To swap or not to swap....

[BAC5.2]

I've been seriously considering the following.

Find a GC Sedan (or coupe if I am lucky), and swap all of my stuff into it. Gut it (mildly...) and get the weight to around 2500lbs. Build my motor to around 300 to 320awhp.

Or, just try to maximize the BC platform?

The BC has a lot of potential, but the 3200lb girth is a hinderance. You can really feel that weight, and weight is so power robbing.

A friend of mine has a 93 L Sedan with a turbo EJ18. He weighed 2600lbs with a full tank of gas.

He got me started on the light car kick too. At 7psi on an EJ18, he ran a 15.4. That's pretty damn quick.

So that's my question.

Scrap the BC and swap everything (everything) over to a GC body? Or not do that, and pimp the big sedan?

I wish I could have had him sell me the body, and coilovers from his car, and that's it. Oh, and the carbon fiber hood.

What do you guys think?

I wish I could dietize the car a little, but there's not much weight to be shaved without losing major interior peices.

[FG!!]

Do whatever sounds fun. In the end it's just a project. You can buy used completely stock cars that go that fast for less money/time than what you would put into either option above.

[BAC5.2]

Yea, but buying a stock car that's as fast or faster is no fun. Anyone can do that!

I know the Legacy will only get so light, and that is what turns me off to building and modding to high heaven. But at the same time, I like how our cars are put together, and they look super pimp. I keep thinking about how hard my car would pull if it weighed 1000 lbs less. Impossible to do with the BC chassis.

I wish I could buy my buddies car for a few bucks and swap that all up. I could even then put his EJ18T into the Legacy and use that as a winter beater. But he wants $3500 for the car with the EJ18T and no coilovers .

[-K-]

Well you are not the only one thinking about weight.... Not to mention every time I see a 2.5RS I'm jealous...

Have fun with it
Whatever you decide to do

[totech]

Well you are not the only one thinking about weight.... Not to mention every time I see a 2.5RS I'm jealous...

Have fun with it
Whatever you decide to do

Hey, Guess what I just traded my 93 TW for....

[eastbaysubaru]

My wife has a '00 RS You DEFINITELY feel the weight difference.

-Brian

[BAC5.2]

Exactly.

I can't stop thinking about how fast my car would be if it lost 800 pounds.

Ever since that Elise came to America, I've been dreaming of a haul ass, featherweight car. I can't afford either of the other cars that would satisfy my need, so I want to build my own monster.

AWD + 2500lbs + 300 to 350awhp + 300 to 350awtq + sticky tires + coilovers = Million Mile Smile.

My friend Brent is going to be building a 98 Coupe into a 400whp and 400lb-ft, 2500lb beast. I have the same dreams.

[totech]

My wife has a '00 RS You DEFINITELY feel the weight difference.

-Brian

Oh yeah baby!!

Very tossable, and nimble, whereas the Leg feels larger.

The 91 is lighter than all the other models, no airbags etc, and I felt the difference between my 91 SS and my 93 TW.

The 00 RS though.... mmmm. even NA, is feels quicker. I do miss the whoosh though.

[legacy92ej22t]

Mmm, tough call. I like the GC a lot but there are quite a few built up, motor swapped GC's out there already.

You can either do the swap, have the increased power to weight ratio, and the performance that comes with it, and be part of the 'crowd'. Or you can build up the BC and be a total sleeper and part of a MUCH smaller group.

[BAC5.2]

But how many old school GC's have EJ22T's and weigh 2500lbs.

I would LOVE a monster BC, but there is an 800 pound hurdle that's getting in my way.

[legacy92ej22t]

But how many old school GC's have EJ22T's and weigh 2500lbs.

I'm not 100% sure of their weight but I know of 3 early GC's with EJ22T swaps here in this little ass town alone....

I'm not saying not to do it, I've even thought about it myself. I'm just pointing out that you're well on your way to pimpin' out the BC so why not take it the whole way?

[BAC5.2]

That is a good point Matt.

Maybe I'll do a gutting of the BC and see where that takes me weight wise. If I could get down to 3000 pounds, that would make me happy in the weight department.

[Matt Monson]

That is a tough decision, and I am spoiled since I now have more cars than I know what to do with. But I think it is a mortal sin to take one of the rare 5spd turbos that is actually running and gut it. Pulling an EJ22T out of an auto wagon that is all beat down is another thing, but destroying the work of art that a BC 5spd should be punishable by death. Nothing personal, just my personal feelings on the matter. I am acquiring a '93 SS 5spd that has had the engine stolen from it, and you can bet that I will bring that car back to life.

But the GC/GF formula is tempting. I love my RS and as I have said before, when I die, they will put me in it and roll me off a cliff. But along the same lines, since it is a 2.5RS, I cannot fathom putting a turbo into that car. Sure, GC's were factory in Japan, but the NA RS is truly a rare beast. It is costing me about twice as much as building it turbo to get it to 250hp NA, but it will maintain it's integrity in that form.

On the flipside, Diz and I are starting to build an engine today for his '94 Impreza wagon. He went back and forth on the 1.8l turbo (which he has done before) and doing an NA build. He finally decided to do a high CR 2.5 engine in it. Last night we picked up an EJ25 from Xephyr, and are putting my old EJ22E heads on it. With the high compression, he should be right around 200hp with bolt ons and as you mentioned a 2500lbs rally-x monster. He also has a set of Legacy turbo rear discs which we will use for the rear drum to disc conversion and put wrx rotors up front. Along with some AGX's and springs, his car will be ready to kick some ass in the rally-x next season.

Based on my bias, I say keep the BC, and pimp it out. AND save your pennies for a cheap Impreza to build down the road. But please, don't destroy the work of art that a factory SS 5 spd is...

[Brat4by4]

Phil, have you weighed your car? Mine clocked in under 3000 lbs with 4 gallons of gas in the tank and me out of it with full interior.

And I'm pretty sure there is a member on here that got his car down to 2800 lbs. But that is with mild gutting, losing the sunroof, a/c, front jack plate, etc...

[BAC5.2]

I weighed 3230 with almost NO gas (put 14.8 gallons in when I stopped at the gas station on the way home from the shootout) and a full interior.

Matt - That's what's keeping me from doing it. I Love the BC. I love the 5MT-BC. I love the most rare BC color ever. It's such a rare specimen as it sits, and even moreso with the mods.

But it's hard to ignore the chance at 300+awhp and 300+awtq in a 2500lb car. It will outperform the BC in every aspect at that point. The only problem I have is that I would also canibalize the whole engine, and go for a DOHC swap. A setup similar to Morgie's.

Maybe I'll look for a junked Turbo Legacy and jack the engine from it. I'd REALLY like to use the Legacy Turbo tranny, but if I can't then I wont. I'll just see about getting an RS tranny and having a friggin short geared monster.

[georryan]

My brother has just put in an RS tranny into his 92 legacy. WOW, what a difference. I have the CES exhaust and a couple minor things, but his car, bone stock, and with that tranny has NO problem keeping up with mine, and NO problems pulling away when he wants to.

There is less of a feel of when the turbo comes on. I think that is due to the shorter gears and the fact that it accelerates faster anyway, so you get less of a slow-faster feeling and more of a quick-quicker feeling. More linear with a curving acceleration. Its nice. I was VERY impressed.

I have some pictures and will do a short writup on the problems we had and what all happened. All in all it was fairly straight forward without any real surprises. Had some hangups getting bolts off and all that, but that's to be expected.

[scottzg]

2938lbs

2 gallons of gas, no tire, no trunkliner.


I'm with monson. It's a rare car. 10% more displacement isn't worth canabalizing it; if you want a 2500lb car, just go with an ej20g with it.

[BAC5.2]

I like torque, and the EJ20G doesn't cut it.

[georryan]

Take Kelley up on his front end conversion. He has a deal for like under a grand, you can get the impreza alluminum control arms and a larger front sway bar, front endlinks,....well the whole kit-n-kaboodle. It will be lighter and stiffer. He likes the results. I was thinking about it, but I have just to many other things to do first.

[evolutionmovement]

Yeah, there are too many things working against these cars to be really light, but if you look at some of the weights of modern hatchbacks even, you'll see these cars aren't that bad. What about a Mazda 323 GTX?

I'd keep your car intact as it's too nice to kill for a transplant - only rapists and child molesters should be used as organ mills. What about a JY engine for a dirt cheap 1.8 Impreza? If you wait until next summer I may be able to drive down to help you swap the engines if you need it and then you'd have two cars (at the expense of some mods to any one). Imagine stripping the Impreza (hey the interiors suck anyway) and what you could get out of that. The Legacy could be like a GT car and the Imp the rally destroyer.

Steve

[BAC5.2]

I might take you up on that Steve. If not this summer, then next.

I would LOVE to have 2 cars, but the key would be a monster Impreza. I guess if I DO get a junkyard engine and tranny (or maybe an RS tranny...), then I could just swap my 16G over to the GC and get something fun for the Legacy... Or FMIC and Megasquirt the Legacy and leave it like it is, and superturbo the GC.

So many options. I like having a daily driven monster car though.

I would have bare metal in the Impreza, MAYBE floor mats in it, but that's about it. A minimal radio that has a CD player, and nothing else. Probably keep the back seat in, since it only weighs 15 pounds or so, and can help prevent droning and such on the highway.

You might have to come down this summer anyway. Gotta have an East Coast beach week!