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Musicman811
Samba Member
Joined: March 23, 2021
Posts: 31
Location: TEXAS
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 Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2021 8:02 am Post subject: JDM Subaru Swap? Opinions |
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I have a 73 Westy with no motor - only trans
I have seen someone selling a JDM EJ20 and I am wondering if it is worth it to swap that into the bus? Haven't done one before and I want to know if it is worth the effort. Are they reliable? Is it a waste? Should I try Air-cooled?
Be nice to this "dreamer" - we all have to start somewhere.
Thanks! |
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skills@eurocarsplus
Samba Peckerhead
Joined: January 01, 2007
Posts: 16849
Location: sticksville, ct.
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| Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2021 8:10 am Post subject: Re: JDM Subaru Swap? Opinions |
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people always fight me on this...
JDM stuff is a myth in terms of mileage etc and is just different enough to be a huge pain in the ass down the road in terms of finding parts.
find a donor here in the US and keep the VIN number from the donor and move on.
_________________
| gprudenciop wrote: |
my reason for switching to subaru is my german car was turning chinese so i said fuck it and went japanese....... |
| Jake Raby wrote: |
| Thanks for the correction. I used to be a nice guy, then I ruined it by exposing myself to the public. |
| Brian wrote: |
| Also the fact that people are agreeing with Skills, it's a turn of events for samba history |
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Cap10323
Samba Member
Joined: July 24, 2016
Posts: 604
Location: Ohio
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| Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2021 9:12 am Post subject: Re: JDM Subaru Swap? Opinions |
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I can't speak for putting one in a bus.
But I bought a 2nd gen (SG9) Forester that had a 10K documented mile EJ201 swapped in by a local shop.
It was supposedly a plug-and-play swap, even the ECU worked without issue. And I have put over 100K miles on the engine with literally no problems.
One timing belt, one set of plugs and wires.
Zero leaks, zero issues even after flogging it to death towing overloaded trailers, treating it like a pickup truck, and offroading. It's been a real trooper of an engine. Never runs hot, great gas milage for a Subaru engine.
It's a hamsterwheel though, the car is perceptibly sluggish to drive compared to the 2.5, and that's even with a manual transmission. Sometimes you need to turn the AC off to reach highway speeds when going up hills. etc.
I'd imagine the car would be borderline dangerous to drive with an automatic if you had to do a lot of high-speed merging.
If you can get a truly documented low milage engine for a good price, I say go for it. But remember that you will still need a compatible donor car for the wiring harness, ecu etc.
It's definitely going to be easier (and probably cheaper) to just buy a wrecked subaru that still runs and drives, and remove the entire engine and electrical system in one shot.
_________________
-Ian
'77 Westfalia - 2.0 F.I |
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alman72
Samba Member
Joined: October 09, 2014
Posts: 2573
Location: MICHIGAN
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| Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2021 11:14 am Post subject: Re: JDM Subaru Swap? Opinions |
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| skills@eurocarsplus wrote: |
people always fight me on this...
JDM stuff is a myth in terms of mileage etc and is just different enough to be a huge pain in the ass down the road in terms of finding parts.
find a donor here in the US and keep the VIN number from the donor and move on. |
wait, what are you keeping the donor vin for? does it follow the bus you swap it into? just for parts reference? |
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skills@eurocarsplus
Samba Peckerhead
Joined: January 01, 2007
Posts: 16849
Location: sticksville, ct.
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| Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2021 12:54 pm Post subject: Re: JDM Subaru Swap? Opinions |
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| alman72 wrote: |
wait, what are you keeping the donor vin for? does it follow the bus you swap it into? just for parts reference? |
subaru is full of a bunch of evil pricks that change stuff by the minute. wiring on say a 03 could be 3 different things depending on the DAY it was made. if they saw a way to improve something....they did it that day.
keeping the VIN makes a call to the dealer a breeze when you need that sensor, hose or anything else.
i won't do a swap without a valid VIN for parts/service info.
why make life harder on yourself?
so yes, the VIN of the donor follows the swap
_________________
| gprudenciop wrote: |
my reason for switching to subaru is my german car was turning chinese so i said fuck it and went japanese....... |
| Jake Raby wrote: |
| Thanks for the correction. I used to be a nice guy, then I ruined it by exposing myself to the public. |
| Brian wrote: |
| Also the fact that people are agreeing with Skills, it's a turn of events for samba history |
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metahacker
Samba Member
Joined: May 26, 2010
Posts: 692
Location: san.diego
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| Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2021 2:02 pm Post subject: Re: JDM Subaru Swap? Opinions |
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| in my experience swapping hondas, "real" jdm swaps are, financially, unbelievable deals. 50-60k legit miles and you typically get the harness, ecu, tranny, axles and all sorts of other shit to go with it. however, a lot of importers are selling shit from other markets that is beat to piss and claiming its low mileage jdm. skills brings up some interesting points specific to subarus though... sounds like u may have some technical challenges specific to jdm vs usdm differences and date of manufacturer etc |
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