Hello Guys! I'm new to Subaru's and finally made the buy. I have been with little honda's my whole life but the last pothole was the final straw. I have a cosmetically great 1999 Forester L 5-spd with 150k and leaky head gaskets and needing timing belt and water pump done. I am considering just going with a wrx swap right way, i dont need the power of an sti. I got the car for a good deal because of the work needed so i have a good budget. A few people i know have been trying to say that i should find a 02-08 usdm wrx salvaged out to get everything i need. Being a honda guy I say jdm swap, well in the land of subaru this is not so easy.. In fact it seems like any way i do this swap it will be in the 2k labor range and ether 3-4k for a salvaged wrx here. And im not sure where to find a good jdm dealer. And the wiring, oh lord have mercy the wiring. I know this is above my head. I could do the little with honda's converting to obd1 and tuning on crome but that's all. I guess my question here is, Is there anybody here that has a swap forester of this gen that can shed some light on the options? i dont know where to turn to. Is there a good jdm engine source? aka Hmotors in the honda world I am thinking of having the swap done by David Wrey Auto in Buffalo, anyone else have good/bad experances by them? Thanks everyone for helping the noob. dauph
Hello Everyone, I am happy to be here, I am a newbie here. Hope I can get more updates/news about new car models here. And I wish to have one this year for my family. Irvin
Mike Wray (at David Wray) will take good care of you. That guy can swap Subarus in his sleep....and likely does. As far as motors are concerned, JDM really isn't all that great at this point. Not to say they aren't nice motors. But the 2.5L EJ257 block is going to have a torque advantage which is great for daily driving. Those can be found in any 06-08 WRX, 04+ STi, Legacy GT from 2005 on, or a Forester XT. They will all have some version of the 2.5L turbo motor. There's honestly no reason to go sourcing JDM motors at that point. 02-05 2.0L turbo blocks from the WRX. With a spread like that, you should easily be able to find a turbo motor to toss in your car.
Oh and IMO you should just start with the 2.5, the 2.0 is REALLY hit and miss, some burn valves, and some spin rod bearings, some do both right after being rebuilt. Here is your game-plan: Purchase a wrecked 06+ wrx or sti, swap your forester, dont use mobile 1, change oil often, and get a good tune.
+1 for going right to STI. But you aren't going to find anyone to do your swap for you for only 2k...I'd say just do your research, get a totalled STI and a good garage and do the swap yourself. It's legos, you can figure it out. A good friend of mine and I swapped an STI into a bugeye in 2 weeks. There was some fine tunin after that, but it sat on the ground and drove in two weeks. Plus we were both working full time...but that's just my .02. Or don't do a swap and buy a working WRX or STI and save yourself alot of hassel. Because you will inherit what ever is wrong with the WRX or STI that was totalled. And it could be alot! But it's do-able. Plenty of info on Nasioc (not here) and you just have to sort through the bull ****. And welcome by the way!
