H6 powered Gen 2 Liberty.

jzk25 · Post by **jzk25** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 7:10 am

Hi all, this is my latest project. It is a street car but I thought the conversion itself would be relevant to offraod people because I think this engine would be brilliant for a serious offraod Subaru because it has sooo much torque.

I bought the wagon for a reasonable price after selling a previous identical wagon.
I did 127 km in it with the original EJ22 auto driveline before pulling it to bits on a saturday night and fitting a new driveline. I though it'd be a change to go NA so I got hold of an EZ30 out of a 2002 Outback. I mated this up to a V3 STi 5 speed and rear diff. A quick rewire, some V6 STi monotube struts and a set of factory 15's and WRX 277mm brakes and we are away.

I had to add the factory immobiliser system including key and key barrell. It all came together pretty well and fired up first click.

Still had to sort out some plumbing, namely top radiator outlets, exhaust(twin 2" into single 2.5") and finish the air intake(stainless piping to ARC WRX airbox).

Finished the intake, sorted out the drive belts, mounted a WRX fan sideways on the GX radiator and fabricated a tee piece top radiator pipe(EZ30 has two top outlets). Yes it is quite tight up front.

ARC airbox.

So I have been driving it for a month or so and all is good, surprisingly the ecu doesn't seem concerned with the lack of factory auto(no manual option in this H6). The only hangover from the auto being missing is a slight flare of the revs on lower rpm gear changes as the idle motor must sit in a slightly open position.

The engine is so smooth and torquey, it will happily pull away from walking speed in 4th gear.

So I guess this means a couple of things. The engine can be fitted to a liberty/impreza/forester and work well. And secondly, a factory H6 gen 3 outback can be converted to dual range manual. The only problem with the latter is that in high spec cars with stability control I doubt the VDC or ABS will work without the auto present.

Lapsed · Post by **Lapsed** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 9:39 am

Nice work mate. Looks like a tight fit. was there any major changes like body work or engine mounts?

jzk25 · Post by **jzk25** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 12:06 pm

No cutting of the body work needed. It bolts in place on the factory H6 mounts(different to EJ). I considered it to be very straightforward actually, although conversions are my speciality. Apart from the wiring it is something that the average mechanically competent person could do.

The engine is very linear and quite powerful but I am smitten with the 6 now and want more from it so I have another engine on the way that will get a rebuild with forged pistons and rods to accomodate a pair of turbos.

D3V1L · Post by **D3V1L** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 9:53 pm

im thinking hard about doing this conversion to my outback:D

now i have a reference;)

dave

Ben · Post by **Ben** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 5:35 am

I find it interesting that

it has sooo much torque

I may just be used to the car now but I don't find the torque of the h6 overly impressive - and have certainly driven torquier cars.

Makes me think mine may be a dud :P

__JC__ · Post by **__JC__** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 6:59 am

Comparing it against other Subaru offerings it'd still have to be torquey in a Gen II compared to an EJ22, EJ25 or an off boost EJ20.

Especially in manual form and without the weight from the auto + Gen III chassis.

jzk25 · Post by **jzk25** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 7:00 am

It's the auto Ben, it sucks the life out of the engine. My bro has a std H6 like yours and it is as you say, smooth but not really impressive(unless you step out of our ej25 into it, THEN it's impressive).

I was very surprised how responsive and willing the engine is. It lugs happily from low speeds but will also scream to redline in a blaze of induction noise.

They must have softened the auto too much and taken the engines good bits away with it.

Does yours have stability control? Manual conversion?

bobbyjimmy · Post by **bobbyjimmy** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 8:22 am

Al, have you seen the H6 build-ups on NASIOC and clubsub.org.nz ?

The NASIOC one is built by Perrin (and put in to an Impreza) and goes thru the different pistons, rods, headwork etc they needed for boost and i'm pretty sure the clubsub one is similar but just by some guy and not as technical.
Both are interesting reads.

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 12:33 pm

Al , have you found that they dont run on any thing less then ULP 98
I found the power to high in the rev range with the auto .Still one of the best cars I have owned to date .Best resale I have ever recovered as well

nice work Al

jzk25 · Post by **jzk25** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 8:15 pm

bobbyjimmy wrote:Al, have you seen the H6 build-ups on NASIOC and clubsub.org.nz ?

The NASIOC one is built by Perrin (and put in to an Impreza) and goes thru the different pistons, rods, headwork etc they needed for boost and i'm pretty sure the clubsub one is similar but just by some guy and not as technical.
Both are interesting reads.

Seen all the Nasioc builds but nothing on clubsub. Got a link.

Seagull, found out how much it hated 92 when I first got it running. Had to get through a whole tank of it and it hated every minute of it. It was barely drivable.

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 9:44 pm

jzk25 wrote:Seen all the Nasioc builds but nothing on clubsub. Got a link.

Seagull, found out how much it hated 92 when I first got it running. Had to get through a whole tank of it and it hated every minute of it. It was barely drivable.

I wonder how many people have ran the 92 .Lots I am thinking .

daza · Post by **daza** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 7:47 am

The real question Al,
Is can you get them at a resonable price?
The EZ30 is quite hard to find.
Daza.

__JC__ · Post by **__JC__** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 1:26 pm

daza wrote:The real question Al,
Is can you get them at a resonable price?
The EZ30 is quite hard to find.
Daza.

This one sounds pretty good to me Daza, if it comes with everything.... ($2500)

Ebay EZ30

Would love to do it if I had the necessary funds.

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 1:51 pm

jzk25 wrote:

There's a techical term - H6 "Banger"... Me likes.

I also like your write up that makes it out to sound like you did this in a weekend -

jzk25 wrote:I did 127 km in it with the original EJ22 auto driveline before pulling it to bits on a saturday night and fitting a new driveline.

Either way, a fair effort and a tidy job. Well done!

Bennie

jzk25 · Post by **jzk25** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 9:36 pm

El_Freddo wrote:I also like your write up that makes it out to sound like you did this in a weekend -

I pretty much did. Pulled the old engine and box on Saturday evening after work, H6 was in by 7.30. Back sunday morning and bolted the box and diff in. Dash out, wiring out, finish off rewire(I had started the wiring already), fired up first kick sunday arv, dash back in. Home for dinner. Did the rest after work during the week, made the exhaust the following saturday morning.
It was well planned and I am experienced at conversions though.

Sunspares have a few engines(that's where mine came from). The whole lot will cost $4k ish, engine,ancillaries, wiring and ecu. Not uber cheap. I have also asked the importer I deal with to grab them if they come up and he has 2 on the way already. These won't have wiring or ecu though.

daza · Post by **daza** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 10:59 pm

__JC__ wrote:This one sounds pretty good to me Daza, if it comes with everything.... ($2500)

Ebay EZ30

Would love to do it if I had the necessary funds.

Yeah, EZ30 is the motor i want in the Impreza eventually.
Sounds like hes wrecking that one so maybe?
Wrong timing for me.
Daza.

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 12:12 am

jzk25 wrote:I pretty much did. Pulled the old engine and box on Saturday evening after work, H6 was in by 7.30. Back sunday morning and bolted the box and diff in. Dash out, wiring out, finish off rewire(I had started the wiring already), fired up first kick sunday arv, dash back in. Home for dinner. Did the rest after work during the week, made the exhaust the following saturday morning.

Bloody hell, well done mate, I take my hat off to you

Bennie

AlpineRaven · Post by **AlpineRaven** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:24 pm

Nice... man its really neat upgrade... how is it going in these days now?
Cheers
AP

Outback bloke · Post by **Outback bloke** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 6:39 am

Al, any chance of going for s spin in it? Kind of what I am wanting to do with my Outback.

r00fi · Post by **r00fi** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 11:18 am

jzk25 wrote: And secondly, a factory H6 gen 3 outback can be converted to dual range manual. The only problem with the latter is that in high spec cars with stability control I doubt the VDC or ABS will work without the auto present.

I've been considering doing a manual H6 Outback for a while but didn't think of the VDC or ABS ramifications. Do you have any specifics on why these won't work?