Another new project... again. (VW diesel into Subaru Legacy wagon)

[arcosine]

Subarus are great cars, except for the boxer engines. Don't know why they keep them.

[Christ]

I couldn't find this thread, so I never updated it. I actually had to get rid of that chassis. I had to make a decision between it or a few other things, and unfortunately, the other things made me money, so I couldn't keep the car. I'm coming close to doing that again with a few other projects as well.

I still have the engines and the Subie trans that I was going to put in the car, so I'll still make the block adapter plate anyway, or at least a stencil of it for anyone else interested in trying it out.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by arcosine

Subarus are great cars, except for the boxer engines. Don't know why they keep them.

Subaru boxers are good engines. They're smooth, reliable and provide a better weight balance.

[Christ]

I don't know if I"ll actually go back to trying this, after what I'd found out the last time about doing such a swap...

But I did get another Subaru the other day, in like Pristine condition for $300 [it needs head gaskets] and am, of course, looking into this again...

This time it's a Forrester body, and I know for a fact I'll need the 50* Vanagon install kit at the very least [or a 6'' body lift on the Subaru]

[Christ]

Incidentally, I forgot about this post and found it again a few minutes ago while looking to see if anyone else has successfully completed a VW diesel into a Subie chassis.

Looks like nobody has so far.

[Xist]

It seems like you keep forgetting about this.

Don't Boxster engines enable a lower center of gravity? That always sounds good, although removing my intake, battery, and windshield washer reservoir to replace my spark plugs seemed excessive.

[Christ]

The boxer engines do have a lower center of gravity and a better natural balance, but they lack one very required quality for vehicles I like to drive - they run on the wrong fuel.

Subaru /does/ make a diesel EE20 boxer, but they're import only, and the complete swap with all the required parts would ring up to over $8000, not including install time, labor, etc.

I forget about a lot of my projects.. I either lose interest, end up not having money/time for a specific part, or just plain realizing I was a bit too ambitious [which seems to happen more frequently the older I get] to actually finish the project.

I don't know that I'll actually even attempt this with the Forrester, but it probably /does/ need an engine, so I'll at least do all the required footwork while the engine's out and determine just how feasible it actually is.

[bhazard]

Not sure what's not to like about the boxer engines. In my experience the naturally aspirated ones go forever with regular maintenance. The EJ22 being king, and the original DOHC EJ25D being the worst. But even my EJ25D is strong after 180k.

I have bad luck with turbo Subies though. They tend to be beat to death though.

[Christ]

There's nothing particularly that I dislike about them... other than that they burn gas. lol

I still get like 500-600 gal of free gas every year from another scrapper down the road from my recycling yard, so I might try running it on that if I fix the engine that's in it.

Regardless what I do, I'm gonna spend about $300-$500 on it before it's able to be driven anywhere.

As it sits, it needs at least a set of head gaskets [we think] and of course, it'll need a timing belt kit and water pump because who wants to blow up an engine over a $100 belt kit?

[redpoint5]

The Forester already has a higher center of gravity than a sedan, right? I'm not sure lifting it 6" and putting a heavy diesel engine in it is a good idea, although I have zero experience with this. Just a concern of mine.

I do know my 2.2L Legacy engine went 245,000 trouble free miles. I didn't once replace the timing belt, and I'm not sure it was done when I picked it up with 119,000 miles, although I assume it had been done.

What typically causes Subaru head gaskets to fail? On other cars, it's usually a warped head or block. If that's the case, simply replacing the gasket isn't going to last long. My friend went through 2 head gaskets on his 1999 Outback in about 2 years. I'm assuming the repair shop didn't address the underlying reason for the gasket failure.