ej20 build, looking for opinions.

[86BRATMAN]

So I have an ej205 shortblock at my disposal, unknown miles but no spun bearings. Will be rebuilt with acl bearings but undecided on what rings I'll use at this point.

So any suggestions on good rings for this shortblock would be appreciated.

The heads will be ej25d from a 98 Forester, thinking I should get the passenger side drilled and tapped for proper turbo use just to make things easier.

I also have an ej20h manifold with 440 grey tops that I will use for now.

Also have a u8 ej20g ecu, which I know is tuned for 440s and a td05. I have a td04, and I can get ahold of a vf8. Seems information on the vf8 is limited, but I know it's kind of in between the td04 and td05. Question here is should I pass on the vf8 and sell my td04 and go ahead and get a td05? Would a 16g be too much for this ecu and the 440s?

Any opinions on the cheap eBay td05s, I've seen pretty mixed reviews when I search but nothing newer than postings from '10/11. If I were to go this route I wouldn't just slap it on and hope for the best, I'd rebuild it with one of the genuine Mitsubishi td05 rebuild kits.

This will all be going in my 97 Legacy when it's all put together. I've calculated the cr using stock thickness ej205 head gaskets and the 25d heads to be 8.5:1 which seems pretty perfect for the ecu and drivability.

Wow, that was long winded, but I think I covered it all lol.

[mike-tracy]

I would trust a 20 year old vf8 before I messed with a brand new td05 from eBay. Across the internet they have a very bad reputation for failing.

[86BRATMAN]

The person selling this one says that it is in good condition, and the price is pretty good in my opinion.

Does do you think the vf8 would be a good match for the ecu and injectors? I'm not looking for a rocket, just something reliable and fun for a cruiser/weekend warrior.

[wtdash]

That VF8 will work well w/the 440's, IMHO. Read THIS POST for a bit of good info.

People running 15psi, which is about max w/the 440's.

I think you'll like the low-lag and added bump in HP+.

Not sure it's worth replacing the TD04..

Also, the TD05 (from the old WRX/STi's @ least) works w/the 440's, as those were the only injectors used w/the EJ20G ECUs - from everything I've ever read.

Td

[James614]

Just about all the stock sized turbos should work. None of them are that big, the TD05 is actually the biggest I believe aside from some of the late STI ones. You really only run into trouble running aftermarket turbos that flow significantly more (there's lots of TD05s bigger than the small 16G the Subaru came with).

[cj91legss]

Do not ever run an ebay turbo. I put 21 miles on one. That's it.

[86BRATMAN]

I was wondering if you'd ever tried one out CJ, I know we had talked about them at some point last year though pm.

Now that that's been squashed. I guess it's going to be the vf8.

I forgot something, I remember reading that the turbo legacy bcs doesn't work with the 20g ecus. So I'm guessing I should just go with a mbc, but will that cause a cel?

[James614]

They use the same BCS. But a good MBC is your best bet. The CEL can be avoided by plugging an AT dropping resistor (which lives behind the BCS on turbo cars), it shares the same plug style. I did that to defeat the CEL while running a stock 20G ecu.

[86BRATMAN]

Great, I happen to have an extra dropping resistor hanging out as well. Thanks.

[wtdash]

Do not ever run an ebay turbo. I put 21 miles on one. That's it.

Ha! I got 40 out of my 'Zage' 18g.

[mike-tracy]

40 miles, showoff lol

[cj91legss]

Yeah, I'll never try that route again.

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[86BRATMAN]

Where the sense of adventure guys, you don't like Russian roulette?

[cj91legss]

Not really lol.

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[86BRATMAN]

What's the general feeling about the v3/v4 sti intercooler. I know I've read they aren't as efficient as the 04+ sti but they sure look like one would fit my under hood space a heck of a lot better.

[mike-tracy]

More efficient than a slanty but according to what I read on either dirtyolbc.co.nz or rslibertyclub, they don't fit legacy's.

[86BRATMAN]

I'll have to do some more reading then. Thanks for the warning on that.

[86BRATMAN]

With a 20g or 25d manifold the v3/v4 sti intercooler wouldn't fit. But with the 20h manifold I have being very similar to the 20k (similar being that it's identical except no coil pack mounting) it won't be a problem. Fairly common to use this intercooler when converting a gtb or rs legacy to single turbo apparently.

[mike-tracy]

What throttle body would you use.

[86BRATMAN]

Flipped 1st gen ej22e/t with a small spacer so the linkage clears the manifold. The guy I bought the manifold from did similar with a 25d throttle body on his build, I also have the cable bracket he fabbed to be able to use stock throttle cables.

[mike-tracy]

What I was getting at, with the spacer and flipped TB, even the 06/07 WRX tmic barely fits on those type manifolds. Kimo and another member (whose name is escaping me atm) had to chop their TB's down to even fit. I don't know how far back the v3/4 tmic goes is but from pictures I would believe it is larger in every dimension save width, than the 06/07.

Not trying to knock you for doing something different, but I think this may be an impossible tmic to fit.

[cj91legss]

I did not chop my tb down. I have never had a tmic actually.

I have one to install on the white car, just havent gotten to it.

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[86BRATMAN]

Here are 2 shots from anothernord's build. He was running at this point in time a full ej20h, ej25d throttle body flipped and trimmed with a .25" spacer, vf34, and 02-05 wrx tmic with the iacv relocated for clearance for the bov. Maybe the second gen has more room at the firewall than first gen I'm not sure.

[mike-tracy]

The fact that the 02 tmic isn't resting on the firewall tells me they have more room. Previous owner of my 92 SS bashed in the firewall a few inches and it tmic was all but touching.

How does the 02 tmic compare dimension wise to the ver3-4? It sounds like you have your heart set on one of those, but having owned a 06 wrx tmic, I experienced them flowing incredibly well and fit basically perfect with my old ej20g and now ej22t setup.

Just for fun, here are a few of my BPV's. Left to right: ver 6 STI, 2002 WRX, ej22t style (actually from a 3rd gen supra turbo, but is the same size and fits fine) and a ver 4 sti.

[86BRATMAN]

I'm not dead set on any tmic at this point, just found the v3/v4 at a better price than I've seen the others go for recently.

The other part of the space equation is that the 20h/r/k throttle body mount is set further back into the manifold than on the 25d/22t/20g manifold. Just wanting to make the best use of available space.