88HatchMonster

Hey, I wouldn't mind seeing a few clear pictures of your actual wiring. Everyone says it's easy, but the wiring aspect of the EJ swap has me pretty intimidated, especially after looking at the latest pics in this thread... :-\

Hi, I'm doing an EJ18 swap from an 94 impreza with an auto tranny into an 88 hatch. Does anyone know what extra steps I'm going to have to take to wire the thing in since I pulled from an auto tranny car? Would it be easier just to get a computer from a manual tranny car? Thanks in advance.

Around $65 for a 94ish subaru, and around $115 for a 98ish subaru.

I just picked up my aluminum for the plate today. They had a scrap lying around just the right size that they were calling 1/2" I took it home and measured it - exactly 12mm thick! So that's cool. I also bought out Lowe's supply of thick metal cutting jigsaw blades. $40 worth. (I'll return the packs I don't use. Just didn't want to run out) Now to finally pull the EJ motor...

yup, I'm pretty familiar with the whole procedure at this point, I'm going off of Subarino's post and pictures mainly as well as info from the handful of other folks who have done the same swap. I'm actually going to pick up the aluminum for the adapter plate and a couple of packs of jigsaw blades this afternoon.

OK, sounds good, thanks a lot

Hi, my personal EJ swap project keeps on getting downgraded, but I am actually gonna do it so I guess that's all that matters... what started as EJ22 +5 spd D/R in my hatch has turned into EJ18 + regular 4spd D/R. My plan now is to get it going and upgrade later...but anyway my question is: does anyone know if the EA81 Flywheel will work with the EJ18? The hatch is an 88 so I'm pretty sure it is the bigger of the two EA81 flywheel varieties (clutch measures approx. 9") Of course I know about the bolt hole milling necessary to match up the EA82 flywheel to the EJ series motor. Would it most likely be the same deal for my flywheel? I guess I will be finding the answer for myself when I pull the EJ motor (soon) but a little heads-up would be good it terms of procuring necessary parts. Also, does anyone know of any better clutch/pressure plate options than OEM for that tranny that might help with the extra HP?

Hi, more questions on EJ into EA swapping, about the adapter plate thickness: All I can locate in my area is 1/2" aluminum. The best known conversion was done by Subarino with an adapter plate made from 12mm aluminum. I can have a machine shop bring the 1/2" down to exactly 12mm, but is it worth it? We are talking .7mm difference here I believe, and I just read a post that says the mudrat plate is made up of two 1/4" peices. The perfectionist in me says get it sanded to 12mm, but maybe it's totally unecessary. Opinions? Thanks

Thanks for the info, Chilton's is is then. Yes the EJ18 is a peppy little motor, can't wait to see how it's gonna skoot my hatch around.

Hey all, I've got my 94 impreza with it's EJ18 waiting patiently to hop in my old hatchback, and I was wondering what the best source for an accurate wiring diagram would be. I know many swappers have recommended the $20 diagram from Kennedy Adapters, but that is specifically for 90-94 legacy's. Any opinions on whether or not there would be any discrepancies? Other than that, which aftermarket repair manual has the best and most accurate wiring diagrams for that model and year? I wouldn't mind having a decent repair manual for that engine anyway. Thanks

Thanks for the info

Hi, I have two EA81 hatches and I'm going to be getting a free 94 impreza soon with (I'm guessing) an EJ18 in it. My question is: If I go throught the whole process of swapping the EJ18 into one of my hatches, at a later time would I be able to just swap in an EJ22 long block? Would I be able to use the same manifolds and wiring harness etc.? Would I just have to swap in the EJ22 computer? Thanks

I live in Mineville, NY about an hour South of Plattsburgh. I also went to college at Plattsburgh State. It's a nice little city, with a unique blend of redneck and more liberal culture (P-burgh has a Republican Mayor, who also happens to be openly gay...go figure ) So anyway, welcome, and good luck. I hope you end up liking it here. Lots of Subes, mostly newer ones (watch the rust, it's a killer up here). oh, and BTW, The big Subie dealership/service specialist in P-Burgh is Bill McBride's but I've found their mechanical work to be less than stellar and always overpriced, and they tend to not stand behind their work. After I quit them, I got a brake job and some other work done at the Midas place near the mall and they seemed really decent...

You will need more studs. You can get some off a JY subie or you can pop out all of your studs (after you've lined up and marked the new holes, of course) and buy all new replacement studs for bigger truck lugnuts. That's what I did, might be like $30 bucks or so for a set of brand new studs I don't remember, might be a little more. Front and rear disc hubs are a little harder to do than the rear drums because the backs are not flat, you will have to grind them level to make the four new studs go in all the way. A drill press is a necessity. A drill press vice also helps too. Buy a fresh new drill bit for the job too. I did mine a long time ago in about half an hour and they worked but they were all off at angles and they looked pretty stupid, so a couple of months ago I redid mine with a new set of hubs and it took me about 2 hours per hub making sure they stayed perfectly lined up and that the holes went in perpendicular... I'm sure a lot of other people could do it a lot faster and still do a good job, but I'm certainly no pro machinist so... Hope this helps. It is kind of an involved little job, but not too hard to do all in all. Good luck!

I hear that. Mine is technically not running as it is unregistered and currently sitting in my garage on blocks waiting for much needed rust repair. I've only seen 3 running hatches up here in NY/VT in the past 5 years and all but one of those have since disapeared off of my radar... Yours looks cherry to my eyes, let us know how the floor repair goes, I've got a lot of that to do myself. Good Luck!

If it still runs fine, chain or strap it to a big tree and slowly back it up in reverse. Have a friend watch so that you don't go too far. Do it in small incriments and check some reference measurents from a non-wrecked impreza as you go. Thats how I fixed my old hatch back in the day. Maybe not quite perfect, but good 'nuff. Have an alignment done and you're good to go. This is probably worth doing even if you plan on welding in a new rad support panel as you will want to make sure your frame rails are back where they belong before you try fitting a new panel. As far as needing to be level, my "good 'nuff" approach is just to consider in what direction the bent panel needs to go to get back to stock and angle your chain or strap accordingly, just don't go overboard as a little angle is usually all you need to remind the metal where to go. Be careful and good luck!

Will that lil' winch pull my hatch out of 3' of mud? The price seems too low for it to be any good, but I have no experience with winches, so I wouldn't know. It is cute though, I would probably buy two if it could pull my little hatch out of the tough spots!

nice cup holders

It's not a stupid idea. You could lift it and then convert it to 4WD when you can get the money. As for the steering shaft, just cut it in half and extend it with a section of thick wall tubing. Search around the forum for more info. Good Luck!

Looks like forester rims and tires maybe?

I originally asked the question because I am contemplating an EJ22 swap into my lifted hatch. I just wanted to weigh all of the options. If I do the swap I will get a 5 spd d/r now that I know it has a slightly better crawl ratio. Might as well if I'm going to do all of the rest of the work involved in the EJ-EA swap. I've got my eye on 4 early legacy's in backyards all along my commute to work through northern NY and VT! I just gotta save $200-$250 or so and get up the nerve to knock on some doors...

Front control arms are weak where they bend to bolt to the crossmember. The radius rods coming off of the control arms are week to. I've pretzeled both just running into things with the front tires. I welded a piece of 1 1/4" square tube over the length of the radius rod. I also welded a piece of square tube inside the control arm and plated the bottom with 1/8" steel. It's total overkill but at least I don't have to worry about that little weak point anymore Replacement EA81 control arms are getting scarce where I am. I'm sure you could get away with just plating the bottom of the control arm, that would help a lot.

Is it possible to do an EJ22 swap in to an EA81 utilizing the EA81 4spd d/r tranny rather than converting to an EA82 5spd d/r? If it is possible, would this be a dumb idea or not?

I ground mine down with a dremel but that took too long so I got a pack of grinding stones for my air die grinder and that method was a little quicker. I'm sure a drill would have worked fine too. It's just to get the LSD into the case so it doesn't have to be perfect. I got the seals, o-rings, roll pins for the axles, and a gasket for the rear cover from my subaru dealer. I was gonna get aftermarket stuff but I wasn't sure I would be gettting the right thing so I just went to the dealer. The gasket was a special order and I'm expecting that any day now so I can finish the job. Do you have the special torx socket for the stub axle bolts? I've heard you can use a 5/16" socket or something like that but I didn't want to risk it so I ordered the stupid expensive snap-on one cuz I couldn't find it anywhere else. Stock up on brake clean spray and use it liberally to clean parts and clear grindings from the case. 3 out of 4 of my stub axles were seized to my cvs so be prepared to deal with that if you get rust where you live. I had to pop my wheel halfshafts out with axles still attatched and build a contraption to press them off, it was a nightmare and penetrating oil sure didn't help! But that's upstate NY for ya... Oh yeah I also broke off four of the side retainer bolts taking it apart, so don't be like me, heat 'em up if they don't come easy. My LSD has 150K on it too, but I hear they are tough... Props again to Qman too, I would have had no idea what to do without your article either. So Thanks! I will really be thanking you when I finally try it out in my car though

Hi Kudd, Thanks for the info on the yards, I'll definately be looking into them in the near future. I'm actually right in Essex County, Mineville to be exact. It is a terrible commute but a good job that I just started. I'm going to look at a place in Jericho Center this friday (or maybe tomorrow on lunch...) I actually love it where I live now but it is a ridiculous commute, so looks like I'm going to be a Vermonter. Seeya around! Ryan