dahoseman Posted November 18, 2020 Share Posted November 18, 2020 I didn't see a satisfying answer to this already. I have a 2005 Outback XT with an STI drivetrain. The body has taken a real beating over the years and a lot of suspension and body parts have been falling apart, so I was already thinking of swapping my drive train into a Forester XT. Several parts crapped out recently, so it's time to abandon XT. I recently found a similar generation 5sp Forester that had an engine failure, which would be a good 'shell'. Does anyone know how difficult it would be to swap a turbo drivetrain into a NA vehicle? Are the wiring harnesses compatible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxkita Posted November 19, 2020 Share Posted November 19, 2020 sti swapped foresters are a thing. swap over the ecu and other parts. you might have to find a wrecked turbo forester to get the right ecu tho Build my car Boxkita Track days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dahoseman Posted November 19, 2020 Author Share Posted November 19, 2020 I have all of the electronics from my outback XT. Are the NA harnesses a direct plugin for a XT model? I can plug in my ECU and do some minor mods, but I have to deal with electrical reworing, forget about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxkita Posted November 19, 2020 Share Posted November 19, 2020 you could fix the xt body for less money than doing the swap. Na to turbo is an involved swap. changing models, too? Unless you're really good mechanically and electrically, this is going to be a tough swap. time & money Build my car Boxkita Track days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dahoseman Posted November 19, 2020 Author Share Posted November 19, 2020 I have all of the electronics from my outback XT. Are the NA harnesses a direct plugin for a XT model? I can plug in my ECU and do some minor mods, but I have to deal with electrical reworing, forget about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxkita Posted November 19, 2020 Share Posted November 19, 2020 how much do you want for the xt as it sits? Build my car Boxkita Track days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dahoseman Posted November 19, 2020 Author Share Posted November 19, 2020 sorry for posting in the wrong area. I'm using a phone and it's hard to read. Boxkita, I need to see what the STi drivetrain is worth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dahoseman Posted November 19, 2020 Author Share Posted November 19, 2020 The STi swap into the Outback was pretty straight forward. I wasn't sure how different the NA models are from the turbo. What needs to be done? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxkita Posted November 19, 2020 Share Posted November 19, 2020 you did 6mt turbo engine into 5mt turbo car? that's a really simple swap, relatively. now you want to swap a 6mt turbo engine into a 5mt non turbo body thats a different car. electrical is going to be different. ecu is different. paying a shop? 5-10,000$ doing it yourself? 0-10,000$ costs depend on how complete the forester is and whether you can source parts from a turbo forester. if you can find a turbo forester electrical, swap is difficult as you have to get all the electronics working again Build my car Boxkita Track days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dahoseman Posted November 19, 2020 Author Share Posted November 19, 2020 Oof. That is what I feared. If it's that big of a mess, I'll keep looking. The Forester is currently complete, but with a serious engine knock and sitting on a trailer in someone's back yard. The guy doesn't want to mess with it and just wants to get rid of it. I don't have much experience with the NA Subaru's, so I wasn't sure what is compatible between NA and turbo models Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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