Engine Swaps

[bigjim5551212]

So, I am new to Subarus. I am an expert at Datsuns and Weber Carbs. So, my question is, can a person bolt in a newer Subie motor into an old car ie 2.5 motor from later Impreza into EA motored cars

[NoahDL88]

short answer, yes

 

long answer well, no not if you want an easy swap. its been done but its best to swap drivetrains, i.e. engine tranny and rear diff. all the wiring needs to come from the new engine, which is the hard part, making it fit is easy, making it run is about as easy as finding your keys in a snowbank. its been done enought that most of the kinks have been worked out, i plan on doing the swap soon, 2-3 years away, do a search to see if any threads have given the particulars.

[archemitis]

best part about getting an ej to run, is you can buy a wiring diagram, drawn up specifically for that swap. its actualy for a vw vanagon. kennedy is the name of the company, that should make things a world easier.

[MilesFox]

i got an ej22 in my 87 wagon. just got it in, not running yet

 

you will either have to find or make a custom adapter plate to fit the ea82 tranny, since there are no aftermarkwet ones that i can think of

 

if your car is turbo with a 5spd or full time auto 25 spline axles, then you can swap an ej series motor WITH TRANS, you may have to make a custom mount, but i THINK that xt6 mounts MAY fit an ej tranny to the ea body. look into that one

[Dr. RX]

Fox, the rear cross member on the XT6 tranny mount needs to be narrowed to fit an EA body.

[MilesFox]

corky, i tried to mount my 5spd crossmember from the xt6 into my wagon. the front half lined up, but the rear half was too wide. i would have liked to use this, if i could either narrow the rear half, adapt the stock piece, or make a custom piece.

 

i noticed the tranny mounts themselves are farther back than normal, would those be in the same location as the ej tranny?

but the holes were there for the ea82 normal mounts, it would have been cool to drill holes to mount them to the front half of the xt6 crossmember.

 

but i ended up using the crossmember and mounts from my previous tranny

 

anyway, enlighten us to how you mounted the ej trans in the ULTIMATE RX

[Dr. RX]

You have to narrow the rear piece like I did for Ultimate RX. As you know Fox, the XT6 tranny mount is three main pieces, all bolting together, you need to narrow the rear piece, while maintaining the center portion of the rear piece as well as maintaining the correct height. I wish I would have taken a picture of it before and after, but I was in too much of a hurry.

[MilesFox]

i may consider narrowing the xt piece, or making my own, because i dont trust the way my existing mounts line up(i cant get ine bolt in, 3/8" adapter offset) but i can live with that till i get it running.

 

but if i do that, it would be much stronger, and if i dio so, i will use also the regular mounts to drill thru the front xt crossmember

 

i dont have a ptch bar with this setup, and the trans i have is missing one. Tom still has the mount, so i will use the xt dogbone on the trans for a pitch bar, when i can get the bracket from tom