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Question about drivetrain and suspension on non-turbo legacy

Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 4:31 am
by Subaru Psycho
I own a 1990 1990 Subaru Legacy L with an EJ22E. I was wondering if Subaru changed the drivetrain or the suspension on the EJ22T. Even-though its the same displacement the only thing that has been changed is the compression ratio. (10:1 on N/A to 8.5:1 on the turbo. I want to turbo my car but I don't know what all I need. I was thinking of just buying an EJ22T motor and installing it after rebuilding it. I am just looking for some information on anything else that needs to be done. Thanks a bunch. I appreciate any useful information.

Re: Question about drivetrain and suspension on non-turbo le

Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 1:50 pm
by cj91legss
might wanna upgrade to a better transmission w/ matching rear end & clutch kit. if you go with a turbo tranny then you also will need the pedal set and the clutch master & slave cyl. You'll also need axles incase you get a transmission that has female inputs on the side for the half shafts

Re: Question about drivetrain and suspension on non-turbo le

Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 7:23 am
by Subaru Psycho
Right on thanks for the feedback. It looks like my weekend project just got extended.

Re: Question about drivetrain and suspension on non-turbo le

Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 11:38 pm
by wtdash
Hi,
I was in your same boat about 3 years ago. I'd SEARCH on here as it's all been covered, and you'll find that a few of us have done swaps like you are contemplating.


Check out this LINK and LINK on here.

The engines are NOT just different CRs - the turbo EJ22 has multiple advantages for running high boost.

If you wanted to run low boost/HP (less than 6psi) you can run your block as is, but you'll need to be pretty handy since you'll have to custom/fabricate a bunch of stuff that comes w/the stock turbo setup. Don't forget fuel upgrades and EM (engine management).

The turbo Automatic (4EAT) is beefier than the stock transmission and I 'think' the 5-speed is too, and both are becoming scarce. As stated above you'd need to convert to a different clutch setup. You can use newer 5-speeds, w/the appropriate mods. More info on here about that too.

My suggestion is to find a SS/TW as a donor, which is what I did. That way you have a source for everything you'll need.

GL,
TD

Re: Question about drivetrain and suspension on non-turbo le

Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 7:54 am
by Subaru Psycho
I was also wondering if i turbo my car will i need to do anything to the computer or will "adapt" to a turbo? That kinda sounds like a big jump for a computer to do. I might be wrong.

Re: Question about drivetrain and suspension on non-turbo le

Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 8:01 am
by Subaru Psycho
Thanks for the info. It is greatly appreciated. One last question. Where is a reputable place to buy all these goodies iam going to need?

Re: Question about drivetrain and suspension on non-turbo le

Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 3:42 pm
by wtdash
Subaru Psycho wrote:I was also wondering if i turbo my car will i need to do anything to the computer or will "adapt" to a turbo? That kinda sounds like a big jump for a computer to do. I might be wrong.
If you turbo YOUR car you'll need to source EM, such as a Piggy back, unless you only want to run <5psi boost, but personally I wouldn't bother w/only 5psi.

If you do a swap from another turbo car, you'll use its ECU/computer.

Td

Re: Question about drivetrain and suspension on non-turbo le

Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 3:43 pm
by cj91legss
yeah 6lbs isn't worth it. 16 is fun tho :)

Re: Question about drivetrain and suspension on non-turbo le

Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 3:49 pm
by wtdash
Subaru Psycho wrote:Thanks for the info. It is greatly appreciated. One last question. Where is a reputable place to buy all these goodies iam going to need?
Right here on the LC in the Parts Shed. Otherwise, the various other Subaru forums have For Sale sections, too.

As you may be learning, we like to think of our cars as 'Legos'....many of the parts from the other models will work on the Legacy.

I'd also go over to RS25.com, and read their THREAD on turboing the 2.5. Much of it will apply to your 2.2.

And unless you have a background in automotive mechanics or similar, you REALLY-REALLY need to start reading up on what you're getting into. I've been in to turboing my car for over 3 years and learn something new almost every day....and I still have A LOT to learn about tuning.

TD