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This is my first project thread, actually my first thread on here ever, so hopefully I'm doing it right. This project has taken entirely too much time and way too much money but in the end I'll have a good story and a fun car. Alright, so lets begin. I purchased a 2003 Subaru Baja back in 2009, it is my first car that I could call my own and it's been a blast to own. The styling on the Baja I've found to be love it or hate it, for me it's quirky and I think it looks great. I've used it for anything and everything, hauling wood/appliances/sheet metal/furniture, taking it autocrossing, light offroading and mudding, and of course as my daily driver.  It seems like I caught the mod bug, I'd always upgrade something and then a few months later I'd find something else that could be improved, I've spend entirely too much on the various little projects with this car but I guess that's part of the fun. As I was autocrossing, I learned to push my car to the limit and I was surprised at how well the Baja managed to perform snaking it's way through the cones. It was definitely a sight to see. Last year I started thinking I could use some more power, so I looked at turbo-ing my car, after more research I started looking at just buying a newer Turbo Baja but they're really rare in Canada and would be pricey to import, and with this being my first car I have become attached to it somewhat. I Toyed with the idea of swapping a turbo engine into mine but ultimately I decided it would be smartest to just buy a dedicated autocross toy. Well, I didn't do the smartest thing. In January I saw an opportunity when looking at the SGI salvage auction, a blue 2010 Subaru WRX rollover and the idea of an engine swap seemed like an awesome project. So I put my bid in and purchased this hunk of metal sign unseen for $1500 and payed $500 to have it shipped to my house.  It definitely wasn't pretty when it came. What came after was a whole lot of months of tearing the wreck apart and buying replacement parts to get it back to running condition.    As you can see, everything looks broken and covered in a nice layer of battery acid from the accident. Seeing the Cam gears broken made my heart sink, I crossed my fingers and hoped that the valves and pistons were ok. From the original auction pictures you couldn't tell that the timing gear was trashed. At this point I figured I could at least get money back if I part it out if the engine is trash. So time to soldier on, had a good friend help with disassembly of the wreck, here's a picture of the interior after we got the dashboard out  Backside of the wreck  The garage at this point, looks positively clean compared to now.  Close up of the timing gear, showing just how bad it looked before:  The rest of the engine bay was covered with a mixture of battery acid and dirt/grass. It was a whole lot of fun to clean up.   Got really nervous when I looked at the turbo, I thought it moved somehow and got really dented on the bottom here. I started looking at used turbos on NASIOC and was not looking forward to paying for a new one, thankfully after looking through the listings, it looks like the legacy style VF52 that's in the new WRX is supposed to look like that. Who would have thought?  Here's some pictures to show just how much force is involved in a rollover, motor mounts split in two and lower control arms found a new exciting shape to be in.   Back to progress: Freed the motor from the wreak and put it in the garage, was fun moving the hoist around, where the wreck was it's gravel so we put down a sheet of plywood and had fun pushing it up onto the driveway and finally into the garage.   And now the fun starts. Took the motor apart, cleaning as I went. Took the heads off and checking pistons and valves to make sure it's viable. It was a good thing I did since the head aligment pins were all bent by about a cm, so instead of being a straight tube they were offset. Definitely good would have made some interesting noises if I started it up that way.   Yes, the head has a piece broken off on the exhaust. I took the head to a friend who has a machine shop in his backyard and he welded the broken piece back on.  It broke off from the force of the impact. The exhaust manifold cracked on the outer side, but on the inner side it took a piece of the head with it. Thankfully it was repairable and I didn't need to buy a whole new head. From the looks of the pistons, I'm guessing this WRX has seen a very boring life so far.  I cleaned off all the carbon on the pistons after hours and hours of cleaning using special wipes that apparently are used to clean the carbon off. looked fairly shiny after, unfortunately I didn't snap any pictures. After it was all put back together, put on timing belt and hand cranked it to make sure there weren't any clearance issues.  Look at that fine motor, so much nicer than what it looked like back in the wreck.  painted the intake manifold wrinkle black since the batter acid splash wasn't really my style.  After the timing covers put on, and mostly back together   Had fun and put the scoop onto the hood to see what it would look like  After reading on NASIOC about the oil pickup tube cracking, I took a look at mine and it showed signs of cracking, took it to a good friend who does welding for a living and he strengthened up the tube at the failure points, I'll eventually go with an aftermarket pickup, but for now this should hold. Pictures after I re-installed it.   Once that was done and all together, it's time to get this started  Right before the swap  Settled into it's new home for the next little while  Old and dirty  Taking apart the interior   Taking everything apart, getting it ready to take out  The engine hoist is waiting, patiently...  Transmission is out  And out with the old!  Car has now went from having ~170hp to 0.  Now it's time to find room for the new rats nest. Wiring has been a nightmare beyond believe, my ultimate goal is getting everything functioning and looking as though it was factory. I purchased a subscription to the Subaru technical site which has all the factory service manuals for the WRX and my Baja, so it's been a fun time splicing systems together trying to get everything to play nice and work. Had to make a few custom wiring harnesses when some systems went through connectors on the passenger side when the new wiring has them on the drivers side. Also since the fuse box is located on the side that recieved the brunt of the impact, I had to remake the entire harness that goes to the main fuse box since pretty much everything got damaged on that side.    I decided to use the new gauges from the WRX, partly because they look better and I've gotten used to looking at mine, and partly because when I looked at the wiring diagrams for the cluster it seems like it would have been nearly impossible to get the old gauges working with the new ecu and wiring. I think I had a mini aneurysm looking at that mess on paper. Made a backing plate from wood and covered it in 3M carbon fiber wrap so that it would fit into the mounting spot of the old gauge in the dash. Here's a picture of a mockup before it was all together. The wrap in this picture is pieced together from scraps I had from previous jobs, the final wrap was done in one piece so it looks much better.  Here's the test fit from before I had the car apart  Here it is all plugged in  And then finally, after months of on and off again working on this project, I had everything ready for the first start. Oil in the motor and all the electricals just put in all willy nilly so that it would just work and I could see if all that hard work would result in a start or if all I would hear would be click click click, or worst, click click BANG! My heart was pounding, everything up to this point has been an uphill battle and this was it, the moment of truth, to see if the next steps were putting it together with the new motor, or undoing all the work done and putting the old motor back in, defeated and having a failed project on my hands. So here's the moment that decided what's happening next: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I7b4SispaY | | | | | | It runs! It was such a relief to hear the motor fire on the first try. There was so much that could have been off, it was a miracle it all came together. After that point I got busy and put a whole lot of the interior together, put in the cooling system, got the heater working, the venting working, the rear lights, and headlights, and various other essential electrical systems. At this point this is how the interior looks  And here's a video of it running after I was testing to see if the radiator fans were functioning properly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_ct3LuyUJE I think it sounds really nice, I'm loving it. It'll definitely be one of a kind after all this work. I'll have to snap another picture of the engine bay sometime tomorrow since it looks much more presentable now than it did in the first video. I still have a whole lot of work to get it on the road, but I'm hoping within a week or two that I'll be driving it and enjoying the snow. Future plans involve a whole bunch of aftermarket parts and a good tune and hopefully I'll have my goal of 300whp by the end of next year. Already have a whole bunch just waiting to be installed but I want to run the motor as stock as possible for a while before I start modding again to work out any problems that might arise from it being through that kind of accident. Haven't finished putting the thing together and already I've been bitten by the mod bug. There's still a whole bunch I've left out to this point, I'll probably end up posting about the rest of the work at a later day. Bajaha fucked around with this message at 14:39 on May 7, 2013 |
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Nov 14, 2012 18:46
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This is a great project, and one that's been on my personal fantasy list (along with owning a Baja at all, really). Hi from the CSCC. I remember seeing that car pop up on the SGI list. Good job for getting it so cheap. The timing gear does like to break in Subaru front end accidents; I've even seen shattered exhaust cams before inside the head. The VF52 "dent," I'm sure you already know, is for clearance purposes; there's a similar one on some of the other IHI VF turbos as well. When you get the car back together and are comfortably on the road you should definitely look at a good tune. The 08+ WRX/WRX265 stock tune likes to chew up ringlands because it runs dangerously lean under WOT (for emissions reasons), and even if not a decent retune can crank a lot more power, response and torque out of the '52. If you can get a wideband in the downpipe you could do an email tune, or you could take a week off work and drive out west to come see Airboy Tuning in Calgary.  Have you done a compression/leakdown test yet to see if the engine is strong?
Seat Safety Switch fucked around with this message at 18:56 on Nov 14, 2012 |
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Nov 14, 2012 18:53
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Yep, yep. Definitely "doing this right". Really cool project. I like how the subarus are pretty much like a lego set, just mix and match what you want.
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Nov 14, 2012 18:57
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Thanks! I've heard of the garbage stock tune on these motors, haven't figured out where to get it tuned yet, asking around on the local forum it seems like my best options are either Calgary like you mentioned or going south to Minneapolis. Haven't decided yet, if you're recommending Airboy Tuning then I'm inclined to go there. From what I've seen it seems Cobb's Accessport is the most popular tuning solution, haven't purchased one since I'd like to find a tuner first incase they prefer a different tuning method. I purchased the AEM wideband when it was on sale from Boston Motorsports for $160, so I have that, haven't installed it yet though. Winter vacations are coming up so I'll definitively have time then to drive out to get it tuned, If I get an Accessport, I'm guessing an OTS map would be good enough until next summer since I'm planning on installing headers, uppipe, downpipe, an FMS Tmic, and I'll find more shinny stuff by then. Would rather not spend too much on a tune if it's going to need to be retuned once all those parts go on. Was going to put on the stock intake, but surprisingly there isn't enough clearance on for the box to fit above the frame rail so the Cobb SF intake it is. As for the compression/leakdown, I haven't yet and I'm definitely a shade tree mechanic with no formal training, so I have never done either one before. Any good guides I could look at or this something that a show would be able to do quickly and cheaply?
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Nov 14, 2012 19:15
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I think Airboy can do AccessPort but I'd check with him to be sure. Compression is definitely easy to do, you just go to Princess Auto, get the compression tester and go to town using any internet guide's directions (after swearing repeatedly trying to get at the sparkplugs on a modern turbo Subaru). http://jsalmi.com/dsm/tech/compression/ Leakdown test is harder since you need to build/find a leakdown tester but it's a similar actual procedure. http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/116_0406_cylinder_leakdown_tester/viewall.html
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Nov 14, 2012 19:33
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the before/after of that engine is incredible. It went from almost unrecognizable hosed up to showroom shine.
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Nov 14, 2012 20:23
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You are crazy and this is awesome.
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Nov 14, 2012 20:31
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This is really really cool. Are Subie center diffs all strong enough to handle the power?
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Nov 14, 2012 20:33
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Nice swap. Living the dream now. 
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Nov 14, 2012 20:37
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Clean swap!
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Nov 14, 2012 20:47
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Interesting project to say the least! Are you going to keep daily driving the Baja after this? Or are you going to sort of make it a "fun only" car?
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Nov 14, 2012 20:52
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Super Aggro Crag posted:You are crazy and this is awesome. This man speaks the truth. Great project.
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Nov 14, 2012 20:54
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Weinertron posted:This is really really cool. Are Subie center diffs all strong enough to handle the power? Regardless, the weak point on the WRX 5-speeds in my experience (ignoring launching-related failures) appears to be the 2nd and 3rd gears depending on the transmission year.
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Nov 14, 2012 20:55
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Seat Safety Switch posted:He's pulled the WRX 5-speed along with it so it should be burly enough to take the power. The centre diff is located in the general vicinity of the tailshaft housing of the transmission, and then it's just a matter of matching up the rear diff (which is probably an R160 in both the Baja and WRX) and driveshaft (which is identical across all 5-speed manual transmission models). Ah, I missed that the center diff is in the transmission. The Baja probably doesn't even weigh that much more than a WRX, so everything should be golden.
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Nov 14, 2012 20:57
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Yeah, it's only about a 100 lb weight difference between the 2003ish Baja and the 2010ish WRX. Dunno what it is with all the turbo hardware added on, but you can always crank the boost up a little more to compensate. You should weigh it on a highway scale when it's done! Seat Safety Switch fucked around with this message at 21:04 on Nov 14, 2012 |
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Nov 14, 2012 20:59
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A turbo, AWD pickup truck car? It's like the more insane, Japanese cousin of the Syclone.
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Nov 14, 2012 21:01
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Haha, that's a great description of it. The rear diff's are both R160's, the WRX one is indeed open, while my old Baja one was had an LSD. Couldn't mix and match since the WRX trans has a final drive of 3.9 while my old Baja one has a FD of 4.111 I'm not sure if the old transmission would take the power, if it would then I could always swap the transmission and rear again and just change the axles, I used the new hubs in the front since the ABS sensors function a little differently, I will need to change the rear hubs somehow to accommodate the new sensor style since my old one used a toothed ring around the axle while the newer one is a small metal disk with the sensor reading it from the side. I can't swap the entire rear hub since the mounting is quite different, it looks like I'd be able to just change the bearing since the new axles have more teeth on the rear than the old ones. For now it's the new diff but old axles and hubs. So for now the VDC and ABS systems wont be functioning until after winter when I have time to play with the rear, so I'll be missing the LSD  I have to keep an eye out for a used 3.9 lsd since I think there were a few models that came equipped with it so hopefully I'll get lucky. The car/truck is staying as a daily for me, I plan on enjoying it as much as possible. For now I've been driving around in a 98 Altima since I got it from my good for giving him a civic motor and helping out with the swap. Was actually a good story, the previous owner said all it needed was a headgasket. We pushed it home and wouldn't you know, the block had a window through it so you can check the broken rod from either side if you liked. Ha.
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Nov 14, 2012 21:20
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You might be able to just keep the stock rear sensors and tone rings and then wire them into the new harness (assuming the connectors aren't the same). If not, you could try the stuff from an 05-09 legacy.
jamal fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Nov 14, 2012 |
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Nov 14, 2012 21:22
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IIRC the VDC will freak out if you put a mechanical LSD back there anyway. I don't know if the community has figured out a way to disable the VDC/hill holder independently of the ABS yet, but if they have that would be a great reason to do it! As the WRX evolved (under the lead foots and ham hands of North American customers...) the gearbox became a lot more divergent from the "mainstream" 5MTs - wider "Type RA" style gears, extra synchros on first, etc - so while your old 4.11 drivetrain would probably deal with the abuse I'd stick with the 3.9. The new-style ABS tone rings are a lot better than the old ones that got damaged all the time doing brake jobs or violent offroad excursions. They should be compatible since the sensor is still just a hall effect. Seat Safety Switch fucked around with this message at 22:09 on Nov 14, 2012 |
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Nov 14, 2012 21:26
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Wow, that's a fuckton of good work being done!
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Nov 14, 2012 22:04
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Awesome project. Can't wait to see more updates.
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Nov 14, 2012 23:19
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I have daydreamed about something like this every time I see a Baja. This swap is pretty drat sweet. Thanks for living my dream.
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Nov 14, 2012 23:26
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I guess I'll splice some wires and see if the VDC freaks out with the old sensors. That'll have to wait until after winter since it's getting really cold around here and my garage isn't heated, first priority now is getting the rest of the essentials working and putting it back together and then taking it apart in spring once it warms up again. This swap was definitely a dream of mine after I got the car. It was always a fun thing to think about and imagine, and when I bought the car you can imagine how excited I was to do the crazy thing I've always dreamed about. In the process of doing it, it turns out dreams are easier when they're just in your head, but I'm certain that after I'll look back and be happy and forgot about how many problems I've run into, even now I'm certain I'm blocking out some of the earlier trouble I had. For how much time and effort this is has been, it's definitely something I'd like to only do once. And for the record, electrical systems are a pain in the rear end to work with. The rear taillight wiring is still confusing me. The Baja rear lights are combination lights, and the brake light blinks when the turn signal is on, the WRX lights are discrete and there's separate bulbs for the rear lights. After some tinkering I decided that using the old turn signal module from the Baja was the best bet. Dug it out from the old dash wiring harness and looking through the wiring diagrams for both, hooked it up in a logical manner. When it was hooked up this way, it would keep the rear left brake light on no matter what. When I unhooked the input for left turn signal on the module, and put the left turn output from the new harness to the hazard switch input on the module, it works exactly how it should. This makes no sense, but if it's functioning I have stopped questioning it.
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Nov 15, 2012 01:03
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Excellent work! I've always loved the Baja. Out of curiosity is there a list out there of "easy" powertrain interchanges between Subaru models?
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Nov 15, 2012 01:24
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Bajaha posted:And for the record, electrical systems are a pain in the rear end to work with. The rear taillight wiring is still confusing me. The Baja rear lights are combination lights, and the brake light blinks when the turn signal is on, the WRX lights are discrete and there's separate bulbs for the rear lights. After some tinkering I decided that using the old turn signal module from the Baja was the best bet. Dug it out from the old dash wiring harness and looking through the wiring diagrams for both, hooked it up in a logical manner. When it was hooked up this way, it would keep the rear left brake light on no matter what. When I unhooked the input for left turn signal on the module, and put the left turn output from the new harness to the hazard switch input on the module, it works exactly how it should. This makes no sense, but if it's functioning I have stopped questioning it. Seat Safety Switch fucked around with this message at 01:37 on Nov 15, 2012 |
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Nov 15, 2012 01:35
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I like how your neighborhood lets you keep a wrecked car in front of your house. They'd seize my house for that
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Nov 15, 2012 02:30
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This... is just awesome, and the very swap I would do if I had a Baja.  Ron Pauls Friend posted:I like how your neighborhood lets you keep a wrecked car in front of your house. Likewise, code compliance would pop up and fine the poo poo out of me within a few hours. Bajaha posted:For now I've been driving around in a 98 Altima As the owner of a 99 Altima.. you have my condolences.  Especially if it's an automatic, at least the 5 speed has a little pep.
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Nov 15, 2012 03:08
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I love Subarus and I love weird cars so the Baja is pure awesome. That said I bought a Volvo so I guess I'm not quite so dedicated to awesomeness as I should be, but at least you've got enough for both of us Bajaha. I can't wait to see where else you take this crazy thing.
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Nov 15, 2012 03:15
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Awesome thread, awesome project, awesome username! Are you going to change up the exterior at all?
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Nov 15, 2012 03:32
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destructo posted:Excellent work! I've always loved the Baja. Out of curiosity is there a list out there of "easy" powertrain interchanges between Subaru models? Bolting it in is easy. Engine and transmission mounting is the same on almost everything from 1990 to present. It's the wiring and getting a turbo engine to run in a non-turbo car that takes all the work because the ecu and harness is completely different.
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Nov 15, 2012 03:38
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Subarus don't have separate engine and body harnesses like lots of other cars, so you have to do a ton of wiring and often splice in comfort features to the new ECU as well. Some shops will build you a harness if you tell them what engine/ECU and chassis is getting in the mix. One of the best writeups I've seen of "what it's like" is here (some outdated/wrong information though, so don't follow it as gospel): http://www.powerlabs.org/car.htm In the interest of promoting bad financial decisions I'll point out that the six-cylinder Subaru engines are not that much bigger externally and share the same mounts... Seat Safety Switch fucked around with this message at 04:22 on Nov 15, 2012 |
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Nov 15, 2012 04:16
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Jesus christ, good loving job. You've come a long way. I've played in a turbo 6 speed baja and it was a bonkers vehicle all around.
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Nov 15, 2012 04:50
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Great write up and pictures, though you totally left out the AI usual "picture of the OP in the empty engine bay" I like the vanity plate too
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Nov 15, 2012 05:39
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Where you able to cover your costs by parting out the WRX?
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Nov 15, 2012 06:21
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I haven't really parted out the WRX yet, I was keeping everything for the time since I wasn't sure when I would need some random piece from the WRX. Have a few FS threads on NASIOC of some of the parts, but I really need to take some time and take pictures and put a proper FS thread with all the parts I have laying around. As for the neighborhood thing, I'm in a bay and we're all really close to each other, have an awesome relationship with all the neighbors and I've kept it beside the tree and always covered by a tarp when it wasn't being worked on, so it wasn't too much of an eyesore. None of the neighbors complained and quite a few were interested in the project when they came over. The Altima is indeed the 5 speed, it's actually not that bad, and now with the winter weather it warms up really nice and fast. The only problem is that the clutch is worn but it works for the most part and still manages to break the tires loose if you hammer on the throttle. I unfortunately don't have the AI usual picture, I do have a picture of me standing proudly with one foot on the transmission ala captain morgan style. And finally, for exterior mods, there isn't much I can do, I put the top sport lamps as they're called, and I've managed to get 3 sets of wheels for the thing. Otherwise I purchased a set of fully adjustable tokico shocks when they had their 70% off sale and I found a set of Whiteline lowering springs that should fit my Baja, must be really old stock since I can't find any mention of it on Whiteline's website but the box and everything about them would seem they're genuine. I'll install shocks and springs in the summer and I'll see how I like the drop, I'm only looking for an inch or so, if it's too much I'll have to find something. Finding aftermarket parts specifically made for the Baja is like trying to catch a leprechaun.
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Nov 15, 2012 06:50
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This is a ridiculously awesome project, and it's great that your first post contains so much info/progress... I got my first Subaru (02 Impreza TS) back in...March? and I already know I want to modify/change a few things, while saving for a newer WRX/STI. I had thought about the Baja, but there really aren't a ton of them out there and they seem to command a premium. I like how you're going all-out with the swap (not just engine/ECU, but the interior, as well? That's all a ton of work, and you're doing it properly as opposed to the quick & dirty way. I'll be following this thread with interest.
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Nov 15, 2012 08:31
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Seat Safety Switch posted:This is a great project, and one that's been on my personal fantasy list (along with owning a Baja at all, really). Hi from the CSCC. What is the octane requirement for the WRX? I remember on the last gen STi it was 93 Octane minimum. Maybe that's what was causing the issue.
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Nov 15, 2012 08:52
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Seat Safety Switch posted:
Could I mate that up to a six speed manual?
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Nov 15, 2012 14:47
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Throatwarbler posted:What is the octane requirement for the WRX? I remember on the last gen STi it was 93 Octane minimum. Maybe that's what was causing the issue. There's a pretty pronounced AFR increase on the stock car under WOT, you can see it on dyno charts with a wideband O2. Safety Dance posted:Could I mate that up to a six speed manual? There used to be a great YouTube video of some Australians with a 6-speed manual SVX with straight pipes.
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Nov 15, 2012 15:21
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Seat Safety Switch posted:Of course. The STI 6-speed takes the same exterior dimensions (and therefore mounts) as the 4-speed automatic that comes in the SVX. If I had some extra money and a hatred for my warranty, my Outback could use some extra torques and horsepowers.
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Nov 15, 2012 16:01
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