EA to EJ20 for my Loyal Loyale

[LittleLoyaleMan]

Hi guys! I've got some questions in regards to a swap I'm planning on doing for my little Loyale. This is my first car, and even after the head gaskets blew I've held on to the thing because honestly I just love it too much. This thing got me to and from a job for 3 years, and made trips all the way to southern Oregon from Washington. All sentiment aside let's get started with the questions.

 

First off, I've been doing research, and I recently pulled my motor so I could part out the majority of the ea82 drive train as to help fund my project. I've looked into the various EJ motors, from prices, reliability, and compatibility with my chassis. I've decided on an EJ20, mostly for power, and current prices as well as available parts. I'm wondering if there is any good guides for a rebuild on an EJ20 as I've decided to go look for one to pull from a yard, given that I can get one for $150 through a pick n pull. If so could someone provide a link to another thread that would help me with that specific motor.

Second, is my stock EA82 transmission compatibile with an EJ20, if I get an adapter plate.

Lastly I'd just like any additional pointers for this project, like recommended ECU, and just any additional info or links to threads, and websites that have info on similar builds.

I'll admit, the EA82 is the first motor I've pulled, and I'm still fairly new to the deeper more technical mechanical work. I don't have a lot of readily available money, so I'm preferring to do as much work myself or with help from some friends of mine that have more experience. I've got access to most shop tools needed, including a welder. So I'm trying to basically take my time, and learn as I go, and I have plenty of time to work on it because I've got a different daily driver for work.

 

Anyways, sorry for the back story, I'm just looking for as much help as I can get so I can turn my first project car into the rally warrior I dream it to be

 

Thanks!

[dfoyl]

There isn't much on here for the EJ20, most people will recommend the EJ22 as it is the happy medium in the EJ family - rev-friendly with torque, while the EJ20 is more free-revving and the EJ25 is more a lower-revving torque engine. I am pretty sure you are staying NA rather than adding the complexity of a turbo setup for your first build.

 

The main reason you would choose the EJ20 is for a turbo application, unless there was a location-specific reason for the choice (which may be the case for you - for me it was simply due to onerous engineering requirements for anything over the 2L capacity). My build is a bit more complex as I have worked around the local engineering requirements by building an EJ22 inside an EJ20 block, but there are some areas that overlap.

 

The first is the pull-down of your new (used) EJ engine, which I used a NASIOC link : https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1435733. Ensure you get all the bolts per the document, especially the little one inside the block (near the transmission bellhousing face) - I missed this one on my first EJ20 block and ended up throwing out that block (luckily I bought it for the heads only, and it only cost me $10 off eBay). You WILL need extended-length narrow sockets for the bolts that join the two halves of the block together (a couple will come out with standard sockets but there are 2 that simply can't be done unless you happen to have just the right socket OD), and the only other two unusual tools is a Torx TP40 bit for the heads (I bought mine on eBay : http://www.ebay.com/itm/400790684429) and a 14mm allen key (hex bit) for the wrist pin plugs (I went ghetto on this and used an old hex wood bolt/screw which happened to have a 14mm head, and filed two flats on the threaded end of the bolt - not recommended but it did the job). The special tool for the wrist pins I also went ghetto and simply got a length of thin (5mm) acrylic round bar and tapped the wrist pins out (obviously I removed the clips from the end I could reach). Note the EJ205 wrist pins are more difficult to tap out than an EJ202 as they have a dished hole design but both are easy enough to do. For rebuilding, there are several excellent videos on Youtube (I haven't reached that point, my block is still waiting for new high-comp stroker pistons).

 

On the gearbox, I used the vendor on here of adaptor plates (you could make your own to reduce costs). There are several articles on here for the mods needed for this. And for wiring/ECU I initially went with an early 98 Forester EJ20 which has the ECU mounted off the side of the engine. I haven't yet worked out what I need to do to move to the phase 2 EJ20 in terms of modifying that. As long as you get the ECU to suit the engine (phase 1 ECU with phase 1 EJ20, and phase 2 ECU with phase 2 EJ20) I don't think it will be hugely difficult to strip down. Obviously avoid anything post 2006 with CANBUS to keep it as simple as possible.

[Scott in Bellingham]

you will need

 

EA to EJ adapter plate and redrilled flywheel http://www.sjrlift.com/index.php/catalog/engine-swap-parts/ea-to-ej-swap-kit-detail

 

electrical harness from doner car that fits your engine harness, I can thin that down for you http://www.sjrlift.com/index.php/catalog/engine-swap-parts/engine-wiring-harness-detail

 

plus all the intake and exhaust from same doner car ,

coupler of pusher fans as theres not enuf room for puller fans

[LittleLoyaleMan]

Wow, thank you for the responses guys, that already helps me a lot. Honestly I thought about doing a turbo, with low boost just for an extra kick, but all things in do time. But anyways thank you, this does answer several questions