Hey guys,
I've been tossing around the idea of building a shop project car. Actually, I've made up my mind that I'm going to do this....I guess I'm in the research phase of the build right now.
Basically want I'm thinking is picking up an old junker Legacy. Most likely a first gen sedan (90 - 94), or a second gen BD (95-99) if I can find a shell cheap enough.
My plans for the project are swapping a small bock chevy into it. Likely a 383 stroker (that I'll build myself). I'll be running a Megasquirt system as a stand alone.
There are a few things I'm unsure about with this idea though.
Rear diff - Will a Subaru rear diff support the power of a v8? or will I have to frankenstein something like a GM 14 bolt onto the car?
Engine mounts - I know I'll have to fab something to mount the engine. Should I cut off the mount brackets off a GM truck in the junkyard and weld them to my sub frame....should I build a custom sub frame (steel piping)....or what route should I take. As far as trans mounts, I'm not worried about that. I can easily fab a trans mount.
Drive shaft - this I have handled if I use a GM rear diff. However, If I use a Subaru rear diff, how would I handle the drive shaft? I know it will have to be cut down some, but on the Subaru rear diff I would have a small u-joint and on the GM trans side, there would be a large u-joint....mending the two drive shaft halfs together I think would be out of the question due to diameter differences between the two.....should I just take measurements, and provide a drive shaft shop with the two shafts and tell them to have fun?
Suspension - With the added weight of a V8, will standard WRX suspension be strong enough, or would I be forced to use a set of coilovers?
AC - would this even be possible? this is by no means important, but I think it would be pretty cool to have a fully functional v8 Legacy that could be used as a daily driver if I wanted to.
I've seen a few videos of v8 swaps (usually 305s or 350s) done in Legacys. However, I can't seem to find any info ANYWHERE online about how things were finangled into the car. Any advise anyone can give me would be great.
Thanks in advance
I've been tossing around the idea of building a shop project car. Actually, I've made up my mind that I'm going to do this....I guess I'm in the research phase of the build right now.
Basically want I'm thinking is picking up an old junker Legacy. Most likely a first gen sedan (90 - 94), or a second gen BD (95-99) if I can find a shell cheap enough.
My plans for the project are swapping a small bock chevy into it. Likely a 383 stroker (that I'll build myself). I'll be running a Megasquirt system as a stand alone.
There are a few things I'm unsure about with this idea though.
Rear diff - Will a Subaru rear diff support the power of a v8? or will I have to frankenstein something like a GM 14 bolt onto the car?
Engine mounts - I know I'll have to fab something to mount the engine. Should I cut off the mount brackets off a GM truck in the junkyard and weld them to my sub frame....should I build a custom sub frame (steel piping)....or what route should I take. As far as trans mounts, I'm not worried about that. I can easily fab a trans mount.
Drive shaft - this I have handled if I use a GM rear diff. However, If I use a Subaru rear diff, how would I handle the drive shaft? I know it will have to be cut down some, but on the Subaru rear diff I would have a small u-joint and on the GM trans side, there would be a large u-joint....mending the two drive shaft halfs together I think would be out of the question due to diameter differences between the two.....should I just take measurements, and provide a drive shaft shop with the two shafts and tell them to have fun?
Suspension - With the added weight of a V8, will standard WRX suspension be strong enough, or would I be forced to use a set of coilovers?
AC - would this even be possible? this is by no means important, but I think it would be pretty cool to have a fully functional v8 Legacy that could be used as a daily driver if I wanted to.
I've seen a few videos of v8 swaps (usually 305s or 350s) done in Legacys. However, I can't seem to find any info ANYWHERE online about how things were finangled into the car. Any advise anyone can give me would be great.
Thanks in advance
