carfreak85

Dude seriously, people have been talking about EJ swaps into EA81s non-stop lately. Do a search and all will be forgiven.

Yes she does.

If I hadn't just picked up a turbo coupe, my situation would be a little better. I have two runners, the turbo wagon and the stock hatch. The lifted hatch and the t-coupe are non-runners. The only one that drives at the moment is the hatch since the wagon developed a MASSIVE exhaust leak right before the turbo... But that will get fixed and then I'll update my post.

Wow, one on topic post.... Thanks Eric, I'll try to fab something up. I might lift the wagon, but not really offroad it. I was just wondering what others do about their turbos.

For those with lifted turbos, I have a question. How does the car respond to water crossings? I might pop a lift on my turbo wagon and that concerned me.

There isn't much love for these engines, but I'll post here when mine blows up, hahaha!

I hear the front springs off of an 88 honda accord are stiffer and will give you a little more lift if installed in the rear.

Thanks guys! I don't have my FSMs up here, so I can't check out any specs until I get home. What are your opinions for trannys? I haven't decided if I should throw in a 4 speed just to get the auto out of the car, or if I should actually spend the time welding the cross member/shifters for the 5 speed. What do you think?

Got my order in!

I'm probably going to have to do this swap again soon, but there is one thing I'm not sure about. If I use a 4 speed tranny, how long should the drive shaft be? What if I use a 5 speed? This is a turbo coupe, so it is 4wd. Has anyone else swapped a manual into a 4wd coupe?

When you go to check it out could you tell me the general condition of things? I might need some parts off it.

:slobber: WOW! Thats going to be a sweet engine! Any plans for head work?

, but still, how can your car count!?!? Its like pitting Zeus against a baby!!!:-p

Sorry if I sounded harsh. I should have said that taking advantage of an inexpensive use of a dyno can unlock horsepower by showing potentially ineffective areas such as a lean condition or perhaps a drop in the curves that might be caused by a bad spark plug, etc. A dyno is a powerful tool in safely maximizing hp that might be hidden with simple dash read outs and seat-of-the-pants dyno. I'm trying to build a turbo project car on a student's budget, but a dyno is in the future for my wagon.

Isn't this the guy who was bashing dynos and getting numbers in another thread? Why not just go to a group dyno day, spend the $45 or whatever the group rate is and get a couple of baseline pulls so if someone asks, "What kind of power are you making?" or "What do your REAL A/Fs look like at 7500 rpm?" you can do what WJM has done time and again and throw some HARD data their way instead of, "Well it might be making xxxhp and xxxlb/ft, but I really have no clue what it makes or what its doing at that rpm". Sorry for the rant, no harm or offense intended. Oh, and Sport Compact Car is a kick a$$ rag, don't diss. [/soapbox]

I plan on dynoing my car and yes I am poor, but there are ways around that. Dyno days are a great opportunity to get on the dyno cheaply. Also, if anyone in the Seattle area needs an all wheel dyno, my friend works at a shop that just opened up Kito Auto Sport in Freemont. http://www.kitoautosport.com/

I wish I could have pulled the turbo, but all I had was a ratchet with 5 sockets and an adjustable wrench. :-\

I'll put my hat in for the EA81 crowd. I don't think my car is as fast as Ken's at the moment, but the new header and turbo are going on soon and that will make up the difference.

Just came across this post and thought I'd finish it up by saying that I eventually had to replace the molded hose and find heat wrap to replace the coolant hose that runs directly below the turbo. I never want to change that hose again!

I have heard about a single turbo sedan existing somewhere in Seattle. There may have been a way to order the car from the factory like the original Z28 option, but they were never officially offered for sale.

Just get the heads and intake manifold extrude honed. That will help the breathing a lot, turbo or not.

I sold a set of white ones to Nuclear Bacon a while ago. If interested ask him since I know he was trying to sell them.

What would you say the difficult parts of the swap are? I know the engine mounts are close and the wiring is a pain, but what problems did you run into?

Do you think at some point you could do a write up on your car? I really like the professional approach you take to all the modification and fabrication. I also want to do this swap on one of my EA81s, so a complete guide to the swap would be awesome.

I don't know where it went, but there used to be a sticky thread somewhere that had answers to just about any off road question you might have. Unfortunatly only three companies in the U.S. make lifts for subarus. If your shop could order a kit from the manufacturer then Im sure that you could get it for a reasonalbe price. Also look at the group buy post in the vendor forum.