Subaru EJ25 progress thread - 2020 Modifications, Turbo, Engine Cleanup, Interior Upgrades Options

[dlo914]

bump...

[pktzygt]

how much did it cost? b/c i think a friend of mine is thinking of starting a 914 project with the ej25. As far as cost so far how much have you spent? Engine, Harness, radiator and doo-dads. I think we might have found a roller for $500 out near riverside...MAN i wish i had kept that shell Tony gave me for free! CRAP!

From my experience so far(Just my opinions, not facts):
Tell your friend to go toRenegade Hybrids then give them a call to find out what a well made kit that needs very little fabrication costs. Search some threads on here for options that could be cheaper but probably more difficult (definately more skill needed). i.e. Kennedy engineering, but there as alot more to a kit that gust the adapter plate. TonyAKAVW's suby thread was very informative, but there are many others out there. Alot of dune buggy companies use suby engines. (Outfront

As far as an engine search goes.... Concider other options than ej25, especially if price is a concern. I have seen those things go for free or over a thousand. Search junk yard search engine ebay, craigslist, ect. Look at the suby sites for a wealth of knowledge, parts and engines(NASIOC.com)

Last words of wisdom (hopefully):
Oversearch....I had a motor delivered yesterday and just today I learned about a different place to get my wiring harness built. Expect to spend at least $1k more than you thought. I will be starting my own progress thread soon, but give him my screen name and tell him to contact me and I will talk to him in private about my lessons learned along the way.

Hopefully this helped. malaga red75 I'm following your progress and heres your thread back. Can't wait for the next update.

[malaga_red75]

how much did it cost? b/c i think a friend of mine is thinking of starting a 914 project with the ej25. As far as cost so far how much have you spent? Engine, Harness, radiator and doo-dads. I think we might have found a roller for $500 out near riverside...MAN i wish i had kept that shell Tony gave me for free! CRAP!

Hey guys...sorry for the delay, anyone ever take statics? really interesting but lots o' work!!


As far as cost goes. My computer got stolen a few months ago which had a nice spreadsheet with everything I bought on there....and no I didn't have an external...anyways I am still compiling a complete list of purchase etc.

But so far here is what I have bought:

Engine 1998 2.5 from an east bay dealer- 850, free shipping next day
--wiring harness/ECU and a few other things the engine needed--350

KEP (flywheel adapter kit, as well as stage 2 clutch package) ~1000

Renegade (cooling lines and hose adapters)~160

Smallcarperformance (engine mounts...vanagon mounts) - 240

Radiator - $75 ebay
--sheet metal to make shroud $25 (i got a 4'x4' sheet of 23 guage...and i have A LOT left over...probably enough for another radiator...ill have to make something)
--fans (both from ebay) - 50 for two
--assorted materials to create shroud(screws, steel...)~20

Wiring harness re-working - 500

Total 3225


Those are the main items...Ill try and attach my spreadsheet that I have that has some other little things that I bought.
 Porsche_cost_list.pdf ( 23.09k ) Number of downloads: 580



I still have a few purchases left such as the Exhaust stubs ~250 and the shortened oil pan~270 which will put me at about 4k even. I gave myself a cap of 5k to have the car running and driving the way I want it. So I still have another 1k that Im sure will get spent. My conversion is based GREATLY off of Tonyakavw-amenson- and budman and many others. I probably read Tony's 29-page thread 10 times, some pages more....like his radiator....notice the similarities? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

just a side note to those who want to do a conversion....

I drove my first 914 when I was about 13....got my own at 15 1/2 and after driving my car for about 6 months and realized the potential of the car, I needed more power...since then I have been forever researching this site and the other sites, finding information on every single conversion. I can't tell you how many times I went from V8 to subie to rotary to v6 buick to 6 cylinder to big type 4 then to wanting a 240z...(im sure you can search my name and find a few threads about different conversions)...you know how it goes. Anyways, I guess what I am trying to say is that I spent a lot of time figuring out what I wanted in my car...I always kept an image in my head and day by day it would change. And now, 3 years later, after tons of research I am confidently building this car the way I want it and i know what I want my end product to look like. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

And FYI...all you bay area folk...were going to have to have a drive out 84 to the beach when my car is done....by far my favorite road of all time.

[forrest39]

Peter,
I have a stock '73 teener that I upgraded to 2.0. But, I did put a EJ22 in my vanagon, so I know the subie side pretty well.
As for your fuel pump, the stock pump (front mounted) will work fine. Mine stock 73 pump let go a few months ago and lack of availablility led me to do the new pump 'conversion'. So I made up a door, bent some tubin, ran a wire... blah..blah...
I noticed it was the same pump in my vanagon.
An excellent recource on the subie side is the yahoo group subaruvanagon. Don't tell anyone it for a teener as you'll get thrown under the bus (no pun intended...)

Cheers!'-Kevin

[dlo914]

TTT...

[malaga_red75]

Hey guys-
I know it has been a while but I have been at school and finished finals last week and finally got back to working on my car. I decided to start the process of wiring the car. I had my wiring harness re-built by a company and have it back but I am having a little trouble figuring out what each connector goes too. There are also a few wires that need to be connected to the 914 that I need some help on. So, here are the pictures, hope you can help.

First, these are the 4 wires that need to be connected to the car (besides fuel pump and fans and gauge wiring). In order, left to right, the tags on the wire say:

Battery power (ok, i know this one)
Power during startup ( possibly for the starter motor connection??)
Ground in neutral
Iginition Power

The first 3 wires are about 20awg and the 'Ignition Power' wire is about 12awg





Next, these three pictures are of connectors that go into the engine bay.

[TonyAKAVW]

"Ground in neutral" can just be left open all the time. Unless you want to figure out a way to detect neutral and close a switch (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) But it really shouldn't affect anything.

Power during startup can go to where the starter relay gets its power, and the ignition should be connected appropriately to the 914 wiring harness. I forget where, but basically its power that is available when the car is running.

-Tony

[malaga_red75]

Thanks Tony! I was hoping you would answer. That is what I was thinking I just wanted to be sure before I started connecting wires.

I still feel like I have more connectors than you did on your harness. How does the subaru harness connect up to the 914 starter motor? I think these wires may have been capped with a subaru connector which I may need to take off.

All answers welcome!!

-Peter

[TonyAKAVW]

I left the starter connected to the 914 I believe. Although I may have added a relay since I got rid of my relay board. I really should put my schematics on line somehow...

-Tony

[pktzygt]

I left the starter connected to the 914 I believe. Although I may have added a relay since I got rid of my relay board. I really should put my schematics on line somehow...

-Tony

Please (IMG:style_emoticons/default/pray.gif)

[charliew]

I would think the 914 starter wire would go to the starter as that never changed. Think about the stuff that hasn't been changed as going back like it was. Then think about the suby and what the motor needs to run. 12v power all the time, ground (a really good ground), the fuel pump wire that usually powers a relay that powers the fuel pump, and probably a switched 12 power wire from the starter switch when the key is on. The relay for the fans for the radiator. The old motor harness might have some gauge wires you might want to save to hook up on the suby after you get some gauges, Such as maybe you can use the oil light wire for a oil pressure gauge and you might be able to use the temp light wire for the water temp gauge wire. Just the wire not where the 914 had them ending up but to save running extra wires to the dash from the motor. I don't think you can run a water temp gauge off of the water sender for the suby ecu you will probably need a sender for the added gauge.

[malaga_red75]

I left the starter connected to the 914 I believe. Although I may have added a relay since I got rid of my relay board. I really should put my schematics on line somehow...

-Tony

That schematic would be nice, as I have never seen such a well though out wiring system for a suby 914. I think I will need to get a relay for starter motor too as I have also taken out the engine bay relay board. Any ideas on where to get one, I saw a kit online.

http://www.thepartsbin.com/repsite/bosch~s...it~reparts.html

Will this work?

also, I have been doing a lot of wiring lately, getting the suby harness in the car connecting appropriate wires and running the wires for fans, fuel pump and all that, I have been taking pictures along the way so hopefully I will try and get some up tonight after practice.

-Peter

[TonyAKAVW]

That should work fine.

Now if I could only find time for those schematics (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) I have several pages of hand drawn stuff that probably doesn't even make sense to me now (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[cymaster007]

I hope all your progress is still going well!

Has there been any update to this?

Ive vented and ducted the radiator, in the engine bay, I will be running copper lines for cooling under the car. Gotten a valve job on the ej20 engine, rebuilt the head and replaced the hoses. Ive also gotten my renegade kit in for mounting the engine. For fuel, ive got an msd hi-flow in line pump, subaru swap fuel lines are coming in from tangerine. As for electronics, I bought a stinger ECU and just need the wiring harness from outfront (outback) motorsports, put in a autometer tach, a Hks EVC 5 boost controller, outback will be dyno tuning it. Currently figguring out my piping for the intercooler.... Ill be running air/water intercooler. I also dropped off the eisher plans for the cable shift system for the tail 914 at my machinist friend whos fabbing it up for me and rebuilding my tranny. Got my upholstery in a shop down in Irvine detting dressed back up and a new momo steering wheel.

If you want some pics or measurements of anything let me know.

[cymaster007]

also my budget has been tracking at about a final cost of 8000$ when everthing is complete not including the cost of the car itself.

[Mike Bellis]

I hope all your progress is still going well!

Has there been any update to this?

Ive vented and ducted the radiator, in the engine bay, I will be running copper lines for cooling under the car. Gotten a valve job on the ej20 engine, rebuilt the head and replaced the hoses. Ive also gotten my renegade kit in for mounting the engine. For fuel, ive got an msd hi-flow in line pump, subaru swap fuel lines are coming in from tangerine. As for electronics, I bought a stinger ECU and just need the wiring harness from outfront (outback) motorsports, put in a autometer tach, a Hks EVC 5 boost controller, outback will be dyno tuning it. Currently figguring out my piping for the intercooler.... Ill be running air/water intercooler. I also dropped off the eisher plans for the cable shift system for the tail 914 at my machinist friend whos fabbing it up for me and rebuilding my tranny. Got my upholstery in a shop down in Irvine detting dressed back up and a new momo steering wheel.

If you want some pics or measurements of anything let me know.

Be careful with copper lines. Copper can crush and tear with speed bumps. Copper also does not like too much vibration and can break. Finally, Copper is a great heat conductor. It will directly transfer engine heat into your floor boards. Rubber hoses will be a better choice.

[Porcharu]

Hey guys...sorry for the delay, anyone ever take statics? really interesting but lots o' work!!

That class drove me out of ME when I found out I had to take something like 7 more similar courses to graduate. Hated physics too - should be a facinating class but it's just more math and I was done with math after 4 quarters of calculus. My roommate loved the stuff and ended up working at Tilton for many years until he left to design windmills (I know it's a wind turbine but I like pushing that button.) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif)
Good luck at school and your project, maybe you will beat me to driving the finished car.
Steve

[cymaster007]

[/quote]

Be careful with copper lines. Copper can crush and tear with speed bumps. Copper also does not like too much vibration and can break. Finally, Copper is a great heat conductor. It will directly transfer engine heat into your floor boards. Rubber hoses will be a better choice.
[/quote]

Thanks for the advice, I did not consider the heat transfer into the floor boards, I will most likely wrap it in Tundra pipe insulation good for Polyethylene foam. -90 to +210 deg. I I actually have the rubber hoses I purchased but just didnt like the idea of rubber hoses getting punctured by rocks/etc... plus I will be getting free medical grade copper from construction demolition at work.

[malaga_red75]

I hope all your progress is still going well!

Has there been any update to this?

Ive vented and ducted the radiator, in the engine bay, I will be running copper lines for cooling under the car. Gotten a valve job on the ej20 engine, rebuilt the head and replaced the hoses. Ive also gotten my renegade kit in for mounting the engine. For fuel, ive got an msd hi-flow in line pump, subaru swap fuel lines are coming in from tangerine. As for electronics, I bought a stinger ECU and just need the wiring harness from outfront (outback) motorsports, put in a autometer tach, a Hks EVC 5 boost controller, outback will be dyno tuning it. Currently figguring out my piping for the intercooler.... Ill be running air/water intercooler. I also dropped off the eisher plans for the cable shift system for the tail 914 at my machinist friend whos fabbing it up for me and rebuilding my tranny. Got my upholstery in a shop down in Irvine detting dressed back up and a new momo steering wheel.

If you want some pics or measurements of anything let me know.

Hey guys,
I know I haven't posted in a long time. So I will try to catch everyone up on what has been going on.

Well over the summer, I got everything installed into the car.
-engine mounted
-radiator in
-all plumbing done, except exhaust

It was pretty much ready to start and the motor turned, but would never fire. I ended up realizing that I had some serious mismatches with my wiring/engine/ecu combo and everything was all fuched up. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) So that kinda stopped me in my tracks for a while.

Soooo,

I have decided to go with a EMS stinger from outfront motorsports and a custom harness from them. It should be here today I think. I will hopefully be installing it this weekend.

Minus the giant price tag, the Stinger will be AWESOME!!!
-Full programmability
-live diagnostics
-live readouts
-data acquisition and analysis


I will let you know when it is all in.

-Peter

P.S.

Does anyone have the big concave washers for mounting 911 sport mounts at the engine mount points on the chassis?

[malaga_red75]

Hey guys...sorry for the delay, anyone ever take statics? really interesting but lots o' work!!

That class drove me out of ME when I found out I had to take something like 7 more similar courses to graduate. Hated physics too - should be a facinating class but it's just more math and I was done with math after 4 quarters of calculus. My roommate loved the stuff and ended up working at Tilton for many years until he left to design windmills (I know it's a wind turbine but I like pushing that button.) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif)
Good luck at school and your project, maybe you will beat me to driving the finished car.
Steve

Yea, that happens to a lot of people. I stuck with it and I am now taking:

ThermoDynamics
Dynamics
Structures Analysis
Fluid Mechanics

After getting through the physics and yes, the 3 semesters of calculus (and 1 of Differential Equations) I am now studying the stuff that I enjoy learning about. And next year will be even more focused on my area of interest.

-Peter