ennbenn72 Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 So I have an 89 GL hatch. I have a few plans for it as far as restoring interior and performance. I want to give it a nice paint job too. All things will come with time, but I have also been considering the possibility of converting the steering and suspension components from a WRX. I have looked at many pictures, and obviously its going to take some fabbing and a lot of work, but I was just curious if it would even work? Do you guys think it would take a whole lot of chopping to fit things like struts and steering knuckles? The parts all look very similar and I really want to try it! --Nathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikaleda Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 I think that an Rx swap would make more sense, the Rx is the big brother of the wrx and has a more similar suspension to yours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiGL Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 Fitting WRX suspension would be very difficult and require a lot of custom work. What would be easier is modifying the crossmember and chassis rails to take the turbo EJ, and then fab a custom gearbox Xmember. As for brakes and wheels, you'd want to do something like Nico has done with his sedan - like coilovers, with an XT6 5-stud swap and 4-pot front/ 2-pot rear JDM STi calipers. These fit under some 16" wheels, which suit the older cars in size - 17" is a bit big for a 2nd gen. So you'd still have a WRX drivetrain, rear diff gearbox brakes etc, but without the fiddly custom suspension work. Wouldn't handle as well though. Also, if you did fit the WRX suspension you'd need some hardcore flares... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikaleda Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 (edited) Fitting WRX suspension would be very difficult and require a lot of custom work. What would be easier is modifying the crossmember and chassis rails to take the turbo EJ, and then fab a custom gearbox Xmember. As for brakes and wheels, you'd want to do something like Nico has done with his sedan - like coilovers, with an XT6 5-stud swap and 4-pot front/ 2-pot rear JDM STi calipers. These fit under some 16" wheels, which suit the older cars in size - 17" is a bit big for a 2nd gen. So you'd still have a WRX drivetrain, rear diff gearbox brakes etc, but without the fiddly custom suspension work. Wouldn't handle as well though. Also, if you did fit the WRX suspension you'd need some hardcore flares... A turbo ej suspension isn't much different than an wrx suspension. Those are both designed on a total different style suspension. An Rx at least was designed off of a similar susension, the amount of ride improvement wouldnt be worth all the work trying to fit an ej suspension into an ea car Edited November 24, 2014 by mikaleda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 Okay.... Neither an RX or a Hatch has suspension ANYHTING like an EJ.....ecept the Macpherson front strut but even that mounting type is WAAY different. Search 5 lug swap first....that's the basics.... Using a full EJ suspension from WRX or other would be VERY difficult.....requiring basically a full rear end fabrication. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikaleda Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 (edited) I think that an Rx swap would make more sense, the Rx is the big brother of the wrx and has a more similar suspension to yours Gloyal, that's what I was saying. The suspension on an RX is a CLOSER match to a gl hatch than an EJ suspension like the WRX would beIt would be easier to retrofit an Rx suspension than a five lug swap. Its getting hard to find the xt6 rear disc brakes and hubs Edited November 24, 2014 by mikaleda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikaleda Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 (edited) Double post Edited November 24, 2014 by mikaleda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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