Subaru Conversion Products, coldwater914.com Options

[76-914]

This is what I'm trying to nail down. I want the Suby 6. I am under the impression that I will save myself a lot of $$ and time if I buy a donor car and use all of the wiring, ecu, etc. I do find some 6's w/ manual tranny's but they're all 3.3 6's out of the SRX. Every EZ30D I find has an automatic coupled to it. I'm afraid I might run into some issues with the factory ECU should I switch over to a manual tranny for the EZ30D. Then I read Ian's recent post re: the Small Cars kit and was confused. Is he saying he is using the 914's ECU + the kit OR the Suby's ECU + the kit?
Whoever said ignorance is bliss hasn't met me, yet. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[IM101]

So, to clarify for my dumb ass; I can but an EZ30D with just about any Suby 5-6 speed, buy the Small Car $200 kit to adapt to the 914 ECU, buy your kit and have basically what I need sans the cooling, clutch parts? And if this is correct will it matter whether I go JDM or USDM. TIA, kent

Kent,
Basically, you are right in your recipe; however what the small car DIY kit does is allow the use of the stock SUBARU ecu. This is an alternative to an aftermarket standalone ECU, which is powerful and flexible but expensive. The DIY kit helps you weed out 70% of the unneeded wiring, resulting in a wiring system that consists of the ECU and only the wiring to run the engine properly (I’m doing a full ez30d set up for a customer right now, I’ll take pictures of the wiring before and after, I would bet there is 50lbs of copper that is removed).

"Just about any 5-6 speed," is not quite right either, although from about 93 onward manual Subaru transmissions can bolt up to basically any engine, doesnt mean they are equal. for the 6mt, only the new 2010+ 5mt based 6 speeds will work, the STI 6 speed cannot be converted to FWD up to this point and is too long for the 914 besides. for 5 speeds, in general you want to stick to the power output of the engine the trans was originally on, ie you should not throw an NA 5mt on a turbo motor and expect it to last. Furthermore, although it would be nice to think otherwise the transmissions are stronger the later the year ie: 2008 is stronger than 2004 is stronger than 2000 is stronger than 1996. Finally you want to think about what gear ratio you want to go with those range from 3.9-4.44.
I am working hard on many things right now, but i have a 5 page document with a much more in depth look at the engine/transmission choices that i will be posting up to my website soon hopefully. it should help to answer a lot of questions.
Also i do not know if small car carries jdm wiring kits, because yes it would matter.


Charlie,
I agree with you to a point on the aftermarket ECU, for people going for massive power and 90% of the JDM engines, aftermarket is the way to go. On the other hand, if someone just picked up an NA 2.2L or 2.5L for 1-1.5k(including ecu) and just want a reliable 914 with quite a bit more ummph, then the stock ECU is a better choice just for the budget. Even if a person plans on upgrading to a turbo engine later I don’t think it’s that necessary to spend the money on the aftermarket ECU. I mean with a 02-05 wrx you have both Romraider (free+50$ for a cable) and Cobb AP (200-500 used) out there for tuning assistance, at a price that is much less than a standalone set up.

On the small car stuff, im still learning, but basically it is what you described, it is made to get the stock ECU running not much else. However they do leave in the OBD2 dongle, which leaves an opening for romraider or AP. For the EZ30D i have found one experimental definition for romraider out there, which opens up some tuning options.

Thanks for the kind words, always nice to hear support =). I am thankful to all the pioneer conversions as well, I probably wouldn't be here without them. I'm definitely not an expert by any means on the wiring/ecu side of things, but I'm learning and exploring options as I go and the goal down the road is to be the source for basically top down subaru conversions on 914's cooling, ecu, engines and all. "kaizan," hmm, I've never heard that before, you may be interested to hear my plans for my own conversion then. Starting out narrow body 4-lug with an ej22/25 franken engine and taking it through the conversion life cycle, tracking my progress as i go, ending with a 280+ HP beast with all the trimmings.

[charliew]

Kent you need to study up some but asking questions is also ok. Search a lot on 914's with suby sixes. I know for sure there is at least one completed. I have seen the pictures here I'm pretty sure.

Also use nasioc and look into their conversion forum as the later sixes are being put in, in place of the four so they will use the manual tranny also.

[76-914]

Charlie, Your right I do need to study some more. I've only gone on nasoic a few times but not much jumped out at me. I've read all of their related forums/posts going back a few month's but that just get's me to the question asking stage. I'll end up building this one just like my first 914; on the fly.

Ian, Thanks you've answered my questions. I think I'll continue to pursue an LL Bean with the plan of converting to a manual tranny.

[IM101]

Quick update, I am now a Speed Hut dealer. They provide a great product that makes it easy to get a useful and cool dash in your 914.

If you go to my924s4 or Sawtooth buid threads, you can see how truly nice they are for our application.

Let me know if you want a set!

-Ian

[76-914]

Hey Ian, what's your feeling on an SRX donor for $1000? Is the 3.3 too long? Too old? Will it fit your cradle? Tia, kent

[IM101]

The SVX, (Ill just assume the R was a typo (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) ) is a great engine, its the cheapest way to get 240hp, and it is bombproof, know to last well up into the 300k mile range (if taken care of). There was a thread in the garage talking about it a little bit. It will work with my cradle fine. 1000$ for a complete donor svx is good, as long as there is nothing wrong with the engine and its not 300k miles. for just the engine I would shoot for 500$.

Edit: Here is that thread
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...179&hl=eg33

[blitZ]

Any news on exles and the shifter? I am waiting until it's complete to order the whole package.

[IM101]

Spoke with Sway-A-Way, they said the axles have been done machining for a while its just their heat treat company that is lagging. In any case if you bear with me one more week they should be here!

The shifter has taken a little bit of a back seat to some customers projects, and wedding planning (I'm newly engaged btw!) however It is something I plan to get to before the end of January!

Merry Christmas everyone!

[blitZ]

Congratulations on your engagement and thanks for the update.

Spoke with Sway-A-Way, they said the axles have been done machining for a while its just their heat treat company that is lagging. In any case if you bear with me one more week they should be here!

The shifter has taken a little bit of a back seat to some customers projects, and wedding planning (I'm newly engaged btw!) however It is something I plan to get to before the end of January!

Merry Christmas everyone!

[IM101]

Hey Everyone, Just wanted to give you a heads up, The axles are inbound to me and I will be shipping all of them out asap when they arrive!

[IM101]

Update: The axles have finally arrived and they look great! I will be shipping out a whole mass of orders that have built up on Monday!

[IM101]

just a heads up, I have three ez30D engines locally ranging in price from 1250-1750. Let me know if you need help sourcing any engine/transmissions I do my best to hook it up for fellow teeners.

[blitZ]

Any thoughts on making a alternator bracket or is there one already?

[my928s4]

Any update on the cable shifter?

[IM101]

Help a guy out and buy some parts! Inventory liquidation prices listed on the second post!

Reasons for liquidation:
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?s=&...t&p=1865270

[effutuo101]

Email on axles sent.

[RonW]

I've got a suby in my '68 912 but still mated to the 901 via an adapter. ive since gotten an wrx tranny and want to swap it in but not sure how to do the axles. as it turns out, i got a hold of a 912, 914 and 944 axles and cv's and they all seem to have the same spline dimensions and i was able to slide a 912 cv onto a 914 axle splines. the axle on the 912 is shorter but about 10cm. can i order axles to a shorter length?

[IM101]

I've got a suby in my '68 912 but still mated to the 901 via an adapter. ive since gotten an wrx tranny and want to swap it in but not sure how to do the axles. as it turns out, i got a hold of a 912, 914 and 944 axles and cv's and they all seem to have the same spline dimensions and i was able to slide a 912 cv onto a 914 axle splines. the axle on the 912 is shorter but about 10cm. can i order axles to a shorter length?

Hey Ron,

That is great news on the spline count, shoot me an email and we can discuss the dimensions and what it will take, but short answer is yes getting a different length axle is pretty simple.

-Ian

[IM101]

Inventory is getting lower if you are on the fence now would be a good time to order!