Engine Swap

[imbeta]

so I have been thinking about swapping the ej204 currently in my car for something with a bit more grunt. I realise that this is going to be more like an entire drivetrain swap than just an engine swap. And yes I know that it would be cheaper and easier to buy a turbo wrx or sti but thats not why I want to do this. Basically looking for suggestions as to what engine, trans, ecu, etc. to use

[slystiguy]

what's your budget ?

what's your power goals?

do you like to waste money unnecessarily ?

do you have a good selection of tools and consumables on hand?

(p.s there are much easier cars to start on than a v7, if you want to start a diy project I would buy an older turbo model and do some tinkering on that)

[loner]

If you are going to spend money on a project car, you should aim to have something better and more interesting at the end than a mongrel STi which is no better or more interesting than a normal STi.

[Guest]

If you're going for the sleeper angle, dump a ej207 or ez30 in there.

[Marky]

Put an SR20 in it

Or a 1UZ

[chulozumo]

Get a Gallo 24 some NOS and over night parts from Japan, go see Harry. Tell him we sent you

[Andy_Mac]

Stuff the gallo 24, the 12's where its at

[imbeta]

 slystiguy']what's your budget?

10 - 11 grand though thats probably going to go up

what's your power goals?

300+ hp

do you like to waste money unnecessarily?

have to, to be doing this

do you have a good selection of tools and consumables on hand?

large amount of personal and work tools plus mechanic mates

If you are going to spend money on a project car, you should aim to have something better and more interesting at the end than a mongrel STi which is no better or more interesting than a normal STi.

agreed

If you're going for the sleeper angle, dump a ej207 or ez30 in there.

ez30 would be cool though ej207 would probably suit what im trying to achieve?

Put an SR20 in it

Or a 1UZ

Really not a toyota guy aye

Get a Gallo 24 some NOS and over night parts from Japan, go see Harry. Tell him we sent you

[quote name='Andy_Mac said:

Stuff the gallo 24, the 12's where its at

now I just want a pizza haha

[Marky]

Basically this is like saying "I want to build a mean GTR" and starting with a gte shell

-if- you had a written off STi you were swapping the running gear from, then sure it's a great plan and makes sense

or -if- you were starting with a rare or odd shell, say a 2dr GC you got for $500 or you found a repairable late model shell or something, then it's worth it cause you end up with something worth more than the sum of it's parts... Ditto for if you're putting an unusual motor in, say ez30 which is a (near) bolt in proposition

But realistically, I imagine you're going to pour 10k into what will ultimately end up being a grunty V7 shape not-wrx?

You could flick yours for say 5k, buy an sti for 8-10, then these days another few grand could net you a 300kw car (spent wisely)

And it'd have brembos, all the cool bits, AND resale value

Not trying to be deliberately cynical but I hate seeing money get thrown on reinventing the wheel

[boon]

 Marky said:

You could flick yours for say 5k, buy an sti for 8-10, then these days another few grand could net you a 300kw car (spent wisely)

And it'd have brembos, all the cool bits, AND resale value

Not trying to be deliberately cynical but I hate seeing money get thrown on reinventing the wheel

This, times a million.

Not to be a parade-rainer but it's true.

[pedro]

With an overall budget of 13 to 15k the world is your oyster..

Buy a car that someone has spent countless hours and mega dollars on for half what it owes them and cruise around with a big grin..

[imbeta]

I understand what you guys are saying, but I have thought about this quite a bit and this is what I want to spend my money on. Ive always wanted to keep my first car so the end value of it doesnt concern me. I'd much rather do this and make it fun than keep it in its sedate stock state. If this wasnt my first car and it didnt really mean much to me i would absolutely agree with selling it and buying an sti or someones old project. As strange as it may sound thats my reasoning.

[lachlan]

Yea fair enough . If u wanna build something then build it . Lifes not always about the end result . Certainly not the dumbest idea ive read recently

[loner]

Your call but decisions involving lots of money are often best made without sentimentality.

And you'd be surprised how fast you can get over one car, when a better one shows up.

[slystiguy]

I don't think anyone is saying it's not a good idea to build up a sweet car, but you're going to pour a lot of money into a car that will be worth maybe 1/2 of what your budget is when complete. And should you fail on the project (who knows what life brings) the car will be worth next to nothing. You could grab a link and +t for quite cheap but it will eventually blow. Plus your car isn't setup for any sort of turbo power and you'll really need a crashed v7-v9 for a complete swap.

Do yourself a favour, keep your mint running daily subaru which never lets you down and just drive it everyday, enjoy it and have a nice car to drive when you need to get somewhere.

Get yourself a test drive in an early wrx or an old bc5 legacy or what ever takes your fancy. I think this would be a really good thing to do before you dive into a full running gear swap. If you like the feel of the old turbos they are much easier to work with and often a little $ goes a long way to getting power/enjoyment out of them. Plus they're simple cars and parts are mostly cheap. They can also be made to handle like a race/rally car without much hassle. For your reference I picked up my legacy for $1200. Best subaru I've owned to date.