I'm selling my 91 mr2 turbo for a subie. I want a 2 door 94ish impreza and I don't which engine is the best bang for the buck. I went to a shop that imports engines and the guy was really cool. He had a 93 wrx engine with transmission (minus the axles), and stock turbo for 750 bucks. He also had a what he thinks is a 94 or 95 twin turbo legacy engine with harness, ecu, tranny, and axles for $1400. I see twin turbo being pointless on a 2 liter engine but all my friends say to buy it for the bling factor of having two turbos. I don't know how hard is to find a 93 wrx harness and ecu or how expensive it will be. Plus I'm an idiot with wiring so I was hoping somebody had a write up of how to wire a swap for either one of these engines.

Pre-96 Imprezas were all 1.8's, I think. I would avoid.
2.2 is a good engine (135 or more hp)
2.5 is better (165hp) but avoid the 4 cam version.
If you can't do the work yourself, just buy a WRX. The money you spend having a swap done will never be recovered, and you won't have anything better than a WRX with no power windows.
Subaru didn't make a twin turbo setup...don't know what that guy has.

700 is a rip for a 92.

I can get 2002 wrx engines for around that price.

you won't really find a write up for a swap. make friends with the people in this forum http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=87 and with the search button :) good luck!

WOW this thread is in bad shape. NotAnRS I am not sure i agree with anything you posted. There are early(pre96) 2.2l Impreza AWD cars. Dont buy a WRX you will be sorry. I have alot less in my swap then what you can get a used WRX for and its much better then the USDM WRX, and it even has power windows. Subaru did make a twin turbo engine in Japan but it wont fit in a LHD car. That 93 engine sounds like a winner....engine and trans for 750 is a great deal. Check the engine code to make sure its a wrx engine, should have an air to air intercooler. also do a compression test, Should be easy with trans still attached? Avoid the twin turbo engine, not worth the hassle.

DragonReborn maybe you didnt read his post but its engine and trans for 750. You cant even touch a good wrx trans for that and a 2002 engine for 750 ya sure maybe a long block.

Pre-96 Imprezas were all 1.8's, I think. I would avoid.
2.2 is a good engine (135 or more hp)
2.5 is better (165hp) but avoid the 4 cam version.
If you can't do the work yourself, just buy a WRX. The money you spend having a swap done will never be recovered, and you won't have anything better than a WRX with no power windows.
Subaru didn't make a twin turbo setup...don't know what that guy has.
You don't know what you're talking about. :rolleyes:


I would be weary about that 93 engine myself, it's old, it probably has a lot of miles. I would deffinately do a compression test, or make sure he warranties his engines.. If you bought this, you probably would want to buy a pre 96 car (sounds like you don't have a subaru yet?).

Pre-96 Imprezas were all 1.8's, I think. I would avoid.
2.2 is a good engine (135 or more hp)
(first 2 lines ok)

2.5 is better (165hp) 98's have the DOHC which is are better heads
If you can't do the work yourself, there are companies who can at a fairly reasonable price and you can even have a WRX interior and no matter what you will have power windows.
Subaru made a twin turbo setup...it came in some legacys.


there hopefully i fixed all mis-information

actually, i think its been proven that the phase 2 sohc heads are better.

You guys are all over the place.

If you're doing a full swap, it really doesn't matter what year of car you get. You are limited though in finding two doors on the earlier models.

As for the RS engines....the 98's with DOHC had headgasket issues, but could be addressed. But it wouldn't matter if he's doing a swap. The DOHC heads from that engine were NOT as good as the later SOHC. Theoretically, you could modify the DOHC heads to work better...but that would be a lot of modification and if you have to ask, you shouldn't be thinking about it. The SOHC were cheaper to make and ended up having a better power/torque curve.

The twin-turbo legacy engines were used in RHD cars, so they are difficult to put in LHD cars. It's been done, but has lots of modifcation issues involved. You can do it if you want to make it special, but you won't find a lot of info on it here, only a few people have done it. It also isn't as efficient. It makes less power when you start modifying and you are more likely to run into reliability issues with power upgrades due to engine management problems.

The early WRX engines this guy is telling you about don't make as much horsepower as the later ones. You'll want to get one with a complete harness. If not, and you don't like wiring, pay someone to do it. Otherwise, you'll either spend 5 months trying to wire it up yourself, or you'll wing it, and end up with a slew of issues in the car after you reassemble, due to faulty wiring.

Also, don't know where you live, but if you have any type of emissions checking, remember, an OBD1 vehicle will be tested with a sniffer, but some states already are, or are planning on rolling out, plug-in tests for OBD-II cars, so remember that when you pick out your car.

I did misinform on that one its not something i have researched much(phase1 heads vs. phase 2 heads) i have however read (on a thread in the conversions forum)
that there are benefits to using the phase1 heads in place of the ej20g stock and i definitely havent heard of any one using the phase 2 heads (sorry this is O.T.)

also as far as the older wrx motors making less power than newer ones that completely depends on which ones you are comparing, cause a 94 wrx motor definitely makes more power stock than a 2005 usdm wrx motor, the emissions testing in your state definitly is a big issue that is one of the reasons i chose to get a 93 impeza wagon for my swap ( here in utah they have been doing the obd2 scans for emissions for over a year now)

Don't think its been mentioned yet: 1st 2dr Imprezas were made in '95.

I will be doing all the mechanical areas of the swap. The wiring part I know nothing about so I will be paying to have that done.
I found a teal 95 2 door impreza L for 2 grand and I think that would be the best car for me. For now I want to get the car running with a wrx engine, and then worry about mods.
The guy said that the wrx engine had 41k miles, but I haven't seen any paper work on it. The only number i could see on the engine was 178271. I didn't look real extensively, so I could have missed any other numbers that might have been on there. Josh at Cobb (I live in Utah) referred me to this guy and my friend has a honda engine from him that he is very happy with.
Where would I look for a harness and ecu for the '93 wrx engine?

Pre-96 Imprezas were all 1.8's, I think. I would avoid.
2.2 is a good engine (135 or more hp)
2.5 is better (165hp) but avoid the 4 cam version.
If you can't do the work yourself, just buy a WRX. The money you spend having a swap done will never be recovered, and you won't have anything better than a WRX with no power windows.
Subaru didn't make a twin turbo setup...don't know what that guy has.

1-?
2-?
3-?
4-?
um, is this a mind riddle, kinda like no is yes? like avoid means get cos its better?

I will be doing all the mechanical areas of the swap. The wiring part I know nothing about so I will be paying to have that done.
I found a teal 95 2 door impreza L for 2 grand and I think that would be the best car for me. For now I want to get the car running with a wrx engine, and then worry about mods.
The guy said that the wrx engine had 41k miles, but I haven't seen any paper work on it. The only number i could see on the engine was 178271. I didn't look real extensively, so I could have missed any other numbers that might have been on there. Josh at Cobb (I live in Utah) referred me to this guy and my friend has a honda engine from him that he is very happy with.
Where would I look for a harness and ecu for the '93 wrx engine?

even if you get an 89 RS legacy engine it makes more power than the US WRX's. So the 93 WRx engine if its in good nick will be the go. Id defiantely look for a 95-6 if you can find/afford it, they have the solid lifters. And the intercooler is bigger IIRC.
For the ECU and harness, i cant say, i dont live near you. There is alot of stuff on MRT and the australian subaru boards, so id try there if you dont have anyluck otherwise.

Source a harness and ecu before you buy the engine. That will be the hardest part by far. You are going to need a rear diff and front xmember too.
My 2cents would be to get a whole clip of a USDM WRX or JDM STi and swap all of it over. It will likely be cheaper in the long run. With a clip you can get suspension, brakes and STi goodies that your poor old L will surely need.
There is a good reason why his engines are so inexpensive; there will be a lot more spending to get it done.

even if you get an 89 RS legacy engine it makes more power than the US WRX's.

No it dosn't
espically with the avaiable bolt on ecu options for a usdm WRX

DragonReborn maybe you didnt read his post but its engine and trans for 750. You cant even touch a good wrx trans for that and a 2002 engine for 750 ya sure maybe a long block.

Complete engine, including turbo, etc. , minus wiring harness.

No trans tho.

C & T Intl Inc
(562) 942-7588

Pre-96 Imprezas were all 1.8's, I think. I would avoid.
2.2 is a good engine (135 or more hp)
2.5 is better (165hp) but avoid the 4 cam version.
If you can't do the work yourself, just buy a WRX. The money you spend having a swap done will never be recovered, and you won't have anything better than a WRX with no power windows.
Subaru didn't make a twin turbo setup...don't know what that guy has.

um yeah subaru made a twin turbo motor. All of the twin turbo motors are junk and lots are used in dune buggies.

If you do get a jdm swap, try to get a closed deck ej20g. Also try to get a type RA since they dont have the HLA's in the heads, and they have strong trannies.

Picked up the teal beast today. My dad lent me the money for the 2 door 95 impreza. Now all I have to do is sell my MR2 to pay my dad back, fund the engine swap and awd conversion. Thankfully, it is already a 5 speed so I won't have to change that. Just thought I would let everbody know.

I have a 91 awd 5 speed legacy and I was wondering if the gas tanks could be swapped along with the rear diff and everything I'd need to do the awd conversion.

Yes the Legacy stuff will all swap. I am not sure about the gas tank. If i had to guess i would say no. Just pull the complete rear X-member out of the legacy and bolt it up.

Legacy B4 or was it the Legacy B4 RSK that was twin turbo? Anyhow, as I have posted before you can buy a RHD USDM Legacy wagon every so often in the states. They were used by the USPS for rural routes. That would be an easy swap for the twin turbo setup :D
I have read many posts saying that if you get a JDM/EDM engine etc, buy the same year as your car, some of it is easier to install. Is your legacy by any chance a turbo? If so you have some very fun things to play with and work with ;)
Is that JDM engine you speak of from a wagon or not? Also for the TMIC you will need a hood with a hoodscoop ;)
-Joe

I don't know a whole lot about the b4 engine other than what the guy told me. I'm going to try to read some of the numbers off of it before I buy so I can research it some more. Then again he could have a more appealing engine by the time I sell my MR2. My biggest question right now is about the gas tank compatibilty. My legacy isn't turbo, I wish it was but it's not.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=725551

In that thread in the link I posted above there is a 94 WRX STI Type RA ECU
-Joe

Thanks for all the input