I want a 5-speed turbo wagon

[white_n_slow]

Hey everybody, I haven't posted in a while, but I was just contemplating this.

I want a manual touring wagon, and unfortunately, they don't seem to exist. What I'm wondering, is if it would be easier to buy a touring wagon and swap the transmission or buy a non-turbo wagon and swap the motor.

As I see it, the benefits of buying the touring wagon are:
-can enjoy the power before I change the transmission
-I get all the options and styling (bumper/hood/ect) that I want and would probably end up adding to a non-turbo wagon anyway

And the benefits of buying a non-turbo wagon are:
-can enjoy the 5-speed before I upgrade the motor
-potentially a lot cheaper

So basically what it boils down to is difficulty of installation of either a transmission or motor. What I'm curious about is if there are any wiring headaches associated with the non-turbo to turbo motor swap. Which install do you think would be the most difficult or time consuming?

I currently drive a honda so I'm no stranger to motor swaps, but I am a little scared of wires

Please give me your input. Is there anything I'm not thinking of? What would you reccomend?

tia,
David

[BAC5.2]

Buy the Touring wagon, swap the transmission, OR buy a N/A wagon, and buy a JDM engine and drivetrain.

[white_n_slow]

Buy the Touring wagon, swap the transmission, OR buy a N/A wagon, and buy a JDM engine and drivetrain.

well I doubt I'd be buying an imported motor because I can get a used usdm one for pretty darn cheap here in boulder.

Will I have any wiring issues installing a turbo motor (jdm or otherwise)into a non-turbo car?

[BAC5.2]

It won't be plug and play, but it'll be pretty close to it.

You get better brakes, better suspension, and OEM wiring with a touring wagon.

I'd tranny swap a TW with the tranny from a Sport Sedan. It's almost purely mechanical, which is much easier than the electrical work of engine swapping.

[scottzg]

I believe it's only 2 wires that need to be changed to go to the turbo motor. the "better suspension" consists of stiffer valved struts and a 18mm swaybar. The former will be shot-to-shit if original, the latter is 20$ and easily obtained.

I'd go tw, as you get your choice of drivetrains and they get the nod for styling. In the end the touring could well be cheaper.

[BAC5.2]

The former meaning the former that I posted (brakes) or the former you posted (struts)? The brakes, the Turbo still has vented rear brakes, the N/A would need to source Turbo rear calipers and brackets if you wanted to go the full 9.

Struts, probably, but better than blown N/A struts. You can get an 18mm sway bar for $20?

[jamal]

Struts, probably, but better than blown N/A struts. You can get an 18mm sway bar for $20?

I only paid $5 plus shipping for mine.

[dzx]

I would buy the touring wagon and do the transmission swap. If your worried about it, you can always talk to jon at superupair in north boulder. He swapped mine when I first got the car, the only thing to watch out for is your wallet cause its real easy to spend money adding mods with him. Or you can take a look at mine to see what was done.

[206er]

If I were to do it all again I'd just get a touring wagon and swap a 5sp. its not THAT hard of a swap, and you dont need a hoist, which was a big deciding factor for me. it may not be for you. there is also a great write up that helps a lot, its stickied.
I am going to be swapping an ej20g(JDM motor) or an ej22t when my NA motor shits the bed. I hope to be one of the only 5mt/turbo BC wagons in north america. there are a few BF's now I think.
a good option for the JDM motor is to get a complete front clip. they run about $1500 from a liberty rs or a legacy, have a 16v 2.0 turbo, some have an awic too. it may be hard to find one of these in a 5mt. if you want to spend upwards of $2000, you can find a '95 WRX clip for about $2500. these come with much higher hp from the factory, not sure exactly though. maybe someone will chime in with that info. a front clip is a good choice for those who have a really nice shell but shitty mechanicals.
I guess if you can find a nice touring wagon, get that and do the 5mt swap. otherwise find a non running NA wagon for pennies and get a front clip or a SS parts car.

[Legacy777]

Tranny swap really isn't super bad. There is some electrical issues, but it's not bad.

I'll let ya know how difficult an engine swap is in a couple months hopefully.

[white_n_slow]

yeah, its sounding more and more like the touring wagon is the way to go. I'm not scared of doing a tranny swap if its purely (or mostly) a mechanical opperation... like I said... they only thing I want to avoid is electrical issues. I've done a honda motor/tranny swap where there were only three wires to worry about, and I still managed to screw up the wiring

[scottzg]

The former meaning the former that I posted (brakes) or the former you posted (struts)? The brakes, the Turbo still has vented rear brakes, the N/A would need to source Turbo rear calipers and brackets if you wanted to go the full 9.

Struts, probably, but better than blown N/A struts. You can get an 18mm sway bar for $20?

Struts. The turbo brakes are unquestionably better. I got my 18mm sway for 10 bucks from an air suspension legacy. Struts tend to soften over time, so its hard to say which is gonna be better, although both are gonna need replacing.

[nzKAOSnz]

hmmmm. so will a NA tranny will bolt to a EJ20T block?

Or more specifically, would a 92 NA transmission (5MT) bolt to a WRX motor?

Sorry to threadjack: but jst clarifying a point (and hopefully a point for him)

I can get my hands on a cheap WRX motor - and even with having to buy a new Gbox, it would still be cheaper than buying a premade 5mt GT legacy. Now i know that the clutch and gearbox are going to have to be filling out their last will and testament when i do this, but i just want to know whether it will fit together so i can drive it for a few weeks until i get home to search for the gearbox

[206er]

all EJ transmissions bolt to all EJ engines.

[nzKAOSnz]

weird. Sum subaru wrecker tried to tell me they didnt. I was sure they bolted up - but thought i should ask the real authority (bbs.legacycentral.org) first

Gunna go have a look at it tonite.
WRX motor., loom, ecu, x-member for NZ$300 !!!!!!!!!!

[MY92]

You just need to make sure the clutch matches the box.

[nzKAOSnz]

So use my NA clutch with the NA box? Are the flywheels the same?

[nzKAOSnz]

*bows over to apologise to "white_n_slow" for the shameless threadjack*

[wiscon_mark]

my only question about using an NA tranny is if it would be able to handle the power from a WRX engine...

[dzx]

I have a 2.5RS tranny and it handles the power my car puts out without a problem.

[nzKAOSnz]

as long as i take it easy - it should last a few weeks at least. Then i can find a turbo box

[wiscon_mark]

I didn't know there was a difference between the 2.5 RS 5MT and the standard 2.2L/2.5L Tranny....

[nzKAOSnz]

for a start - the clutches are different. (Well in new Zealand, with JDM and a few NZ new models)
The turbos have a hydralic clutch, wheras NA's have a cable.

Different Diff ratio's
Most of the NA's have a 3.9 (i think - either that or 3.7 - cant remember which), and the turbos (5mt) have a 4.11, and some are LSD.

Im guessing that the internals would have been stronger as everything else is different between the turbo/NA

Any which way, a low km turbo tranny has got to be better than a 250k km NA trans.

[dzx]

I think you have that switched around for the us models anyway. The turbos have a 3.9 and the n/a's have 4.11's. The 2.5RS has a hydraulic clutch but mine was converted to cable. I know people here have done lots of runs at 12.6 with the 2.5RS tranny and not had any problems with it. I think one guy on nasioc from colorado said he did over 50 runs.

[nzKAOSnz]

ARGH. The F#$@@R Sold the motor anyway. back to the drawing board.