Dynamic Entry's 4EAT to 5MT Swap (Angel -> Demon)

[Legacy777]

As above, yes you would have to take out the throttle pedal in order to switch the pad. I don't think you could punch out that pin with the pedal in the car.

But the Clutch and Brake pads can be removed and installed almost as easily as the pads you have on.


The pads are the most costly/coveted part of the pedal assembly, since the rest of it can be found in almost any manual transmission Subaru.

That's pretty cool that they are just a pad that slides on and off.

[Dynamic Entry]

So now that I am over the summit, with my gearbox in and an inspiring pedal set


All I can see is the wiring. Wiring everywhere!


One branch above the brake pedal splits into two. The one harness plugs in at the brake pedal switch, and I don't remember what the other one goes to.


Meanwhile, on the left are the two harnesses I cut out of parts car that plug into the Clutch ignition and cruise switches.



Because of the PP6 installed in this car, there are a number of splices present at and around the ECU wiring


Here are a few that feed into the above ECU harness.


And the Zeitronix is the grey wire that feeds into the ECU.


I hope to find a better source than the fusebox to power the Zeitronix (and other extras).

I have the wideband passing thru the Cable clutch hole in firewall.


I am thinking about running decently big wire through to the Positive battery terminal, fused of course, and tapping that for accessories. Not sure if that is a really good plan, or really bad plan.

[Legacy777]

Are you keeping the PP6 in the car? If not, I'd suggest trying to clean up the wiring and those taps so they don't come to haunt you in the future.

I did exactly what you were suggesting, ran a 10 gauge power lead from the battery (fused) into a distribution block used for stereo installs. The wiring spots might be a little big, but it at least gives you a good spot to tap into for accessories.

[Dynamic Entry]

There are a few splices in the engine bay also.

Not sure yet what these ones are, but the red crimpls don't look like FHI handiwork.


Also don't know that the single connection is, but it is pretty messed up. The cut/fray about a half inch from the connection is obvious, but I noticed later that the wire is half shredded right at the plastic harness.


Hard to get a good pic, but the angle of the harness is due to the fact that the wire is only half in tact.




The green wire from the Zeitronix box actually ends up at the throttle position sensor.

The exposed part of the green wire made the connection look suspect.


But when I opened it up, it does have a strong solder, so I just wrapped it up more cleanly.

[Dynamic Entry]

The shifter joint is also replaced, in anticipation of an Impreza shifter.


I have the SPT short shifter, again only because I got it very cheap and have not been able to find a WRX one.

The old shift joint was rusted on there pretty bad. I had to torch it before it would break loose. So I put some anti-seize on the new one at install...

[Dynamic Entry]

Are you keeping the PP6 in the car? If not, I'd suggest trying to clean up the wiring and those taps so they don't come to haunt you in the future.

Bah. Good question.

My mind-frame at this point is to keep the PP6 installed. If the car was unmolested I would go for a Rob tune instead, but I figure since the wiring is already in play, I might as well try to salvage it's use.

I still am not sure where the (all the) shorts are, and I won't really be in a spot where I can diagnose until I have the car running again. I suppose if I start to find that the PP6 connections are the culprit, I might want to take it out. But that seems scary too.

And, I like the idea of eventually being able to use the PP6 to get a good tune for the setup.

[Dynamic Entry]

As for the starter, you won't be able to use the AT starter, but any first gen Legacy (turbo or non-turbo) MT starter should work.

Yeah, the AT starter was an obvious non-fit.

I have a starter from a 1999 Legacy MT bolted on at the moment. But I need to do some more diligence to see if the splines mate with the flywheel and if the power connections are compatible.

[Dynamic Entry]

I am basically investigating most of the connections under the dash. So when I saw thick gauge red and blackw/yellow wires that were taped up I wanted to check.

The red one had tape just like the black/yllw one beside it.


But unwrapping it showed that there is nothing else spliced in, and the connection seems pretty good.


I am under the impression that a lot of electrical tape was used for factory work, and I think this is a factory connection.

So maybe I don't need to be unwrapping every bit of tape I see, but only ones that have multiple wires that reduce down to one...

[Legacy777]

There are a few splices in the engine bay also.

Not sure yet what these ones are, but the red crimpls don't look like FHI handiwork.

Those connectors are for the crank, cam, & knock sensors. It looks like the light gray connector with the red connectors is the cam sensor, while the dark gray is the crank sensor. The crank sensor goes under the coolant crossover pipe to the front center of the engine, while the cam sensor goes around the side to the driver's side front.

Also don't know that the single connection is, but it is pretty messed up. The cut/fray about a half inch from the connection is obvious, but I noticed later that the wire is half shredded right at the plastic harness.

That is the knock sensor connector, and they do get brittle. I would suggest using some microphone wire from radioshack and just run a new wire from the connector to the ECU. The knock sensor produces very low voltages, so it's going to be more susceptible to EMF, hense the shielded wire.

Your best bet is to pull the connector out and solder it onto the new wire and then put the connector back in the plastic plug. Here are some pictures from what I did.

http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/s ... install/06

The green wire from the Zeitronix box actually ends up at the throttle position sensor.

The exposed part of the green wire made the connection look suspect.


But when I opened it up, it does have a strong solder, so I just wrapped it up more cleanly.

This is just a tap for the Zeitronix box so it knows the throttle position. That's all it does, and really should have been done inside the car at the ECU vs. at the TPS.

[Legacy777]

Bah. Good question.

My mind-frame at this point is to keep the PP6 installed. If the car was unmolested I would go for a Rob tune instead, but I figure since the wiring is already in play, I might as well try to salvage it's use.

I still am not sure where the (all the) shorts are, and I won't really be in a spot where I can diagnose until I have the car running again. I suppose if I start to find that the PP6 connections are the culprit, I might want to take it out. But that seems scary too.

And, I like the idea of eventually being able to use the PP6 to get a good tune for the setup.

Is the PP6 just being bypassed right now?

I personally never was really able to get the PP6 to work properly with my car, which is why I gave up with it, but there are folks that have gotten it to work on theirs. So yeah, you'll have to figure out what your "end game" is and see if the PP6 is in it or not.

[Legacy777]

As for the starter, you won't be able to use the AT starter, but any first gen Legacy (turbo or non-turbo) MT starter should work.

Yeah, the AT starter was an obvious non-fit.

I have a starter from a 1999 Legacy MT bolted on at the moment. But I need to do some more diligence to see if the splines mate with the flywheel and if the power connections are compatible.

The 99 MT starter should work.

[Legacy777]

I am under the impression that a lot of electrical tape was used for factory work, and I think this is a factory connection.

Yeah the factory does use electrical tape around some of the larger mechanical fasteners like that. If everything looks good, I probably wouldn't mess with them.

[Dynamic Entry]

Is the PP6 just being bypassed right now?

I personally never was really able to get the PP6 to work properly with my car, which is why I gave up with it, but there are folks that have gotten it to work on theirs. So yeah, you'll have to figure out what your "end game" is and see if the PP6 is in it or not.

Yes, the PP6 was bypassed at purchase and I have not touched it.

I am not sure what my end-game is. The car and I have not had a chance to get to know each other, or rather, it feels like the car doesn't even exist yet. So I don't know where I am starting from, let alone where I ultimately am going with it.

My most immediate goal is to have it running and street legal.

[Dynamic Entry]

That is the knock sensor connector, and they do get brittle. I would suggest using some microphone wire from radioshack and just run a new wire from the connector to the ECU. The knock sensor produces very low voltages, so it's going to be more susceptible to EMF, hense the shielded wire.

Your best bet is to pull the connector out and solder it onto the new wire and then put the connector back in the plastic plug. Here are some pictures from what I did.

Since the obvious problem is at the engine connection, I decided to try and remedy it there before running a new wire all the way to the ECU (and adding yet another splice/connection at the ECU).

So, like josh did, I took the metal terminal out of the plastic connector and replaced it with with a terminal that I took out of a different connector.


But, instead of running a whole new wire, I stripped the existing knock sensor wire.
I am not certain, but I felt it was important to pull the shielding back extra, to make sure the solder did not connect the lead wire to the shielding.


I had heat shrink wrap ready to apply in a couple of layers. The first one isolated the lead wire, then a second layer covered both that and the shielding portion of the wire, to finish with this.


One of the neighboring connections had a wire in trouble too. But I only taped over it, since the actual copper seemed to be in tact.

[Dynamic Entry]

I also got the new transmission and motor mounts in yesterday.

I ordered Group N mounts because I loved the difference they made in my last SS. And I bought them from Rallispec again because of reasons I give in the review section.


Here is a side by side that shows the difference in Auto and MT cross members.


The 4eat crossmember is a single lateral piece that positions the mount at the back and has three bolt holes on each side.

The 5mt member is multiple pieces that position the mount in the middle and have two bolt holes per side at the rear and one per side at the front.

Front (ignore this bolt; it is too thick)


I expected the front mounting point under the car to be present, but I was surprised to find that they had been capped at the factory and therefore kept perfectly clean and ready for use. Good job Subaru.


I attached the trans mount to the gearbox first. Got the member started onto it, tightened the member up to the car, and then tightened the mount onto the member.


Despite the fact that I had swapped motor mounts in the past, I needed some encouragement and used this guide.
http://www.iwsti.com/forums/how-install ... ounts.html

Step #6 addresses the rear bolt that attaches the mount to the motor. It is really difficult to get at them because the steering rack is all kinds of in the way. But you can, if you keep cursing and carry on.

I didn't know just how badly I needed them, lol.



Very welcome addition.



All done under the motor and looking good.


But the passenger side won't stay that way for long because my steering rack is a leaky mess on that side.

[Dynamic Entry]

My rear shifter bushing arrived at local dealer today so I happily set out this morning with the idea that I could get everything under the car back on and get it on the ground.

I was sorrily disappointed to find out that the driveshaft from the 1999 Legacy is too long.

I will need to find out if anything else can be used, or get lucky and find a 1991-1994 5mt driveshaft.

[Dynamic Entry]

Hmmm, where did I leave off...

I put the project away for the winter, which turned into leaving it away during motorbike season.

Had a couple snags that really took away my motivation, but am starting to clear things up.

I ended up finding a 1st gen manual Legacy propeller shaft.

For a long time I could not get the pitch stop mount to fit in. This in turn did not allow me to fit the intercooler in. I went back and loosened all the motor and transmission mounts. Put a jack under the tail of the transaxle and was able to get the movement I needed.

Had to remember to tuck the A/C lines under the dogbone in order to fit all the intercooler plumbing.



So right now the car is on the ground, and it runs.

I have not bled the brakes, so all I have done is check to see if the clutch allows everything to engage and disengage. It does.


The interior is a shambles, and there are a few connections to complete (wideband, boost gauge, etc.)

I am now in a position to start worrying about engine management. As it sits, I have the yellow tops flowing at about 500, the TD05H-16g and an '06 intercooler with mediocre plumbing/flow.

Running on the stock ECU (perfect power SMT6 is bypassed) the car fires up and holds an idle, but it seemed like a pretty low idle under 1000 rpm and after 5-10 minutes it started to fall so I shut it down.

I will be trying to familiarize myself with the PP6, and see if there is any promise there.

But at this point I am thinking I will get a Robtune in the long term.

[kimokalihi]

It's supposed to idle at 750 I think.

[Legacy777]

Yeah the 550's will be very rich on the stock ECU. The PP will allow you to pull fuel out, but I agree the Robtune is the way to go.

[Dynamic Entry]

Things are looking promising.

I bled the brakes, and I have taken it out on the road.

The clutch engages well, and the motor is running strong. It holds a nice idle at 750, and is feeling responsive. That said I have not taken it to WOT or above 7 psi, since I have reasons to take caution.

The electrical problems that resulted in blowing fuses on the drive home seem to have been cleared up by my efforts, since I have had it on the road for about 5 hours of driving without issue.

There are still many things to sort out though.
- I haven't been able to get the speedometer to work
- I might be running 480cc yellow tops instead of 550s as I was told
- My AFRs are super lean, often above 15:1 at part throttle (perhaps because my injectors are only flowing at 500?)
- With the PP6 active the motor will not hold an idle. I have had no success getting their programs to run on my laptop. So I am talking to Rob about the Robtune ECU and Ignition.

I will try to address these issues in better detail below.

[Dynamic Entry]

The speedometer turned out to be an easy fix. The one I am using is a two-piece design and the middle connection was not fully seated.

Have not confirmed anything more about my injectors. Although, Josh has said that they do appear to be 550s from an STi.



I am probably just going to go ahead with the Robtune.

AFRs are still on the lean side, but I took it to WOT and was happy to see that they at least move toward more fuel with load. In third gear, WOT, with boost maxing at 11 psi, my AFR is in the high 12s.

[bmxkelowna]

did you end up using that rhd cluster? i need it for my jdm turbo legacy i just did the 5mt swap on, let me know if you want to sell it

[Dynamic Entry]

did you end up using that rhd cluster? i need it for my jdm turbo legacy i just did the 5mt swap on, let me know if you want to sell it

I ended up selling the tach with 7.5 rpm redline, and I put the KM/H only speedo in my LHD cluster.

I don't remember, but I think I took the cluster body back and/or discarded it. I know for sure I don't have it anymore.

[bmxkelowna]

damn okay.
i was going to swap the front part with the fuel/temp from my drift car onto my jdm cluster so hide the PRND321 but the fuel and temp are on opp sides being lhd/rhd so i need to find a 5mt rhd cluster

[Dynamic Entry]

damn okay.
i was going to swap the front part with the fuel/temp from my drift car onto my jdm cluster so hide the PRND321 but the fuel and temp are on opp sides being lhd/rhd so i need to find a 5mt rhd cluster

I remember thinking to myself that, if I had to, I could re-route the harnesses to plug them in on opposite sides.

You might want to play with that. I expect finding the RHD 5MT faceplate will be difficult...