Sooby Nooby Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 Within the next couple of days I will be purchasing a 1978 Subaru Brat. This will be my project car and my plan is to turn it into some form of crossbreed between a Baja race truck and a rally car.... However there is one big issue with this plan that is staring right in my face and that is POWER and TORQUE. I want to know if anyone has done a swap for this vehicle and has information on the swap. I read on a separate forum that someone swapped a WRX engine into the brat and use a transmission out of a legacy. how hard would this be and what would I need to do to make it work?? any help is welcome!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loyale 2.7 Turbo Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 Welcome. It has been done on the Second Generation of Brats, the First generation of Brats has Narrower engine bays, So such retrofitting would need much more Fabrication... ~► http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/forum/18-subaru-retrofitting/ Kind Regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sooby Nooby Posted February 16, 2016 Author Share Posted February 16, 2016 thanks for the response! any better engine and tranny you would recommend for a swap? or would you advise just building my ea71 and keeping it in the 120 to 150hp range? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loyale 2.7 Turbo Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 I don't believe that a good ol' EA71 could sustain 150 Hp for prolonged periods; however I've seen them modified with blow-by-carb Turbos and Superchargers; which I consider pretty interesting and entertaining projects, but maybe those setups could be not very reliable to be used as Daily Drivers, in my own humble opinion. The problem is that the first gen Brat is a small, narrow and light platform, so if you really gonna retrofit a WRX engine on such body, it will be better idea to retrofit the entire WRX drivetrain, suspension, steering and Brakes; which in the end will cost more than buying a running WRX, it will be somehow like having a WRX in disguise; but if you only want more Power and reliability, the famous EJ engine swap, transmission and Brakes upgrade might be enough... Kind Regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sooby Nooby Posted February 24, 2016 Author Share Posted February 24, 2016 I will probably end up boosting my ea71 for the time being. Doing an exhaust mounted blow through turbo setup is probably my best bet until I'm ready to park the brat for a very long time and, seeing as how I just bought it, I'm having way to much fun with it for that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newschamp Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 I have a '79 with a bad rear seal and possibly bad crank. How about you sell me yours, and rebuild mine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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