I've done the 22t swap, but now I need moooooore ... help?

[spinmastert]

Okay, so I have a 97 Impreza L with the 22t swapped in. I did the wiring stupidly, but it runs, none the less. Basically I spliced the 22t ecu ends onto the stock non-turbo harness ... yeah, that was a bitch. As of now, I've got a stock WRX td04 and tmic installed. I'm having issues with the car, which I blame on a boost leak in the ghetto y-pipe I have rigged up. I just ordered a y-pipe kit, which I will need to extend to reach the new turbo, but I will not have any leaks. A local guy built an intake for his turbo Leggy wagon, so I've sent him a PM asking if he might be able to build me one.

I want to crank the boost up to about 20psi. I know fuel cut is at about 13 ... will I need a fuel cut defender to deal with this? Is 20psi reasonable on stock internals? I know there are a lot of questions about which heads to use with this block, but out of all of the threads I have read, I didn't actually find an answer ... can you all help me out? I know certain heads will require wiring. Fine, I've done plenty of it and I can take the challenge. This is my project car, but in order to save miles on my '03 WRX, I am trying to get this back to running status.

My plan for the future is to get a obdII ecu hooked up to the motor so I can easily tune the vehicle. If I have to redo the whole harness again, so be it.

So in my ramblings here, there are several questions. To recap ...

1.) I want to crank the boost up to about 20psi. I know fuel cut is at about 13 ... will I need a fuel cut defender to deal with this?

2.) Is 20psi reasonable on stock internals?

3.) I know there are a lot of questions about which heads to use with this block, but out of all of the threads I have read, I didn't actually find an answer ... can you all help me out?

4.) My plan for the future is to get a obdII ecu hooked up to the motor so I can easily tune the vehicle. If I have to redo the whole harness again, so be it. What would be the best way to go about this?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

-spin

[Mattheww044]

1 you will need a FCD to run 20psi
2,3,4 you will get better answers from others

[PhyrraM]

1.) I want to crank the boost up to about 20psi. I know fuel cut is at about 13 ... will I need a fuel cut defender to deal with this?

2.) Is 20psi reasonable on stock internals?

3.) I know there are a lot of questions about which heads to use with this block, but out of all of the threads I have read, I didn't actually find an answer ... can you all help me out?

4.) My plan for the future is to get a obdII ecu hooked up to the motor so I can easily tune the vehicle. If I have to redo the whole harness again, so be it. What would be the best way to go about this?

-spin

1) With the EJ22T ECU, yes.

2) With a proper tune, yes. On a stock EJ22T ECU you will need to be stinky rich. Not worth the effort, IMO. Get you EM sorted out before going above 15-17 PSI.

3)If your planning on using OBD2 eventually, do it first and then run matching heads and intake manifold. If you want AVCS go for EJ257/255 harness and heads. If non AVCS is fine go with USDM EJ205 WRX stuff.

4)Just what you said...redo the whole harness based on either EJ205 WRX or EJ257/255 STI/Legacy GT/'06-'07 WRX. At this point just follow any of the GC>STI or GC>WRX swap write-up on many Subaru boards.


If you had no plans to go OBD2 you could adapt an EJ20G stand alone ECU easily, but I wouldn't do the work twice. Go WRX/STI electrics and be done with it.

[spinmastert]

Wow, thanks for the quick responses. So EJ255/257 would be the 2.5 litre WRX or STI stuff, yes? So basically I'd want heads, intake mani, and ECU to do this, plus any required wiring? Aside from wiring, this should bolt right up?

Thanks again!

[PhyrraM]

Easiest way to think of it is.....Complete WRX or STI engine and wiring with ONLY the EJ22T shortblock underneath it.

You would need the PCV/airbox/turbo inlet/throttlebody/etc. from the OBD2 engine of choice.

There are lots of small reasons for this, but the main ones are:
1) OBD1 and 2 use different cam timing signals that make the heads incompatable between them.

2) The heads have different intake manifold bolt patterns.

Together this basically means that you treat the heads/intake/ECU/harness as a matched system. Leaving the shortblock itself as the only real variable.

My personal approach would be to just do a STI/WRX swap and get it running as a stock motor. When all the bugs are worked out, then I would build the motor.

[spinmastert]

Excellent, thank you!

[spinmastert]

I guess there was one more question I had. I have read that the heads do bolt up, but that the flow is somewhat restricted due to the coolant holes not lining up. Is it enough to prevent the engine from adequately cooling?

Also, while I have the motor apart, are there any other things which should be replaced?

[spinmastert]

Oh and when I swap intake manifolds, will I need a different rail/injectors? I know I'll want to go with bigger injectors eventually, but will I stick with the stock 22t rails, or would I swap to the rail of whichever heads/intake mani I'm using?

[ericem]

go on google type in revtronix

You can run a stage 2 chip and tell them your turbo and injectors, then you can semi tune it. Eventually the fully tunable chip will be available.

[PhyrraM]

Yes, the coolant paths are slightly mismatched. But, there are tons of hybrids out there and I have never read a verifiable post claiming overheating due to that issue. There are, however, lots of success story posts.

The fuel rails and injector type must match the intake manifold.

[spinmastert]

Excellent, thank you