SVX 3.3 installation options

[DKregel]

I have a very low mileage SVX 3.3 engine.  Sub 10k miles.  I would like to put it in a Subaru.  Another SVX would work but the pickings are slim and the cars are 25ish years old.  Will it bolt into a Legacy with the 3.0?  Even cooler, how difficult would it be to put it into a Brat?  That's a much more complicated resto. But would it require swapping tranny too, and if so, which one(s) will mate up with the 3.3?  Or could I just rebuild the existing Brat trans?  So many questions...

In short, I am looking to find true Subaru Gear Heads.  My calls/emails to dealerships and specialty shops near Baltimore have been fruitless so far.

Another question is:  Is there are market for this motor?  Super low miles.  Kept in a basement on a stand.  No rust.  No dirt.  No mice.  Bought initially for an aircraft installation.  But Dad never finished the plane and after he passed I am just trying to do something cool with the motor.  Would rather use it in honor of my Dad and enjoy it than sell it.  Right now I don't know what the options are.

Hoping I have come to the right place.

D

[Numbchux]

Can be bolted into just about any Subaru (in the US, everything except the 360 and Justy with very little work). Will bolt to any EJ/EZ/FA/FB transmission (basically anything since 1990, EA82 hung around in the Loyale until 1994). Will bolt to an EA81/EA82 transmission with an adapter plate.

It's considerably longer than any other engine, so depending on the chassis, radiator will have to be moved at least a little.

The challenging part is the electronics. Do you have the ECU and wiring harness? I assume there was some sort of plan on running it in the plane. The bulkhead harness (behind the dash, running up into the engine bay) has to be removed and considerably modified to graft the ECU and it's wiring for the 3.3 into the receiving car.

Fairly common swap into the '90s models, as they're much lighter. A '90s Impreza with a 3.3 will walk away from a stock STi in a straight line.

 

Engine code is an EG33. Google "EG33 Swap" will yield a flood of information, and obviously you can refine it down from there.

 

 

Not much market for them. SVXs were notorious for transmission issues, and the engines are very stout, so there's lots of them out there. Service parts are becoming scarce, most can still be sourced, but in 5-10 years? Probably not.

Edited September 2, 2020 by Numbchux

[DKregel]

Thanks Numbchux!  Excellent answer.  Dad had a doner car for the electronics but it went to the salvage yard before I hatched this plot to save the engine.  Sad really, but there it is.  So, I will have to figure that out.  You were absolutely right on the EG33 swap search.  That is a gold mine.  Sweet!

So, to put this eg33 in an Impreza for instance, we will likely need to mod the radiator and definitely need to figure out the wiring but tying into the exhaust, trans, and motor mounts should be pretty straight forward, perhaps with adapter plates and things we can buy?  Would you recommend a rebuild on the trans?  

Are there shops that you know of who specialize in this type of mod?  Could be I will want someone to help with the wiring especially.

Much obliged!  Appreciate you taking your time and sharing your knowledge with me to push me forward on this project to remember my Dad.

[Numbchux]

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of ways to do the install. But the short answer is that if you drop the EG33 in place of an EJ engine, and then try to mount a radiator in it's stock position, they will occupy the same space. Most people use some sort of aftermarket/custom radiator mounted in front of, or in place of (switching to hood pins) the hood latch.

It will sit in the stock motor mounts and bolt to any Impreza transmission. If not completely abused, a good condition 5MT will hold up fairly well. If you want to drive it hard, you might want to look into a 6MT. This stuff has been done thousands of times (transmission swap information is largely unchanged whether it's bolted to a H6 or H4).

It will require some custom exhaust work, but that's not a big deal. If you can't fab it yourself, there are muffler shops in every town that can do that.

 

I don't know of any shops that would tackle the whole project. But there are people who can do the wiring. iwire certainly can, but I saw a post the other day that made it sound like they didn't want the job (high price, etc.).

"EG33 Swap" obviously gets you a huge amount of information, but some of it is getting pretty dated. For the most current projects, the Facebook group "Six Swapped Subarus" has quite a bit, there's probably a dozen guys on there with the time and knowledge to do a harness merge for you. For parts, there are 2 SVX (nation, and world network) with plenty of parts hoarders.