The ***ALL NEW*** AUSubaru.com.au Forums

Hey all,

Chasing some advice on a planned upcoming conversion.

I'm looking at doing an engine swap and want advice on what works best.

Being this is an Australian forum, my choices will probably come down to what I can actually get a hold of.

For price/performance would you go an ej20 turbo, ej22 or ej25.
I think i like the idea of the ej20 turbo. Running a manual gearbox all wheel drive.

I've read so much on the various forums and just cant decide now!

What do you guys recommend? Any help would be great.

The EJ20 turbo will need the chassis rails cut and modified for the motor to fit. the early EJ18, EJ20, EJ22 and EJ25 single cam motors do not need this modification done. You will need to make a crossmember to suit the AWD gearbox and a tailshaft. A high pressure fuel pump, upgraded fuel lines and a surge tank are required for the fuel side of things. Finally you will need a cut down harness and the ECU to run the motor.

It is well worth it

TOONGA

Thanks for the reply toonga.

I have been reading the forums all day and have seem many bits and pieces from you.
I had sorta decided on the ej20 turbo.. Because i just love the idea of the brumby having a turbo :P

A couple of questions for you/others if you dont mind...

- Best place to source engine & gearbox? Ebay, gumtree, any particular importers?
- Is there a specific year range, or subaru model i should try and get the motor/gearbox from?
- Can i get power steering, cruise, aircon going on this conversion?

Can't wait to start, just have to chase up the parts. Got a nice brumby sitting here waiting to go!

That should get me going for the moment, Thanks for the help!

Just put an L Series EA82 exhaust Y pipe on between heads and flange join near gearbox - won't need an EJ then !

I do admire the guys who have done the EJ into MY thing ....axles, radiator, brakes, clutch mods, diff ratio changes, ECU wiring, fuel lines and pump.

I do know of a guy who made a step back after EJ20 turbo in his Brumby went to plain EJ20 AWD - made similar travel times within the speed limits as the turbo !

I know its a lot of work, but its a bit of a dream project between me and my dad.
He has had a brumby for going on 15 years now. Its getting a little bit of rust in the back panels, so im going to do it up for him. And he always thought the little turbo brumby would be great fun. So i decided to go ahead and do it. In the process learn to weld, paint, bodywork, rust removal, sanding, then the mechanics and electrical side of thing.

Looking forward to it!

If you are set on doing it then fair play to you.
I have recently sold an MV ( to you Oz boys a Brumby) with EJ20t - dont get me wrong they are a total hoot to drive but also a money pit and frankly unless you are going to also do the brakes and stiffen the chassis and upgrade the suspension the little old brumbys chassis is going to always let you know it was designed for a lot less power than you will have !!
They are also the worst risk you can possibly have to your driving license !!
This is NOT a cheap conversion in both monetary terms and time.
I am about to start work on a EJ22 conversion into a MV Brumby and I think this will be about right for the chassis / brakes
Good luck but be aware of the beast you are about to create........
0-60mph 4.5 seconds
140mph - then chickened out
both verifiable on race track radar !!!!

Thanks for the Info .

The plan will include suspension and disc brakes all round. Was going to do that for the safety aspect anyway. Current brakes are pretty bad.
I realise that it will be a big job but that's part of why I'm looking forward to it.
Do you think the power difference between the ej20t and the ej22 will be much?
A few ave suggested the ej22, but I'm building it for a fun sleeper car. Lots of power but just looks like a normal brumby.

It won't be a daily driver. Just a weekend or trip car.

gosh, you should'n't have titled your post asking for advice - it'll be wide ranging

Just be aware no one really makes all this stuff to do this to a Brumby. There was a brake conversion kit selling for about 1300 bucks to add 5 stud EJ disc brakes all around - just need to add the brakes and suspension componets to your budget. Production has stopped on those kits. Others have done it other ways.

My turbo Brumby project idea is now more than 7 years old

just a bump. Hopefully being the Aus forum, I will get some good info to get me started.

Quite curious about my questions above... Hopefully someone can help me.

Another question... Has anyone got their car engineered? If so, whats the procedure?

some good parts may be left way up here

showthread.php?t=23540

Stick with info from Victorian based people as rules differ from state to state regarding modifications

Bit of a thread dig while trying to find other info...

How has this project progressed neo? Did you get it all sorted?

I'm hoping you got some answers through just looking around. Engineer I'd be contacting one on the Vicroads approved list - follow their instructions. Ask if they've already done one before as it'll be much more straight forward if they've done one before.

Parts - where ever you can get them!

Brakes, go the cross bread (remove the a) conversion - can't get them new anymore but you might get lucky on finding a second hand kit.

I've recently heard about a rear disc conversion using TX3 parts (Ford focus turbo afaik). Other than that little tid bit, I can't find any other solid info on brake upgrades other than the kit mentioned above.

Hoping we'll hear back from you neo (with good news)!

Cheers

Bennie

I believe the TX3 gives you a suitable caliper but you still need the hubs from a RX or similar. Probably harder to find a TX3 being wrecked these days than RX parts!

dfoyl wrote:I believe the TX3 gives you a suitable caliper but you still need the hubs from a RX or similar. Probably harder to find a TX3 being wrecked these days than RX parts!

Well if it's only the caliper that's not really going to help as I've heard the skyline caliper of the same era is a bolt on affair and it also incorporates the handbrake into the rear caliper.

I've still got a lot to look into and it'll take some time. I'm hoping that a newer rear disc setup that has in standard form the rear hand brake as a drum brake setup will fit over the rear hub/shaved down drum of the MY/L series.

Basically what I want to achieve on one of my subarus is to keep the stock PCD but improve the brakes to create a complete sleeper.

We'll see how that goes... in time!

Cheers

Bennie