conversion

Hey i jsut bought a 94 2wd 1.8 impreza, im going to swap the engine for a 2.2 turbo but i need to know if anyone has done a 2wd to awd conversion and how much welding if any is involved. Also does anyone know of any good web sites that have prices on 2.2 turbo engine and also awd components (tranny, drive shaft, diffs, etc.).

Read this:

Q: "I have a FWD Subaru, can I convert it to AWD?"
A: As previously stated, Subarus are very interchangeable. If your car came with an EJ series engine, then any other engine components from an EJ series engine will drop into your chassis. Most of the time, you can't slowly convert to AWD; many of the components require the removal and/or installation of other components to work.


Q: "What components are needed to convert a FWD Subaru to AWD? Also read as 'Transmission swap technicalities'"
A: A new transmission will be required. Along with the new transmission comes the front diff, center diff, and tailshaft. You must also get the corresponding driveline for the transmission (side note here, if you are merely swapping one AWD transmission for another the MT typically shares one driveline between all other MTs and the ATs share another driveline; the STi 6-speed uses an AT driveline). There are many rear diff options, and any of them can be used as long as the final drive matches the final drive of the rear diff of the donor car the transmission came from. Front axles should be interchangeable, but newer axles are thicker. CV strength has remained the same and are not a weak point. Rear open diffs can be found on most Subaru models. Rear LSD s came on some Legacy Turbos, Some SVXs, 2000-2001 2.5RSs, and 2002+ WRXs. While final drive ratios vary, the axle splines do not. Your diff choice governs which rear axles are to be used. You will either need rear axles from an open diff Legacy or GC/GF/GM Impreza for an open diff or rear LSD axles from a 2000-2001 Impreza 2.5RS (ask for axles from 05/2000+ to be safe) for a rear LSD. If you are converting from AT to MT or viceversa, you will need the corresponding ECU since the AT ECU expects a TCU signal. You can spoof it as some have done.

"What else is needed?" Along with the basic driveline components, you are going to need most of the rear suspension and mounts from the transmission back. This includes the transmission crossmember, rear diff crossmember (and all in between), AWD gastank with driveline hump, struts and springs, AWD knuckles, a plethora of bushings, with the possibility of lateral links, swaybar, and trailing arms also being needed. Your best bet is to find an entire donor car that can be stripped. If that is not an option, you will be, as beachbum has said, 'nickle-and-dimed to death'.

More info can be found here - http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=87

thanks alot. I have a question about engines: ive been looking for 2.2 turbos on the internet and i have been seeing ej22et and ej22det. which one is the 2.2 turbo? does the ej20det real or did someone get confused with a nissan. And im assuming that it doesnt matter what car its for because that post said all ej engines fit my chassi.
also if i end up doing this in stages can i find a tranny for the ej22e that is just 2wd or will i need to get the awd tranny right off the bat and also do the different ej engines each have their own tranny (manual) or do they share the same model?

The EJ22 should bolt right on the FWD tranny you already have, and the 1.8 you have should bolt on whatever AWD drivetrain you swap in. So basically you can do it in 2 main stages, the engine swap, and the drivetrain swap. It's up to you if you want to swap the engine 1st and have a FWD 2.2 for a while, or the drivetrain 1st and have an AWD 1.8 for a while.

The "et" and "det" stuff is not the actual engine code, I assume whoever listed that was just implying that it's a turbo motor. And yeah, any engines will fit, but there are 2 basic crossmembers, the one on turbo models and the one on non turbos. If you're swapping a factory turbo engine into a non turbo chassis, the exhaust and water pump won't clear the crossmember, and you'll either need to do a little custom fabrication, or swap in a turbo crossmember while you're at it.

thanks alot that will really help. I think I am going to do the awd swap first cause i need to drive this car this winter and i can't do both swaps at the same time ( though that would be the easiest) cause it is my daily driver, well its my only car, and i just cant have it on jack for longer than a couple days.

if you're still interested in doing the swap i have all the drivetrain stuff left over from when i swapped an sti motor into a 99 2.5 rs.

i have the tranny, shift linkages/arms, and all tranny crossmembers/mounts.

PM me if you haven't bought all your equipment yet, i'll give you good prices.