USDM WRX/STi motors?
 

Hey guys, I have been looking all over the net for a USDM WRX, prefereably STi motor to swap into my brothers 00 Impreza 2.5RS. Alls that I am finding is the JDM ones, which will not pass inspection in NYS unless the car is retitled as a collector or kit car, which we are not going to be doing. Any sites that sell USDM motors that will swap into it. Also, anyone know about how much this will set us back for installation at a dealership, either in dollars or man-hours. We can get a quote from the dealership, so I am more interested in legitimate sites that sell USDM engines.

Thanks,
-Eric

i think gruppe-s.com has US engines... and paying for a swap at a dealership is going to be REALLY REALLY expensive... youre better off going to a shop that knows what theyre doing... i know Xotic Motorsports does them.. they are one of our vendors here.

You could always purchase a STi shortblock from Turbo Tek Tuning and find a set of wrx heads and varies other items (power steering, alternator...etc) and you would be set to go. Andy from Xotic Motorsports as done many of these kind of setups.

and as far as i know you can pass inspection with a jdm motor... they have obd2 so you really dont need to label the car differently at all. it seems that some states pass and some dont though, depending on how strict they are and what things they look for since the jdm motors do communicate slightly differently with the inspection.

We just verified with the dealer that it would most likely not pass NYS inspection due to the changes they made in the last two years. He did say that he wasn't 100% sure, but my mother is paying for his swap, so she will not go for a "maybe".

That depends on the year of motor you are buying. Japan's international OBDI goes for a bit longer than the US OBDI did. The US switched over to OBDII in 96 but the v5 WRX motor that I have been looking at for a while is still international OBDI.

For example, a v7 motor can pass inspection, but a v6 and below cannot. I know a person who passed with a v7 in NY, so if you get v7/8, you shouldn't have a problem

hey pm me. i have some info for you.

You could try and contact Area 1320. They may be able to help you out. They have done quite a few wrx to RS swaps.

www.area1320.com

or ECS. they rock also.

http://eastcoastswappers.com/index-3.html

JDM v8 STI RA spec C motor>USDM sti motor

Unless! You go with a built USDM bottom with v8 heads and Jun 272's!

and....

Gruppe-s has everything you need. Andy at Xotic is the man you will want to see for a swap/build up.

This is the place he was looking at. Good to see someone else has heard of them. We would have to truck it to MA from upstate NY, but I think he will get a better job done there than at a Subaru dealer.

I have access to an 02 with 22k miles on it. $5800 installed.
and this will pass inspection :)

Heh...I couldn't imagine a dealership taking on this kind of project, since there's a lot of frankensteining and wiring involved. At any rate, I'm sure it'll go smoothly for you.

how did you trick your mother into paying for this swap? all ive been thinking about lately is how much i want this!!!

I agree, im thinkin there is no way in hell that a dealership would even attempt something like this! Way too much to be liable for. Good luck!

youd be suprised. dealerships do this quite often.

they probably have the wiring diagrams for both cars and the resources to do it correctly, but they dont specialize in it and im not sure if i would trust a dealership to put an engine that requires an extensive amount of wiring in a car when that honda dealership couldnt even put an rsx wing on facing the right way.

I'm sure the dealership would change out the arse for a swap. Oh, and don't you need a legacy turbo crossmemember?

pete took what i was gonna say. www.eastcoastswappers.com

but that was a honda dealership, so that explains it right there.

Little do you realize, once you have written all the wires down of what you need to swap, on paper there really aren't too many wires ("only" maybe 70 wires to splice/merge). Why does it take so long to do the merging? because it's the most ****ing tedious POS job in the world. I have a complete list of all wires I need to merge were I to buy the motor im looking at, and it's not terrible but it's still a ****load of work.

How much you guys charge for a STi swap into a wrx?

holy geez I didnt see this post.. guess you dont need a quote anymore :(

I still do....sent you multiple PMs, email, etc. I'm tired of seeing this car sitting out in front of my house...I wanna drive it!

lol yeah heres the link to what happened.
http://www.tristatetuners.com/forum/...ad.php?t=22383

holy ish.. how the hell did I miss this stuff.. man I gotta start looking more.
I apologize. I just got your email bro.
so you want a complete swap just not installed??

Yeah, I have my crossmember already. I'll just need the harnesses, engine, ECU, etc. What am I forgetting?

I have my supplier trying to get me another donor car Chris. So far I took 2 swaps from him for cars waiting for swaps :( he is gonna let me know when he finds one for me.

I found something last night. :mrgreen: Thanks though.

Ha ha....I asked my Dealership how much it would cost if I had them swap in an STI shortblock when mine goes. They told me it can't be done without swapping over the ECU, wiring harness blah, blah blah. I once again reiterated that I said shortblock and he went and asked the SUbaru tech. He came back and told me "No it can't be done" I told him that was BS and he said well he's been working on Subarus for 17 years. I said I don't care how long he's been working on Subarus, it can be done and I have met quite a few people who have had it done. He then told me the tech said "Tell'em to just buy an STI. I reminded them that if Subaru ever comes out with an STI wagon I will buy it!