LIFTED! & EJ22 Swap on 1st Gen IMPCoupe

[dome24]

Well its finally done, except for a few bug's and an allignment, i used Legacy Struts with Forrester Coilsprings and gained approx 3.5-4", rubs a bit on the front of the rear fenderwell when i slide around corners and on some bumps, nothing an airsaw cant fix but here she is riding on 205/75 R14 Glacier Grip snow tires. Converted to approx 26.1" x 8.07" R14

And if tha wasn't enough i also swapped out my old leakey ej18, and yes it was leakey for a ej22 out of a 94 Leggy with ~60k Miles added a aluminium pulley(wayyyy lighter, like a third of the wieght)

borla headers, wrapped and sprayed with silicone sealant,

Used the cats and muffler off a 99 LegGT

The EJ22 used an EGR system and the 18 didn't, i used my 18 intake manifold to keep the wiring as easy as possible so i had to block off the egr on the block side. Now i just need an alignment, and a skid plate cause the lowest point in the front is the headers

And i have a check engine light but its running pretty good, it ran kinda rough the first night i actually drove it and the light came on but then it cleaned up and is running really good now. Prolly just blowing some crap through the engine, im gonna change the oil on it sometime this week(yes i put fresh oil in it before i started the new motor but i figure anything that was in the engine would come loose in a week), add some engine restore brand additive and run with it.

Im just bouncing off the walls:banana:

 

Overall i gained about 40-50 horse and 4 inches of groundclearance, rigght now its riding on 205/75 r 14 snow tires, then when summer comes back im going to run some 215/40 zr 18 or even larger tires on the 18's, i currently have the 215/40 and they fit with just the leg struts, adding the coils im hoping to be able to fit 225/50's or somethng close:brow:

 

more pix here

http://s126.photobucket.com/albums/p113/dome24/

 

Pete

"keep the rubber side down"

:burnout:

:burnout:

[mellow65]

very nice!!!!! :headbang:

 

but help me with a couple things here, i thought to get a lift you had to use the forester struts because the lower spring perch was higher then impreza or legacy ones. Not just the springs.

 

and how tough was the motor swap. were you able to use a lot of the factory ej18 stuff or did you have to swap the whole harness in from the legacy you got the motor from

[Dr. RX]

Actually that is a Gen II coupe, the Gen I Impreza was from 93 to 96, in 97 they changed the grille and hood and the EJ22 engine, so it is considered the second gen of the Impreza. By the way the Gen I coupe was only from 95 to 96, coupe wasn't introduced until 95.

 

PS: It looks great, probably the best thing for driving in Alaska.

[dome24]

very nice!!!!! :headbang:

 

but help me with a couple things here, i thought to get a lift you had to use the forester struts because the lower spring perch was higher then impreza or legacy ones. Not just the springs.

 

and how tough was the motor swap. were you able to use a lot of the factory ej18 stuff or did you have to swap the whole harness in from the legacy you got the motor from

 

Actually, the lower perch on the leg struts was higher than the Imps i took off by about 1.5", and i guess that the forrester's are even higher but i just used the leg's cause thats what they had in stock and it was befoer i learned about researching on this and other boards. :-\

 

All i really used off the ej22 was the longblock, heads and oilpan, the intake manifold, injectors, and harness were all from the 18. I used a 94 cause it still had dual exhaust ports and dual port headers were cheaper than the single port models:confused:, also my car had dual ports to start with so if the headers didn't work for whatever reason i could go back to the stock manifold, didn't have to so the stocker got tossed.

 

Pete

"rubber side down"

:burnout:

:burnout:

[dome24]

Actually that is a Gen II coupe, the Gen I Impreza was from 93 to 96, in 97 they changed the grille and hood and the EJ22 engine, so it is considered the second gen of the Impreza. By the way the Gen I coupe was only from 95 to 96, coupe wasn't introduced until 95.

 

PS: It looks great, probably the best thing for driving in Alaska.

 

Ok i thought that they were all first gen till the wrx came stateside in 02? just minor cosmetic changes, not full chassis changes but whatever:rolleyes: Its all good in the hood:grin: Now i just need an RS/OBS hood and finish my intake project, and ad my hella 500's in the bumper, and install my cd player, and and and...does it ever end:slobber:????

 

Pete

"rubber side down"

:burnout:

:burnout:

[camosuba]

NIce work wish i had snow to play in

[mellow65]

i always wondered that, if the ej18 stuff would just go on a ej22. i turned down an older AWD ej18 with a crappy motor for not much awhile back. stupid stupid stupid me:banghead: :banghead:

 

well congrats on the swap. And at least you have the ODBII system so checking to see what that check engine light is just a cheap reader away. I wonder, does the OBDI stuff have a way of flashing codes out also.

 

Let us know what you find out what you what caused your check engine light.

 

And congrats again, I am crazy jealous. :banana:

 

Actually, the lower perch on the leg struts was higher than the Imps i took off by about 1.5", and i guess that the forrester's are even higher but i just used the leg's cause thats what they had in stock and it was befoer i learned about researching on this and other boards. :-\

 

All i really used off the ej22 was the longblock, heads and oilpan, the intake manifold, injectors, and harness were all from the 18. I used a 94 cause it still had dual exhaust ports and dual port headers were cheaper than the single port models:confused:, also my car had dual ports to start with so if the headers didn't work for whatever reason i could go back to the stock manifold, didn't have to so the stocker got tossed.

 

Pete

"rubber side down"

:burnout:

:burnout:

[Dr. RX]

I wonder, does the OBDI stuff have a way of flashing codes out also.

 

Yes they do, it is similar to the flashing light on the ECU of the EA82 series car, but on the OBDI cars, the CEL flashes the code when the correct connectors are connected.

 

Dome, the rest of the pictures tell the story, great job. Yes there is a lot of confusion on what constitudes a new gen, the 96/97 break was more then cosmetics, so it does constitude a gen break. There are two gens in the GC series Imprezas (which includes GM 2drs, and GF wagons), the WRX is a GD series impreza and a new gen on it's own.

[nkx]

cool car! looks like it would be fun to drive.

[dome24]

 

Dome, the rest of the pictures tell the story, great job. Yes there is a lot of confusion on what constitudes a new gen, the 96/97 break was more then cosmetics, so it does constitude a gen break. There are two gens in the GC series Imprezas (which includes GM 2drs, and GF wagons), the WRX is a GD series impreza and a new gen on it's own.

 

noted and logged:)

[Numbchux]

Looks sweet!

 

did you use Outback struts? or just regular Legacy ones. The outback ones are almost identicaly to the forester ones....Judging from the space between the top of your tires and the spring perch, I'd bet they're outback ones. Also, I don't think there's any way you'd have gotten almost 4" of lift with just springs.

[Snowman]

That's a good lookin' car. Glad to see somebody else in Alaska playing around with the newer Subarus. I finally got the OBW struts on my legacy over thanksgiving and I love it. I just haven't had a chance to really test it out yet, but it still handled great on the highway even with the increased height (I made my best official time from Haines to Anchorage coming back from this vacation, at 11 hours and 45 minutes).

[dome24]

Looks sweet!

 

did you use Outback struts? or just regular Legacy ones. The outback ones are almost identicaly to the forester ones....Judging from the space between the top of your tires and the spring perch, I'd bet they're outback ones. Also, I don't think there's any way you'd have gotten almost 4" of lift with just springs.

 

I used Sensa-trac shocks for a 99 Legacy, No OB, which were about 1.5" taller than the imps that i removed, then the Forrester coils stretched the struts all teh way out, and gave another 1.5-2", plus the up sized tires give almost 4inces over stock. I kinda want a longer travel strut i think it would help, i havent been able to really romp on it cause of the fender rub, but soon:clap:

 

Pete

"Rubber side down"

:burnout:

:burnout:

[Numbchux]

I used Sensa-trac shocks for a 99 Legacy, No OB, which were about 1.5" taller than the imps that i removed, then the Forrester coils stretched the struts all teh way out, and gave another 1.5-2", plus the up sized tires give almost 4inces over stock. I kinda want a longer travel strut i think it would help, i havent been able to really romp on it cause of the fender rub, but soon:clap:

 

Pete

"Rubber side down"

:burnout:

:burnout:

 

I see..you counted the larger tires as part of the lift...that explains it.

[WoodsWagon]

Are we taking bets on how long the front halfshalfs last?

 

I bid 1 month.....Anybody go for 2?

 

Looks nice though.

[Numbchux]

Are we taking bets on how long the front halfshalfs last?

 

I bid 1 month.....Anybody go for 2?

 

Looks nice though.

 

well, Austin's got forester springs AND struts on his imp, for a real 3.5-4" of lift (not including tires). And he's driven it back and forth between WA and MN like 4 or 5 times in the last few years. He hasn't had any CV problems yet.

[970subaru]

I kinda want a longer travel strut i think it would help

any ideas? I was wanting to do this and figured there has to be some sort of insert that is longer, or maybe a 10" travel truck shock that is strong enough to take the side loads of a strut and could be rigged into a set of strut bodies.

[dome24]

I see..you counted the larger tires as part of the lift...that explains it.

 

Yea but even w/o the tires its 3+"

[dome24]

any ideas? I was wanting to do this and figured there has to be some sort of insert that is longer, or maybe a 10" travel truck shock that is strong enough to take the side loads of a strut and could be rigged into a set of strut bodies.

 

Im pretty sure the AGX's or whatever have more travel, I was thinking Like forrester AGX's like Andyjo used.

 

PEte

Rubber side down

:burnout:

:burnout:

[Numbchux]

now I'm confused. you said the suspension gave 1.5-2", plus the tires 2", gives 3.5-4". now you're saying it's 3+ without the tires? I'm not understanding something....

 

anyway, when my buddy upgraded to AGX's in his impreza, we checked it out. and the yeild barely as much travel as the stock struts. so I would imagine that forester AGXs wouldn't be an upgrade over stock forester struts except they're stiffer...

[dome24]

now I'm confused. you said the suspension gave 1.5-2", plus the tires 2", gives 3.5-4". now you're saying it's 3+ without the tires? I'm not understanding something....

 

anyway, when my buddy upgraded to AGX's in his impreza, we checked it out. and the yeild barely as much travel as the stock struts. so I would imagine that forester AGXs wouldn't be an upgrade over stock forester struts except they're stiffer...

 

i got 1.5-2" from the struts, then the coils added another 1-1.5". The struts are fully extended and the coils are pretty pre-loaded, i think if i had a strut that had more travel it would allow the coils to un-load a little and give more lift, i seem to remember reading somewhere that the forrester AGX's have more travel, .

 

Pete

Rubber side down

:burnout:

:burnout:

[Zefy]

agx's and all those nice struts are all meant for the street...

 

if you want something with travel that will bolt on get yourself some rally suspension...

 

alright, so not many can afford a nice set of DMS coilovers...(although they are LOADS of fun...)

 

something cheaper? hotbits coilovers... a set new starts at around $1200 ish... (thats what i got quoted... CND)

 

then its all out add ons... can't remember the exact #'s... but 150 gets you external oil canisters(don't need to run hoses and crap, they are on the coilover), 250 or something for 1 way valve adjustment and i think another 250 for 2 way...(my prices for the valving are wrong i think... but you get the idea)

 

also custom spring rates and lengths...

 

10% ontop of total if you want rally valving... so it can get up there pretty quick... but for an adjustable coilover that gives you more ride height than stock, not bad!

 

btw, awesome impreza! would love to have that as a DD!

 

 

[sayn3ver]

to clarrify:

 

forester struts are not the same height as outback struts. They are a hair shorter on the lower perch...just enough to make a difference.

 

I installed forester struts under after eveyrone said they were the same. To my surprise when trying to wedge 27in ssr's ont he car, that they just would not clear the struts without alot of spacers on the wheel studs...requiring new wheel studs so i had to eat the forester struts and get outbacks.

 

my car has been sitting in the driveway since august because i cracked the windshield and deployed my air bags off roading...and it took me time to aquire a parts car with undeployed bags(and a full manual drivetrain). Reguardless, i still had to shave the inside nobs a bit on the tire(27inch ssr's) so they wouldnt rub the inside of the frame rear wheel well/frame. I also had to cut the fender and marine-tex the body and inner fender together(with the coupes, when your trim the rear fender, it splits the body apart leaving a line to the inside cabin.

I still have a bump/clunk in the rear with the new struts and springs. I have a feeling the forester spring with impreza top on outback strut is the cause....as the spring doesnt fill the perch of the outback strut all the way...Still gonna try to throw a littl ebit of impact on the tops to see if i didnt tighten them all the way.

 

nice looking impreza.

 

 

BTW, i have a 95 coupe with an auto.

[dome24]

to clarrify:

 

I also had to cut the fender and marine-tex the body and inner fender together(with the coupes, when your trim the rear fender, it splits the body apart leaving a line to the inside cabin.

 

I still have a bump/clunk in the rear with the new struts and springs. I have a feeling the forester spring with impreza top on outback strut is the cause....as the spring doesnt fill the perch of the outback strut all the way...Still gonna try to throw a littl ebit of impact on the tops to see if i didnt tighten them all the way.

 

nice looking impreza.

 

 

BTW, i have a 95 coupe with an auto.

 

Wow thanks for the tip about the rear fender, i was wondering if it was a pass thru to teh cab. Guess ill have to have him put a bead of weld on teh edge to be safe against water damage. I didn't cut much, maybe a half inch on the deep and an inch long off the bottom of the front of the fender.

 

does your noise sound like it comes form the top nut? thats the one that ive had since day one with the legacy struts (not outback), i only added the forrester coils almost a year later, now teh strut cup on the bottom rubbs the inner fender wall a little, but i can just pound that in a little. But the top sound drives me NUTZ:dead: .

 

Do you have any pix of your lifted coupe? id like to see another one:headbang:

 

Pete

"rubber side down"

:burnout:

:burnout:

[torxxx]

sharp lookin car... good to see another ak member.. now when i come down to anchorage we'll have to get together and go hit up some trails.

 

Jim creek in the spring would be a blast!