91 EJ22 Power

[Sam_Subaru]

So, what is there that I can do to a 1991 Legacy Wagon to give it more... power... MUCH more lol

 

I dont know much about the wagon Im after, but I know its a 1991 Legacy LS Wagon. Has the EJ22 in it, but is there anything I can do to get a little more power to the wheels?

 

I wanted to see if I could swap an EJ25 in it but all I hear is that they have CONSTANT problems and I dont want that.

[GeneralDisorder]

Best bang for the buck is replaceing the short block with a 2.5. That's going to up the compression and displacement. Somewhere around 180 to 200 HP. It's basically a head gasket job but substituting the 2.5 short block for the 2.2. They actually don't have many problems - most are due to head gasket failure or a direct result of overheating from same. If you get a good used short block and you use the EJ25D updated MLS gaskets you can be pretty dang sure that the next failure isn't going to be the head gaskets.

 

Otherwise - not much you can do other than replace the cams and port/polish the heads on a 2.2. You could get more torque out of it but not much more HP. The heads don't flow real well and porting doesn't help much. There's just not much room for improvement.

 

The general rule is that NA power is expensive. You are talking about cams/porting, changing displacement or compression. More air and more fuel. Unlike turbo's where you can just increase the pressure at which the engine operates and force more fuel and air in, you have only 14.7 psi to work with at sea level on an NA engine and without changing the displacement or optimizing air flow there's not much you can do. Expect every 10 HP to cost you $500 and you should see where this goes and quick.....

 

You can setup a turbo on it (probably cost around $2k to $3k all said and done) and boost it to about 5 psi safely. You will end up around 200 HP. But the cost is high and the daily driveability goes in the toilet as the mileage is really poor. The extra fuel required to keep it cool under boost will cost you big on MPG. My factory 2.2 turbo gets about 15 to 16 MPG because I can't keep my foot out of it.

 

And besides that an LS is going to be an automatic - yet another strike against it in the performance department.

 

My sugestion - love it for what it is - an economical, safe station wagon. Don't try to make the poor thing into a race car - it's not going to be what you hope and you won't like the price. All said and done you would be easily into the cost of a used WRX. What you need, if you want that body style to be fast, is to sell the LS and get a Turbo Touring Wagon ('92 to '94). That has potential. What you have does not.

 

GD

Edited September 7, 2010 by GeneralDisorder

[92_rugby_subie]

Well darn

 

That means that my 91 EJ22 wont have much power either...

 

How much does the EJ25D head replacement cost?

 

How much power will my stock EJ22 Legacy have? I believe mines just an Legacy L?

[92_rugby_subie]

PS I feel like Im stalking you Sam, we keep posting in the same things... GET OUTTA MY HEAD

[GeneralDisorder]

EJ22 Phase I is 135 HP.

 

EJ25D is 165 HP (same as the stock EJ22T).

 

EJ25D short block + EJ22E heads + Delta cams = (in other words we have no real idea but it sure is fun!). Probably about 180 HP give or take. The torque is outragous though. Somewhere between about 10.8:1 and 11.5:1 depending on the math and head gaskets you use. High compression and big displacment makes the power.

 

Cost is dependant on what you pay for the EJ25 shorty. renob123 bought a late 90's 2.5 RS short block from a NASIOC member for $200 - had 90k on it and was pulled for an STi swap. Add in the cost of the head work (valve grind, resurface, stem seals, etc) at $160, cams for $160, head gaskets and seals for $150, and then you have to figure a t-belt kit + WP for $125.... that's about $800 plus misc. fluids, etc. Depends on what kind of deal you get on the short block really. And assuming you do all your own work of course.

 

It's a monster though and it's the sort of thing that will smoke clutches and smash tranny gears if you aren't careful. It could easily do a number on a used first-gen 5MT if you aren't careful with the power. Strip the gear teeth right off or blow the bearings in short order. It's got gobs of torque with the Delta cams.

 

GD

Edited September 7, 2010 by GeneralDisorder

[GeneralDisorder]

Well darn

 

That means that my 91 EJ22 wont have much power either...

 

Here's the unromantic truth my friend:

 

You are 18 and you don't need that kind of power. The stock EJ22 is perfectly fine for most anything you need to do (like commuting or getting to school, etc).

 

You would just get in serious trouble with a Frankenmotor. And if you didn't - then you didn't really need it to begin with .

 

Wait till you are older to get tickets for going over 100 on I-205 (I might be speaking from experience :-\).

 

Seriously - you haven't even driven one yet and you are claiming it's not powerful enough. Trust me it's considerably more powerful than an EA81. And I drive one of those daily and routinely border on driving like a maniac despite having ~80 HP. My turbo sedan is freakin loony by comparison and yes it's gotten me in trouble a number of times. Take it from someone that's driven some pretty stupid-fast machines - you are better off taking it easy on the street with a nice, sane daily and going to a track to try out some big power.

 

Try on something your size first. Don't be the guy at the drug store buying the Magnum sized trojans and a baggie of rubber bands to keep em on with.

 

GD

Edited September 7, 2010 by GeneralDisorder

[Suba9792]

"try" to find a EJ22T, and do the swap, then ditch the turbo and find a TD04 from a WRX, I was told they are basically a direct fit, thats what my buddy did and WOW! a beast, he did it in a legacy sedan I think a 92, he then found a SS hood at a yard, how I have no idea. But doing the hybrid build works great, at least I have heard good things about it, GD is the guy you want for advice on that one. He had his legacy on a dyno @ 221HP

[Suba9792]

you will probably get fairly sqiurrly with it, so building a beast engine would be a waste of time, I had a 68 camaro rs when I was 18 with a 383 stroker, 3 tickets 1 85 in a 55,92 in a 55, and 75 in a 55, not too fast but enough to get a ticket in the safety corridor over Mt.Hood, then I totaled in due to young person error, downshifted to 2nd @ 60mph when I meant to go to 3rd and bam into the ditch and a tree, car destroyed and broken collar bone. I learned my lesson very quickly.

[92_rugby_subie]

I understand... My thirst for power and loudness comes from first two vehicles:

 

I had a 1968 Buick Skylark Custom with a 350 V8 with 289 hp, dug holes in my dirt driveway and my 2nd favorite sport (next to Rugby) Honda hunting!

Also had a 1991 Chevy S10 with a V6 and custom exhaust that set off car alarms at 4000 RPMs..

 

I am planning for future obviously, barely making the 650$ for the Legacy, so 800$+ isn't in my range, and the car has 133k, so I'm not looking to frankenmotor it at this point

[84gl]

Belive me when I say this I may not have the fastest rx on the board but it has got me more tickets than I can count since I was 16 and it only has an ea82t mildly modded for solo 2 @ around 140hp WJM and JXM Both had faster rxs but they keep blowing them up and didn't drive them on the road much like I Did you don't have to have a race car to go fast just know how to handle what you have when I was in high school there wasn't a Honda anywhere around here that would keep up with me on a back road and that wasn't because of hp !!!!!

 

So don't put down the Ej 22 just do what it takes to make it handle and catch them in the curves

Edited September 7, 2010 by 84gl

[92_rugby_subie]

Im excited to see how much power it has.