96 L swap to what..

[IneedRS]

I've been looking around alot and I just don't know what my BEST choice would be for a swap. I havent bought the L yet but I just want to get things straight to see what my balance will be for all the parts and crap. I want something that can get me in the 250 horse range. And I need something that will be able to pass emissions so that rules out JDM :? I also wanted to know a good place to find it all. My budget after I buy this car for $3000 is another $4000ish I can put into it. So I need Engine, Trans, Turbo, IC, Mounts, Piping, everything else I don't know about.. lol for less than 4000!!

[RS-ti_Andy]

ebay! or steal it! jk i dont condone stealing

[greddy]

Ur best bet is to swap for a stock 2.0L wrx drivetrain if you do it yourself. If not its a bit short if you want the complete thing done by a shop.

[IneedRS]

Is that the EJ20? or EJ20g?

[worldrallyblue]

2.0l wrx drivetrain = ej205

ej20g = Motor Out of a (i believe i am right on the years here) 1996-1998 Legacy.

I just replaced my motor and almost bought a jdm ej20g only to find out it was going to be a huge hassel to deal with the swap.

so... my wrx went with another ej205 FTW!! Now all i have to do is rebuild my broken one and then I got one for racing and one for when I break it :)

[wolfman79]

The EJ205 is the USDM WRX motor for 02-05. $4k would be cutting it real tight unless you plan on doing it yourself.

A 2.5 with cams, a p&p, and some bolt-ons can push 200+ hp. It would be well within your budget, is pratically plug and play so takes a weekend or less to do on your own, and would be completely emissions compliant.

[donutking]

u can prolly buy a ej20 from a rex pretty cheap. Id go to nasioc and find someone that wrecked there car. just make sure it doesnt have front end impact. Id say u cang et a set of ra gears,wrx engine and trans with all the other supporting mods around 4k easy

[Spatizzle]

2.0l wrx drivetrain = ej205

ej20g = Motor Out of a (i believe i am right on the years here) 1996-1998 Legacy.

I just replaced my motor and almost bought a jdm ej20g only to find out it was going to be a huge hassel to deal with the swap.

so... my wrx went with another ej205 FTW!! Now all i have to do is rebuild my broken one and then I got one for racing and one for when I break it :)

good plan :headbang:

[wolfman79]

u can prolly buy a ej20 from a rex pretty cheap. Id go to nasioc and find someone that wrecked there car. just make sure it doesnt have front end impact. Id say u cang et a set of ra gears,wrx engine and trans with all the other supporting mods around 4k easy

Sure you can get the parts for $4000, but then you have a pile of parts sitting next to the car. If you're mechanically inclined enough to do the work yourself than that's not a bad way to go; however if you don't plan on doing all the work, then your budget goes up in flames or you have a half finished project for months.

The cost to benefit to ease of swap ratio for what IneedRS stated as his goal leans more towards a simple 2.5. Or wait save up more money and get a swap done then when the budget allows for it.

[graphtricks]

I did the whole cheap pile of '97 Impreza OBS from craigslist and ebay. I bought the OBS off of craigslist for 2800.00, and found the 2005 2.5 N/A engine AND transmission for $675.00. It only took a weekend for the engine/trans swap, and another week to diagnose some interesting issues from using such a late model engine. Knowing what I know now, it isn't so scary, but I'm told an earlier 2.5 is an easier swap. I say go for it! There are a lot of places to find decent engines and transmissions. Turbos are cool, but I'd rather start with a turbo car than try and make a turd into faster turd. (i.e., more tapered on the end?)

[ahowell]

I got my '06 wrx engine off eBay for $3k shipped. I did the engine install myself, and the first half of the wiring. I would recommend going with an '02-'05 wrx engine. The '06 has a real nasty immobilizer system that I could get to work so I had to get standalone engine management (Autronic!!!) My total cost of the swap was about $9k ($3k was labor for the Autronic install, $2k for parts to make the Autronic work with the '06 engine)
I am getting about 240whp/wtq @ 15psi with a turbo xs turbo-back, aps tgv deletes, light weight flywheel, & light weight pulleys. Oh and I am running the stock '96 trans.

You could get it done right with $6k I would bet.