EJ205 Swap

[tkammen]

It seems like all the old school Legacy fans stick with the EJ22T or an EJ20G but what about the 205. I love the 205 in my WRX and you can get them pretty cheap. Are there any draw backs to swapping that into an older Legacy? You can get some pretty good power from a 205 with not a lot of mods. I'm not sure how the wiring would go, would it be as easy as a 2.0L swap into a 2.5RS or a little more involved? Any info would be great. Thanks!

[ride_child]

talk with cj, he just swapped 205 heads/wiring/dash on a 22t block. seems legit!

[bcmaxx]

swapping in 205 shortblock, keeping ej22t heads for now

[Alphius]

It's just as hard as doing any other Subaru wiring merge, plus a couple little things that are specific to the firstgen Legacy like the speedometer output, lack of OBD2 tank sensors, etc. I think most people with a firstgen are either too cheap to swap a 205 or are happy with the RobTune and don't want to spend the money for not much benefit.

I have a '99 Legacy GT with EJ22 block/EJ205 heads and intake with a 6-speed and a merged WRX wiring harness in my car. I did all the wiring and it wasn't that bad, but definitely more involved than what most people with a Legacy or TW are interested in doing.

[cj91legss]

I have the 225 hybrid. I bought everything online piece by piece. It took time and patience. I did make the dash fit with some modification to the transmission tunnel and the firewall. Also modification to the dash as well. I installed the whole harness in my 92 and merged the lights, doors, roof, and some misc stuff. Essentially it's a wrx with a 2.2t in it.

I kept the original turbo legacy gas tank and let the tuner fix the codes.

I have done all the physical work except for the tune. I have asked A LOT of questions and read A LOT of builds on nasioc and rs25. I warn you, don't go asking questions on nasioc. You will just get a bunch of dickhead responses...

[monkeyposeur]

swapping in 205 shortblock, keeping ej22t heads for now

Interesting! What are you doing for EM? I am building a 22T/205 hybrid and I noticed the combustion chamber diameter of the 22T heads are the same as the 205 heads so I was curious if you could just swap in a 205 block and run it with the stock ecu.

[cj91legss]

You can run the block with the 22t heads on the stock ss ecu. It's a peppy little motor

[Alphius]

I'd worry about detonation. That'll lead to a pretty high CR for sure.

[86BRATMAN]

8.5:1 with 1.5mm gaskets, 9.3:1 with 0.8mm gaskets if memory serves me.

[cj91legss]

Please don't beat me down for saying this, but I used stock 22t gaskets when I put that motor together. Car got sold, haven't heard anything from the guy so I assume it's not blown up yet.

[bcmaxx]

Please don't beat me down for saying this, but I used stock 22t gaskets when I put that motor together. Car got sold, haven't heard anything from the guy so I assume it's not blown up yet.

I modified oem 2.0 wrx head gaskets, I should have gone thicker. oh well..next time. combustion chambers lined up perfect to the cylinders and fire rings