Swap Subaru legacy 2.5

[Rafa199]

hello everyone 
My name is Rafa and I live in Spain, I just joined the forum. 
I am using a translator to write
I have a naturally aspirated Subaru Legacy 2.5 with a damaged engine, I want to swap a turbo engine, I have thought about buying from England (the price is lower than Spain) an Impreza WRX (they have right-hand drive there, in Spain it is the left) to use it as a donor car and take advantage of the engine, wiring, ECU and everything necessary. Here in Spain I can't find information about the Legacy, has anyone on the forum done something similar? I imagine so, in case you can give me some advice on which model would be best as a donor car and the difficulties of the project. 
thank you very much, greetings

[KZJonny]

This may help:

hello everyone My name is Rafa and I live in Spain, I just joined the forum. I am using a translator to write I have a naturally aspirated Subaru Legacy 2.5 with a damaged engine, I want to swap a turbo engine, I have thought about buying from England (the price is lower than Spain) an Impreza WRX (they have right-hand drive there, in Spain it is the left) to use it as a donor car and take advantage of the engine, wiring, ECU and everything necessary. Here in Spain I can't find information about the Legacy, has anyone on the forum done something similar? I imagine so, in case you can give me some advice on which model would be best as a donor car and the difficulties of the project. thank you very much, greetings

[KZJonny]

The old advice about this probably remains true today, although I do not know what the market is like in Spain, so perhaps not.

It will almost certainly be less expensive to simply buy a turbo car locally than to covert your non-turbo car.

Even if you get a complete donor, the work needed to integrate the wiring + in this case, get all the parts to fit the WRX parts into the Legacy will be extensive.
If you are very good at wiring and have a place to do all the work yourself, with an available lift you can use for a couple/few weeks, maybe you can break even.

 

Are you allowed to have a Right Hand Drive car in Spain? If so, just drive the WRX, save thousands of dollars + headache.

Not telling you what to do, so surprise us and make something awesome and take lots of photos. But the only time it really made sense to add an imported turbo engine to a car was when they were not available here, or if you are just replacing and engine in a car which is already came with a turbo.

[Rafa199]

hello 
Thanks for answering, I will continue thinking about what to do, the third generation Legacy turbo was not sold here in Spain. For now I will continue using my car since it works (it leaks a little water, consumes oil and has a connecting rod bushing noise) and I will think about what I do. 
In my house I have a car lift and I would do it there with a good mechanic, my friend. The issue of wiring is what worries me the most since it is probably where the mechanic controls the situation the least, although if it is due to time there is no problem. 
If I carry out the project I will take photographs and upload them here 
greetings

[KZJonny]

hello Thanks for answering, I will continue thinking about what to do, the third generation Legacy turbo was not sold here in Spain. For now I will continue using my car since it works (it leaks a little water, consumes oil and has a connecting rod bushing noise) and I will think about what I do. In my house I have a car lift and I would do it there with a good mechanic, my friend. The issue of wiring is what worries me the most since it is probably where the mechanic controls the situation the least, although if it is due to time there is no problem. If I carry out the project I will take photographs and upload them here greetings

 

It will help a lot if you paste your translations as "Plain Text".
They are a little difficult to read when you cut and paste directly (too wide for the screen).

 

Have you thought about finding a 3.0L H6 and transferring that into your car? They are really great engines, and fit fine, since they were installed in the 3rd Gen from factory. If you can find one in a scrapyard, all the ECU etc.... would be available as well. You wouldn't be making stuff up from scratch, since it is all factory parts.

You could put the money you save buying a turbo engine + all the work involved in making that fit your car and spend it on a Raptor Supercharger. You'd end up with a combination that is known to work well, and is quite powerful. (I would love to have a 3.0L H6 + Raptor SC !)

 

Edited November 9 by KZJonny

[Rafa199]

Hello 

Yes, the truth is that I had thought about investing the money in an H6, even if it left the factory with that power, it is enough for me. I think they are all automatic transmissions, I don't know if there would be a problem since my car is manual and I want it to stay that way. I would need the engine, wiring plus ECU and everything would fit together much more easily than with the turbo engine, right? 

thank you, regards

[KZJonny]

Yeah, all of the H6 cars only ever came with a 5EAT (automatic). The switch to manual has been done, but is quite difficult by all accounts. There is a facebook group for people who have swapped the H6 into other cars, so you might find some information there. The actual install would probably be easier, since there is less difference in things like the exhaust path, intercooler piping + hood scoop, etc... Again, it was done from the factory, so you can find the parts in a scrapyard or from people parting out cars.

If you find a way to install the turbo engine into your car, you would probably want to install the transmission from the donor car as well. The 5MT that came in your 2.5i probably won't live very long with the torque from the turbo car going through it anyway. + the rear differential to match the ratios, and also to handle the power.

Swapping in either engine will require the ECU, wiring, and almost certainly a lot of working out wiring to make the engine work with the body module, etc... I don't recall if there is a JDM 3rd Gen car that came with anything like a WRX engine (Single turbo, AVCS, etc...) But I kind of think not. So, while I am sure it has been done, you'd be on your own finding the information or working it out. Maybe someone here has done it? But I can't think of anyone here with a LHD 3rd Generation car with a turbo engine. If there is, hopefully they will find this and speak up.

[Rafa199]

OK The truth is that I am undecided, I like the aesthetics of my car more than that of the Impreza, I would like to enter the circuit from time to time to enjoy it but the way the engine is, I don't want to push it. I would rather spend money on a swap than on repairing that engine, although I understand that it is quite complicated. When I make a decision I will comment on the forum thank you for your help it has helped me a lot greetings

[KZJonny]

You may find some useful information on subaruoutback.org

There are a lot more NA engine owners there, but also some very experienced XT turbo owners as well.

If someone has managed to put a turbo engine into a 3rd Gen (NA) chassis, decent chance somebody there will know about it.