Picked up a Donor SVX!, 3.3 liters of fury Options

[Chris H.]

Finally found a deal that I could not pass up. 1995 SVX with rust issues...mechanically and engine-wise it's great. It's been said before but the SVX is dang fun to drive. Apparently the reason they never offered a 5 speed version is that Subie did not make a manual trans that could handle 230HP. They should have pursued fixing that. The Subie 4EAT automatic trans is not a great match for this motor. Not going that route any more...

Anyway, thanks to BigKat 83, Ian Megale and others for the Subaru education over the past couple of years along with the awesome build threads from several members. Can't wait to get it pulled, sealed, and slapped in to the teener!

Here she is...BTW there was a body kit on it that someone ripped off, taking a bunch of door sheet metal with it.




Does the sunroof seal look factory? It leaks a little...

[JRust]

Congrats that 6 makes for a great swap!

[Chris H.]

Congrats that 6 makes for a great swap!

Thanks Jamie...too bad your Buick V8 was too far away. That's a great deal for someone. A good one of those is very hard to find.

[wingnut86]

Welcome to the Subie world inside your teener!

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[76-914]

I passed on one of those just because of the 3.3 length. Maybe I should just move on a 3.3. Seems like they are more available than the EZ30. Post a bunch of pic's. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[Chris H.]

I passed on one of those just because of the 3.3 length. Maybe I should just move on a 3.3. Seems like they are more available than the EZ30. Post a bunch of pic's. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

I definitely will. Looking forward to finally posting something of value. Spent some time de-parting it today. I'm moving from back to front....once I get to the oily parts I will start posting. I don't think the length is going to be an issue at all. Should fit right in...we'll find out soon. I'll be using Ian's kit. Still need to find a trans but that's not as big of a deal.

[a914622]

Great engine choice! welcome to the madness!

You can find about the best price on stock gaskets at subaruparts.com. I just finished buttening up a rebuild on mine.

Some points i learned in doing a 3.3 rebuild:

KEEP the oil clean! I had to pull all the lifters apart and super clean them to get them to pump up.

All the hoses will be brittle. The heat under the hood cooks them and maybe the wire harness.

Use only threebond or Yamabond gasket material. no RTV

when removing the dash to get to the harness putt all the 10mm and 12mm you can find.

Im not sure of the lenth but i have an extra 3.3 store in the engine bay of the 75 911 and it fits in the hole?

They did make an svx 5 speed, just not imported. There was a guy in the north west that did the swap to 5 speed and made some long runner headers. That car was street bike fast!! 60 to 110 was insane and it sounded like an uncorked 911.



jcl

[Chris H.]

Thanks man! Very helpful advice. I'll be sure to check all that stuff. The engine runs very strong and I love the noise it makes... Big Kat has already done a 3.3 so it does fit in the hole.

The SVX is a pretty interesting car and well built. Every switch and electrical item works perfectly despite the car being pretty worn out cosmetically. It has automatic climate control, which I might keep...and cruise control. The side windows were not a great idea...leaned in to grab something and could barely get my head and shoulder back out!

If you can find a good deal on one it seems like you could recoup quite a bit in parts...although the community is not as active as the 914 bunch. Once I start selling parts I will post whats valuable and whats not.

[charliew]

I think it was more of a luxury car than a hotrod. If the buyer wanted a performance suby he had to settle for the sti or the wrx which was a lighter car and had fewer luxury options. 400ft lbs in a suby with awd is the tranny breaking point but of course a person can break anything if he or she tries, as the kids on nasioc prove daily. Also the weight of the wrx and sti with the traction of the tires is in the equation. The 914 with only two driving wheels will stress the tranny a lot less.

That should make a nice street car.

I bought a few motors just for the fasteners and associated fittings and tubes.

[Chris H.]

Moving along pretty good now. Bought an air compressor and tools so it should go a lot faster from here on out. So far it's a pretty normal car...oddest thing I found was this...



It's for the front wipers... the switch was on the underside of what we would call the "knee pad" although not shaped the same as ours. So in "winter" mode the wipers park about 6 inches higher on the windshield. Someone got paid to think that up.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[euro911]

So how's the conversion coming along, Chris ???

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[Chris H.]

Hey Mark,

I've been stuck in the engine re-seal department for a while but that's nearly done. A couple of bolts snapped in the process which were not fun to drill out and re-tap. Also forgot how much work parting out a car is....

Just finished converting the 06 WRX trans yesterday. I'll post some pics as soon as I get a chance.