my sister just purchased a 93 impreza (FWD, 4spd auto ej18 )

we have made a small arrangement, i help her keep the thing running through college, and i can have the car for free or cheap when she gets a newer vehicle.

since it is a subaru, i ABSOLUTELY must rally race it! i have always been interested in building a rally car, and now i have a decent shell to start with.

i am planning to start out by rallycrossing it, but before i do that i need to ditch the: lame stock suspension, ej18, slushbox, wimpy brakes, most of the interior, and the puny brakes.

how difficult is it going to be to swap in either a phase II 2.5, or 2.2 engine, with a 5 speed manual, and awd drivetrain?
i am planning on brakes from an outback (legacy) or 2.5rs, suspension from an outback, or outback sport(struts, springs, a/r bars)
i noticed that the exhaust will need to be rerouted due to the fact that it is placed right where the driveshaft would go...
i plan on keeping the engine and drivetrain stock, and using as many junkyard parts as possible.
BTW, the steering rack feels a little funky to me, is there a fster or more communicative one available, or could i switch to NON p/s?

after i am happy rallycrossing, i plan on adding the necessary pieces to make it club rally-able.

plaese give me some suggestions or, if this is a bad idea, tell me!

thanks for any help in advance!

 

If your mechanically inclined then it should be no problem. With the Impreza whether its FWD or AWD all of the mounting points are still there so you can strip the car down to the bare shell and swap over all of the parts and wiring from the other car if you wanted. You will want to swap the entire rear member out if it has the drum rear brakes and no swaybar. However if your going to do an entire build up then you might as well just get a wrecked 93-01 JDM WRX so you can swap everything over.

 

so if i leave in the ej18, and just add the gearbox, et al i should be ok? (until i get experienced enough to need more power)

i had thought about keeping the 1.8, as the car does actually accelerate fairly adequately even with a senile automatic, and over 113,000 miles on the odometer
i also thought about just buying a FWD 5spd manual and installing that instead, but i like the idea of AWD too much

i might actually stay out of performance rally, because the time and monetary sacrifices are just way too much for me.
i think i will be happy with a car that is suitable for rallycross.