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I have around $2500 burning in my pocket. What would you do? I talked about an engine swap, but I don't really know what. Opinions? I have a 94 Legacy L wagon 5-speed na model. I definitely want to keep it and mod it, but don't know where to start first. It's pretty much all stock except for 17s on it and deck and speakers.

-Jon-

$2500 is PLENTY for an ej22t engine/tranny swap. You could also get an older overseas wrx engine/tranny for that much.


MK

Buy a front cut JDM Liberty RS, and sell your wagon for a sedan. Then just swapy-swap it up.

If your lucky, you could get all the RHD goodies with it, and do a FULL JDM swap.

my friend has a ver 5 complete swap on nabisco. little more than 2500 but hell its a sti ver 5. i got 2500 burning me up and im trying to buy a gc8

Oh, Jason, that IS the car that my buddy helped with. I'll check it out for you.

If I had 2500$, I would buy a 5MT Sport Sedan. Maybe have enough left over for some basic intake/exhaust mods.

azn2nr wrote:my friend has a ver 5 complete swap on nabisco. little more than 2500 but hell its a sti ver 5. i got 2500 burning me up and im trying to buy a gc8

Really, how much or do you know where I can find it.... pictures also...

Guys, I really want to keep my wagon... If I buy a new one, it has to be a manual and a wagon!!!

-Jon-

i'd buy a trashed 90-91, and swap on the good front parts! then get a good repaint of Teal Metallic.

91White-T wrote:If I had 2500$, I would buy a 5MT Sport Sedan. Maybe have enough left over for some basic intake/exhaust mods.

Word. Why swap when you can buy a proven platform right from the beginning?

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=625703

it says 6000 obo and i sure hell take offers much less than this

So Jon,
Did you make it up to Bouler yesterday? I never got a phone call. You really should come by and look at my conversion and we can talk about your options in person along with a number of "visual" aids...

Matt Monson wrote:So Jon,
Did you make it up to Bouler yesterday? I never got a phone call. You really should come by and look at my conversion and we can talk about your options in person along with a number of "visual" aids...

No, my car was in the shop til 4:30... I definitely will come up and give you a call when I have time. I totally want to see that conversion.

I'm about 99% sure I know what I'm going to do. I am going with a 92 Turbo engine with 72,000 miles. Then KYB structs with Eibach springs. A prodrive oval tip muffler. A 2.5 RS 1st generation front bumper. Finally a silver paint job, with the rally 'S' graphic.

How does that sound to everyone?

Sounds like you don't want my wagon

Good project idea.

Sounds like a good option to me. Like I said on the phone the other day, if you are looking to keep th epower level in the realm of mere mortals, the complete EJ22T is a very cost effective swap. If you want to go much past 260 CHP, a lot of things need to be replaced, and as such an EJ20 is a better jumping off point to begin from...

DLC wrote:Sounds like you don't want my wagon

Good project idea.

Ya, sorry man, I like my wagon to much...

Hey, you haven't been driving around in Colorado recently have you...

If I had 2500$ US

I'd do brakes and suspension.

buy a touring wagon.

that's what i did

250$ starion again! 2250 could get me a lot further along on that project than my 1k did.

I'd just buy a 5spd turbo sedan. Lot less work and N/A early legacies weren't really meant to have a lot of power afik, plus the wagon's are heavy. Kinda like making a race car out of a big truck. A fast legacy sedan is just as likely to suprise someone as a fast wagon is, neither look fast, and for your first mod you can do like i did and put some electrical tape over the badge that says turbo awd on the back

dzx wrote:I'd just buy a 5spd turbo sedan. Lot less work and N/A early legacies weren't really meant to have a lot of power afik, plus the wagon's are heavy. Kinda like making a race car out of a big truck. A fast legacy sedan is just as likely to suprise someone as a fast wagon is, neither look fast, and for your first mod you can do like i did and put some electrical tape over the badge that says turbo awd on the back

True, but you can't imagine what you can do in a wagon... Plus, a wagon is definitely a sleeper (even to the 5.0's)!



Friends, friends, I am definitely keeping my car... I'm not trading it in, selling it, or getting a sedan. Keep that n mind...

uhm, in that case, if you dont do an engine swap, see if you can find some more aggressive cams or look for a turbo legacy in a junkyard and get the turbo equipment off of it and run low boost. Otherwise you can do what was suggested earlier and do an sti engine swap . Check this wagon out. http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/218237 and true, you can do a lot in a wagon....like throw a mattress in the back... with some tinted windows

I'd do an EJ22T swap. You could get a motor for under 1K and pay under 1K for the swap (or do it yourself and have lots of extra mod money). Then I'd get a Saab 900 TMIC, boost gauge, MBC and turn the boost up to about 11 psi. Then when you have a bit more money I'd do a TBE and FCD. Then you can around 14 psi.

You could also put a TD04L-13G and oem WRX TMIC on before swapping the engine in. You could get both for under $200 if you shop smart over on NASIOC. Then when you do a TBE and FCD you already setup to have a bit more power and top end then the VF11/ Saab 900 setup can provide.

I agree with Matt. Try to get a few mods done on the engine before instal, too as it would be easier. I also recommend rebuilding it (you can probably skip the bottom end as they're very tough) so you start clean and fresh. If you have a place to do it and some spare time you can get everything done in a week (if you have all the supplies and tools. Basic metric tools are fine, but I recommend an impact wrench and picking up some specific stuff as you go to make it more a joy than an aggravation). I rebuilt the engine myself in the kitchen and swapped it in my driveway without any help. I recommend hiring a spare set of hands with some beer, but it's actually a pretty easy job if you have a second car and can afford to be patient and off schedule a day or so. I can help you with any tricks if you want. At the end, the satisfaction of knowing the car better and doing it yourself is worth more than the money you save. How many other modern hotrodders (I hate the severely overused term 'tuner') out there can say they did that?

One trick off the top of my head is to replace the shitty stock wire hose clamps with real hose clamps. I've had two fail on me so far. Luckily I had 'spares' holding the ignition wire boots on my coil pack.

Steve

Just one thing to add. Someone called the wagon heavy. A BF wagon weighs several hundred pounds less than a new age WRX. IIRC. And I know of several wagons that hold their own in the auto-x. Just ask DLC.

Jon,
get in touch. You should come by this weekend and we can chat...

That is interesting. Exactly how much does the wagon weigh, is it lighter than my bc?