New guy here checking in.
In the process of swapping a '95 EJ18 into my 69 bug and LUCKILY stumbled across this site.
Knee deep in the wiring right now which is easily my least favorite part and what i am worst at but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel(thanks to that thread by TimS).
Found a donor '96 that the guy let me pull all of the wiring out of so that is making life a little easier than if i was starting from scratch, even if things are a tad different between the years.
It fell in my lap for very little and from what i've found it seems like the SOHCs fit the best with very little modification to the car. not looking to make a great deal of power or anything but i would like a little more reliability out of the car as the motor was a little pieced together when i got it. Guess there is always the possibility of an upgrade later with the adapter plate but this seemed like a good start.
Nothing wrong with an EJ18, they are still a decent step up from a 1600 VW and get great fuel economy.
Even if you don't like it you can always swap the long block for an ej20 or 22 once it's in.
1974 Germanlook 1303 Suba-Beetle
Subaru EJ25 Boost R 17", 4 Wheel discs, Topline suspension and A/C
So one thing i ran into that seemed a little daunting at first was the fact that i pulled the ECU and harness out of a '96 and the engine is a '95.
I didn't think twice about it when picking up the motor(with only an engine harness) but once i started trying to source stuff i realized that it wasn't the best approach and a more complete donor would have made much more sense.
After a lot of searching i found a subie farm about an hour away with a '96 brighton that was pretty complete and the guy let me pull all the wiring i wanted. There were some changes between the years but hopefully nothing too crazy. I noticed the e1 and e2 plugs are different and while i was ok with tracing and splicing, i laid out the 96 engine harness just for shiggles and sure enough, its 2 plugs shy of a match. Throttle position and what i can only guess is idle air control solenoid valve(on top of the throttle body).
The throttle position sensor is an easy fix as the amount of wires and colors match, its just a different connector.
Idle air, not so much. Seems as though between 95 and 96 they added 2 more wires which probably means they changed the valve/solenoid altogether.
I can probably get the valve off the 96 but i was just wondering if anyone has had similar experiences andwhat their work-around was. Is the Idle air control solenoid valve even necessary?
TIA
getting married next weekend but hoping to get back on this soon! The guy with the donor said i could grab the entire intake manifold including the iacv so that is one less thing to worry about. Hoping to wrap the wiring up very soon and test fit the motor. ready to get this thing on the road!
Well, took a while off for the wedding, housework, daily car work and a job change but its time to get back at it. Started back on the wiring and hitting it hard to push through and get this thing going.
waiting on some parts to come in now. Removed the power steering pump and AC compressor then decided last minute to change the timing belt and water pump before proceeding.
Once i get it put back together, i plan on a test fit and as long as my fuel pump comes in, a test start. I haven't cut the harness up yet but i plan to unplug and de-pin the things i don't think i need for the test start. That way i have a pretty good idea if i am on the right track or not and i can proceed with the harness chopping. FullSizeRender by Joel Ritch, on Flickr
Also, here is a shot of my bay with the inverted parcel tray thing.
this is in hopes of being able to fit the radiator in this area along with the intake
Not trying to constantly bump this but i am making progress and i am enjoying the work.
Got the Tbelt back on and tried to test fit the ej today and didnt quite have the clearance with the pressure plate mounted.
Going to try unbolting the clutch to see if that gives me the room to get it in there. If not, ill have to cut the inner edge of the bay a little bit.
busted up a couple fingers so I'm being forced to take a short break.
Almost got the motor in but even after trimming its very tight between the trans and rear apron.
Surely i won't need to cut off the apron to fit it but has anyone else had this issue? figured the sohc would fit without too much trouble but its giving me hell for sure.
Dropped my harness off with a local expert and found out i needed a few more things from the harness donor car.
He said to make this part the easiest i'd need the TB, cam and crank gears that matched the ECU.
Luckily the guy with the donor car still had it and the remaining stuff i needed was intact so i spent another morning out in the pasture pulling parts off the brighton. Untitled by Joel Ritch, on Flickr
Screen Shot 2016-04-13 at 12.38.23 PM by Joel Ritch, on Flickr
