I have to post this due to my enjoyment that this thing is finally running and it is a hoot to drive to say the least..

sorry for the bad pics, good ol celphone, this is how bad we documented this build.....

storytime

about a year ago my buddy was going to buy a new subaru sti,
I figured since i've done some swaps, why not just swap an sti motor into an older body impreza
he liked the idea since he loved his 95 impreza sport wagon, so the quest began

he bought a 93 impreza L wagon , front wheel drive auto, for 1500.00
we sourced out a full jdm sti front clip from a importer for 10,000
the day he went to buy it, the place sold it :x
then they said, but we just got one in with 10,000 mi, no front clip....
he was eager, so went for it for 9,000

while waiting for the motor we tore into the impreza, little did we know what we were getting into



finally the goodies arrive
the motor, tranny, front n rear crossmember, suspension, brakes, driveshaft, wiring harness, and steering rack
it was supposed to be a running motor, but dun dun duuhhhhhn,
the timing belt is hanging out of a broken cover on the left side of the motor, and the motor won't turn at all :x






[img]https://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x280/sokimydna/

 

frontofbustedmotor.jpg[/img]



not to mention the wiring harness is chopped beyond belief with the quick job they did in taking the car apart


at this point we didn't know much about the swap, we kinda figured we would just learn as we go, so we became a bit overwhelmed to say the least
so we freak out a good bit, but just so happens we get in contact with a guy right down the street who owns a all inclusive repair shop...his previous job was a subaru tech for the past 15 years...
welcome our fixit man....

so my buddy gets the importer to comp the cost of the build and the motor gets rebuilt...this takes a few months as he has to source all jdm parts

little guy awaiting its motor


after a good while we get the new motor back :P

she goes into the car



in the time inbetween we had to find a new steering rack because the other was cashed due to the impact the doner car had taken,
get a driveshaft (since we didn't get one),
got an exhaust 3 in turbo back really nice, which we had to weld up an adapter for the twin scroll jdm turbo
got rims to clear the sti brembos
found out we had to use the stock lower a arms, so we didn't have to source out another sti lower a arm due to a damaged one


get another turbo impreza front crossmember since we couldn't use the na one because of a space for the downpipe
we were somewhat bummed about not having the whole rhd swap, but oh well, thats just for some jdm stylepoints we both aren't worried about anyway
and get a awd gas tank to clear the rear diff

begin wiring

in the time awaiting the motor to be rebuilt we figured out the wiring, (as much as we could)...
we ended up swapping out the whole stock harness with the sti harness flipped over

 

after the motor and harness are in the car, its pretty much plug into the motor since we have mostly a complete harness other than it upside down
all that ended up cut was the headlights, radiator, no door cords, and nothing to the rear
so we get the motor plugged in, splice what we think is right for the fuel pump, get power going and nothing...
we are dumbfounded
so out of desperation she gets towed to a shop called kingpin
this is a shady *** shop, but the only one who has a guy who wants to delve into the wiring just to get her running rather than oversee all the wiring and gurantee it....

a month goes by and "come pick her up"
since it is a jdm motor, he had to buy a ecutec piggyback, fully programable ecu, to lower the timing a bit for the lower octane american gas
and also come to find we got a type ra transplant and tranny..
meaning a bit better gearing and a 7 way electromagnetic dif that we don't have a switch for yet, so by default it is about 80-20 rear to front power.....
so its all tuned and running good for us to pick her up
we get there and it fires right up, we are creming our drawers about to be able to drive it, but immediately comes the disclaimer,
"I wasn't able to street tune it too long since a front axle broke, but don't wory, it drives fine"...hmmmm, "you got 10 miles to drive? no problem"

I'm following him at this point pulling out of the shop with the two parts of the broken axle grinding a bit but it seems fine once its in gear cruising..
we get a mile or two, got on it once in second and the rears began to spin in full boost, holy sh#t its fast...
and then the gears don't want to engage, starts smoking and **** hits the fan...he's able to get it to engage occasionaly to rol and bypass the front grinding axle, once engaged it cruises fine, but once the clutch goes in it won't engage the driveshaft any more....
so we limp back finally with a couple more miles to go

we call the subaru tech who gets the halfshaft rebuilt that day, crazyfast...
so we get all excited, put the shaft on, start the car and blop, blop, blop...
its driving like ****.....bogging with any throttle, idling like (&)*))(&*)(*----very bad words...

frustration again...
we figure the computer reset and the tune is gone and it drives like that with the stock jdm tune....
just so happens we can't get ahold of dude who tuned the car to get the tune to upload and the shop is out of business....days after we got the car....
so out of desperation we go to another shop to get a tune since we can't custom tune it without a dealer code....and the ecutec people couldn't give us a basemap due to some bad readings from his o2 sensor not heating up or something.......

we get to the shop after a long put...the shop is called dyno comp..
we have an appt for 9:00....well I guess you don't get the time of day there unless you rol in with a lambo or something (they have one in the showroom)...11:00 rols around and finally they get to his car...5 min into it they simply say we can't do anything, the motor's blown.....

wtf.......very bad day...

we put back home freaking out..
he calls the subie tech that rebuilt the motor and he's insistent that the motor's fine...

so comes next shop who will take a look at it, vidid racing
by this point, after so much time and frustration in the build, he just wants someone to fix it and be done with it...
they pressure test and leakdown the motor, its not blown....fewwwwwww.
so then why is it running ****ty?
they check the fuel stystem, no blockages,
timing, no skips, dead on..
come wiring...they don't want to delve into that...
"come pick up your car, its a wiring issue, we don't want deal with that"

it was a sad day driving to pick up a car putting home once again..
we get there and they say, we put it back together and all of a sudden it idles fine,,,,,huhhhhhhhhh.......

so I follow him home, boosting and all.....
its running like a champ........
wtf...........
we search for a possible short somewhere that could have caused it or anything with wiring we could possibly find, and nothing...

come present day (1 mo later)
the car is driving great still, we're splicing in everything else to get her fully operational...
and wow is it fun to drive..
it feels like a lightweitght porsche with a light rear end, kinda wierd...
launching at 8,000 and the rears chirp a bit but it goes...
it acts like a rwd car while sliding around and keeping a drift
(it'll be like that until we get a diff controller made)
did I mention revving to 8,000, awesome

she still needs a tune but it is healthy and driving and I am overjoyed...
to the point that I just sat for over an hour writing this story with what photos we have from the build....
and it isn't even my car, but it sure is good motivation to get mine driving to go rip around with it..

if you read this far, thanks,
it must not have been too boring.....

here's her today, nice rattlecanned black....






we still have a few small issues to deal with, but all in all, once we get the headlights, blinkers, front n rear doors and rear blinkers spliced in, the interior goes back together and she's done (until more power is needed, and a paintjob)

 

He should of got a brand new sti lol.

You guys went through a lot of trouble but I'm glad you guys got through it. Congrats and good luck with finishing her up.

 

thanks mate,
finally getting to rip around in her makes it all worth the while...well almost anyway

 

sick. jdm powered gc8 wagon.

 

thats one hell of a sleeper.

 

I'm going through a similar swap right now, except when I'm done I'm only going to have an EJ22 from an OBS in my 1993 wagon. But, I am saved by having a complete set of wiring harnesses which are almost totally intact, so I'm hoping I won't have to go through the hell you guys did. Thanks for the write-up!

 

definetly a sleeper for sure...its surprisingly quiet at idol and then wot it growls...kinda funny, with the 2.0 it sounds like a honda at high revs almost....
it does look pretty mean with the wheels and brakes though, so for someone who knows anything, it definetly doesn't slip by unnoticed......


sounds like it'll be a fun wagon
the more wires and clip you got complete the merrier she will go..
are you using the complete obs harness for everything?
its probably the easiest to do it that way..you'll just have to figure out the tack and other things which are different clips with more imputs for the other motor.....
we just used a jdm sti tack so we didn't have to worry about it...everything else is another story...
ac, not happening, we had initially planned to keep it, but not right now and myabe not ever..
there are a lot of people who splice the original harness into the motors ecu you are using, which isn't bad either,,,
just need the propper documentation.....

we've ended up just finding what circuits have power with what switches and are kinda randomly splicing and addin a few relays, cuz there is a buncha stuff we just can't trace out as we dont' have the exact diagrams...

good luck

 

I have a '95 Wagon..and thats exactly what I want to do with it...i'm a lil scared i might go through the same thing you guys did...

Thanks for the inspiration!

 

Wow, I just saw this thread, You must have been one of the last cars to go through KP, They're shut down now!

What part of AZ you in? I'd like to check out you ride, I'm working on an STI swap as well.
Sorry to hear about your troubles with local shops, there is so many in the area that don't seem to be on top of their game.

 

sup mate,
I'm in tempe (kyrene guadalupe if you know that far)
right by an old shop called fueled....(I think its still called that)
I'm sure my homie wont' mind you comin to check it out.....always glad to give some insight when needed, as we sure learned much from this (much easier ways to do things).........lemme know

yup, we were prolly one of the last cars to actually get worked on there....
it wasn't too legittly through kingpin...it was more through scotty who helped us figure out the last of the wiring that we couldnt' make sense of (as we ended up finding a big chunk of the wiring harness is mia later on when the charging system was mysteriously not working)......
that was a whole sketchballs situation but it all worked out fortunately

glad to give motivation, cuz you sure do need it when the clump lands on your doorstep (hopefully it it'll be in better shape than ours )

 

I know where that's at, I'm Friends with Kevin, He used to run that place!

I know some people that could get you some wiring diagrams if you need them. My wiring is all done, and it runs with no CEL, but still have to double and triple check everything.

 

scary wagon nice to see a swap that was seen till the end (for the most part!) right on guys!

 

no need for diagrams......

the rider is all good finally, its his daily now running beautifuly....

we still have to splice in some stuff but its legal with headlamps, blinkers, driving lights, windows, and tails....
we've just been kinda lazy/busy to do the other stuff and then get the dash back in......

but he's romping it just as is still (looks exactly the same)...

I met kevin a while back while he was still there when he picked up his s203 to swap over....pretty sweet ...0em goodness....
don't have any idea what he'd doing now..

on a small update note,
finally got a tune from ecutec , (jjust logged everything and he's putting the map together)-----doesn't beat a dyno tune, but I've heard wonders of their tuning magic....