be until the car gets swapped for something far more interesting. If I found one of the newer and stronger 5spd's for a good price would that more than likely work easily and well with the 2.2, or are there major compatibility issues? It would be really nice to have a good transmission now, and still have the possibility of using it for a future swap too.
yes they are, i noticed mine already is having some issues. Now i'm unsure if its the clutch or not, but i'm leaning towards the trans itself. oh and just so you know i took that approach, 5spd swap, turbo'd the 2.2. I also may have a bunch of parts you could use for your swap, since i have double of some parts. (5spd swap anyways) and from what i understand, you shouldn't have any issues using newer or older trans. Just need to match the rear diff to the final drive of your trans.
Thanks idget but sorry, it's a 96. But I'm open to swaps in general, so let me know if there's anything else you're interested in. EDIT: oh, wait, you were asking if I wanted a hood right? Does the RS hood only work on 97 and newer GC's? As for the rear diff, I'm definitely going to have to pay attention to that. And thanks errorcode3, I'll definitely have to contact you in the future for parts when I get moving on the swap.
So I'm moving forward now with work on this car. So far, I've been cleaning it up. My buddy just picked up a new front left fender for it (old one, you can see in the pics but it was in pretty bad shape and it was the wrong color). I just figured out what was causing the rear passenger side tire to get flat (valve stem). And I'm working on getting a new engine! Thanks to everyone for the help in my other threads and PM's!
if we ever meet up, ill take that fender off your hands so don't throw it away. It looks bent up but at least doesn't have rust like mine..a bfh will do wonders..
The one I took off isn't in the pictures, it's green has quite a few dents and a fair bit of at least surface rust but I'll hold on to it for you.
So here's that fender I took off, and also the new(er) EJ22E I picked up in Iowa in the back of my Aerio SX, which will hopefully become my old car if all goes to plan with this GC.
Did you check to see what style heads are on your donor motor? You may be looking for a different exhaust manifold if the new motor has dual port, as the 2.2 in your car is a single port engine.
Nice pick-up! Tim and I just got a '95 LX AWD Coupe. It needs a 5-speed swap as well as new brakes, CV axles, and tires/wheels. Ours is Agean Blue and has a pretty good rust spot and dent on the passenger side. Looking forward to seeing your progress!
Yeah the replacement motor is from a 96 as well, and it has single exhaust ports. (I didn't think of that but it would have been a good idea before I went and picked the engine up LOL )
Cool! I would actually have preferred a coupe or even more preferred a wagon but the price is right!! HAHA
So here's some pics of the engine dirty, then the hoses taped up and the clean(er) engine afterwords. View attachment 22294 View attachment 22293 View attachment 22295 View attachment 22292
Here's a pic from a day ago when I was removing all of the accessories and most hoses and lines to the engine I'm pulling out of the car, the above engine is a replacement. View attachment 22395
a couple more update pics (two of the engine bay with more stuff removed prepping for the install, then one of the replacement engine-need to probably replace the timing belt and maybe the water pump while I've got it opened up) View attachment 22404 View attachment 22405 View attachment 22406 Do you guys think I should remove the intake so I can get good access to the torque converter access plug? Otherwise I might be able to loosen up the bolts from the bottom.
There is no need to take the intake off to get to the bolts, there is an access hole, and with the right socket combo you're in business.
oh ok, thanks, do i need a low profile socket and wrench? I'll check and see if my regular sized ones fit.
So I finally got that engine out, the other engine in, bolted connected, plumbed, and now we just need to get the radiator back in and the fuel lines replaced and we're going to fire it up friday. I'll try to post some pics soon. BTW, AWDimprezaL, I love that avatar too! Just saw the second TPB movie, "count down to liquor day", loved it!
It's ALIVE!!! It runs, I couldn't believe it. I figured that it would start.......on fire. But it didn't and it does have a ton of lifter noise but the bottom sounds fine and I need a new starter, used the old hammer trick to make it turn over. BTW, anyone want an EJ22 with a bad bottom end? The intake, which I took off, is in pretty darn good shape. Here are some pics after we got it running. View attachment 23464 View attachment 23465 I'll see if I can convert the 1080 video to youtube and post it for you to see and hear, maybe the lifter noise is more concerning than I think right now. But it's common that these can make a bunch of lifter noise and still be OK, right?
