legacy engine swap suggestions?

[666SubSpeed]

hi all

can anyone out there help with some advice or opinion?

I need a new motor (and gearbox but that can wait) for my 89' GT Legacy and want to fit something with a bit more poke.

Ive already put another motor in Xmas 07

I was told it was a WRX motor only to find out it wasnt. GRRR!!!

and its run badly since it went in and im sick of trying to fix it.

So now i want to know what version motor is the best option thats gonna fit in without to much hassle and isnt gonna require selling organs to pay for.

I want to keep the water to air intercooler running and still have things like air-con and power steering. Also where would be a good place to sorce something with lowish k's ?

any help/guidance would be appreciated as i get 3weeks off work over Xmas to play with spanners and crawl around on the garage floor !!

Cheers in advance

A.D

[dubbedup]

an STI motor of some sort.

Dont know where to start looking or what to pay....

[666SubSpeed]

yea i would love one but expensive when low k's

[Bazza-NZ]

How much are you looking to spend?

options are:

- Replace

Find an STI motor and place that in, V1-V6 should fit (not 100% sure about that)

- Rebuild (fully or part)

Find a motor with some k/ms on it and do engine seals, head gaskets, all seals on the engine, and give it the once over

[Guest boostin]

Source a V3 or V4 STI long engine, and reuse your manifolds, turbo etc. They're good engines. They have the most aggressive cams out of all the STI's and have factory forged pistons, so can take a lot of abuse.

[666SubSpeed]

Could have $2,500 - $3000 for complete job (Including fluids,plugs,seals,etc)

I can do the conversion myself I've done it before and just want something worthy of putting in.

An STI motor is my first choice but dunno if thats even possible with my funds.(or lack of)

As this is my daily driver I can't spend too much time off the road so i'm not too keen on swaping over inlet manifolds and turbos if i can avoid it and i dont think the turbo i have is worth keeping anyway (oil seals leaking)

any ideas on how to get a V 3/4 STI complete and whats reasonable to pay?

also i have seen an auction on trade me for a gc8 model repower package(full engine from import front cut) and am considering this a good option but I dont think its gonna be the stomper I really want !!

any other ideas?

[Guest boostcut]

if you dont want to swap inlet manifolds i wouldnt attempot the swap. thats a minor thing compared to re wiring your original harness to suit a v3 sti motor. sell it and buy an sti with good brakes suspension etc.

[666SubSpeed]

depends on whats involved in changing the wiring?

its not that i cant change manifolds I just dont wanna spend time doin it if i dont have to.

[Guest boostcut]

well your v1/v2 4 plug ecu wont even look at running a v3/v4 series motor. so you have to change the computor which means wiring and genrally dicking around.

[Koom]

 666SubSpeed said:

depends on whats involved in changing the wiring?

its not that i cant change manifolds I just dont wanna spend time doin it if i dont have to.

Manifold swap takes stuff all work compared to re-wiring to run the STI ECU. The STI ECU will allow you to run yellow injectors and make better use of the STI turbo (if you've bought the whole lot) as swapping your manifold on will mean your stuck with your old ECU and grey injectors.