legacycentral bbs

hey guys so my problem is more of a "is it possible, and if so, what will I need." I recently purchased a 02 wrx wagon with a full sti hybrid swap . When I bought the car it had a spun bearing so I got a good deal on it. while the damage to the engine was minimal, I found the hybrid was not built correctly ( combustion chambers not bored to match short block) . So long story short, ive been way to picky with parts to complete build anytime soon. so I decided why not drop my ej22t into the wrx while im waiting to finish the hybrid ej257.(the right way). I got onto nasioc and asked if the sti intake manifold would swap to car and was told no. Fair enough. Then I asked if I could just switch out the legacy ecu and run with stock manifold. their response was that the engines are COMPLETELY different and no way this engine will work in my sti. Isnt this just a matter of switching everything from obd2 to obd1? I live in an area with no emissions standards so really don't have a lot to worry about with that. my question is How do I make this work. Ive always understood that subies where like legos so I just refuse to believe my 93 engine wont swap over. Both cars are complete and ran before tearing down. Legacy was in need of a new clutch and taillights have a short and wont work. the wrx is 04 sti full swap, tranny brakes, diff, and pretty sure the ecu is sti as well. on another note I wanted to just drop the 22t long block while using the sti's fmic, aps sr40 turbo and clutch. If this is not doable, please I am open minded to any possible solution that doesn't involve using my 2.0l heads as I still need to send them to EQ tuning to be cnc'd or rebuilding the ej22t as I will be doing this as well when I finish the ej257 hybrid. I also have a 97 4eat legacy gt that I can source parts from as well. sorry this is a lot but none of my searches were bringing up anything on this topic. Thanks a head of time, im hoping you can b more helpful than the guys on nasioc

I'm having a hard time following your massive paragraph. Particularly I'm confused on which manifolds and heads won't work according to Nasioc, into which cars.

Also, what is broken in the wrx?


For the Legacy electronics to be tunable, you really need a $$$ standalone, and $1000 or more in tuning, to do what the modern WRX ecu is able to do (open source tuning with a laptop and cable). Swapping in OBD-I legacy wiring is certainly possible as a wiring god, but you lose all the advantages of easy and cheap modern tuning.


My advice, is to pick a car you would rather work on, set specific goals and save about $3-5 grand for, then do the swap or repair.

Your WRX is running a WRX ECU, not STI as those aren't compatible with your WRX heads.

Sorry about the rambling on. The wrx had a spun bearing. I pulled the engine and found the build couldve been done more thoroughly. Mainly the wrx heads not being cnc'd to the sti short block. So while im building the hybrid ej257 with wrx heads I wanted to drop my pretty close to stock ej22t into the wrx. Nasioc told me that the sti manifold would not work with my ej22t longblock. So the 2.2 heads with sti manifold. Then I asked if I could just keep the legacy manifold and run the ej22t ecu. I was told I could use the short block but not the heads from the ej22t. I just need a running car and was hoping this could work temporarily while I finish the ej257. I will build up the ej22t when the 257 is complete (hopefully a 22b build) . Not looking to put a lot of power to the ej22t right now just want the wrx running I guess, its my first six speed which has me pretty excited. Hopefully that clarifies a little. By the way I got another post on Nasioc telling me its not possible and I should just put it out of my head. Makes me want to do it that much more...just to gloat! Thanks again you guys rock

Subie hardware is like legos. Electronics...... not so much. The EJ22t short block would drop in with little hassle, and you could run it with WRX heads and it should all work out. The problem is just the sheer amount of stuff you would have to modify or replace to run the Legacy wiring and sensors if you just want to keep the legacy heads on there.