Potential N/A Swap - Worth It?

[lumpy]

Does anyone know how difficult swapping a 1998 DOHC 2.5L into a 1995 with a SOHC 2.2L would be? Are the gains worth the headaches?

The Qualifiers:
1. I have access to a complete 1998 drivetrain (engine, ECU, transmission, clutch, rear differential, most of the wiring, etc) that I can buy very inexpensively.
2. My 2.2L has 235,000 on it and it runs very strong, but the 2.5L has only 90,000 on it and it ran well prior to being swapped for a full STi drivetrain.

The Issues:
1. First and foremost, I DO NOT want to get into a complex wiring job! :cool:
2. How much of the 2.5L stuff do I really need if I decide to go for it? Even though I am buying the parts cheaply, I don't want to blow unecessary cash nor waste time and effort.
3. Is there going to be that big of a difference between a 3.90 and a 4.11 drive ratio? (i.e. should I really bother to swap the transmission and rear differential?)
4. My general gameplan is to do a mild buildup on either engine. Which one is the more viable base to build from?
5. The headgasket on the 2.5L has never been changed and I obviously want to take care of that potential issue.

I have ZERO intention of ever turboing the car BTW.

Thanks for any advice or guidance...

Paul

[Huffer]

As long as you're spending budgeted money, I'll support this Paul. ;)

FWIW, I think it's better to go with the 2.5L for the buildup - there are more parts available for that engine, based off of the RS25 community. ie. TWE, Rallitek et al.

I don't personally think the gains are worth it in this situation - given that you bought the wagon to meet two objectives - daily driver + get out of debt.

Perhaps if you had no immediate spending circumstances (no kids, family etc) and no significant debt, it might be worth it.

Also, if that 2.5L DOHC is going cheap, I could be interested as mine has 190k on it, and it'd be nice to have something with a little less mileage.
(bonus for me is that it's a direct replacement)

[Wiscon_Mark]

While the 2.5 has a hell of a lot more aftermarket support, I would just do a mild N/A build if I were you. Dropping in a 2.5L means a bit of wiring, and you could avoid that entirely with the 2.2L. Heavy N/A building means you'll have a car that's hard to drive, extremely peaky, etc etc. I would just do a mild build with an engine that's proven to be reliable, and leave it that way.

Although, if you want my honest opionion, I'd do a turbo swap or H6 swap before any of this.

I was going to vote "knucklehead" but I voted 2.2L

[lumpy]

As long as you're spending budgeted money, I'll support this Paul. ;)

That goes without saying Rog. :wink:

In a strange way, having a car that is mildly interesting to drive and one that also allows me to tinker a bit helps to keep my eye on the big picture. I can't quite go cold turkey on the car addiction thing and little projects like this tend to keep me from doing stupid things like going out and getting a FXT or dumping more money into a certain WRX wagon. :-?

Paul

[badbasser98]

I had a 2.2l before my current GT. That engine was running awsome with 120k on it when I traded. It may have not been much, but I think it actualy ran smoother than the engine in my BE which is only at 14k. There are many reasons why I think the 2.2 is better than the 2.5. Sure it has less power, but it is a non-interference engine, no worries about the head gaskets, sparkplugs are much easier to replace, etc.

[Wiscon_Mark]

careful-not all 2.2s are non-interference. 97+ EJ22s are intereference. Luckily our crusty old fart has a '95 ;)

[lumpy]

One major disadvantage of building up my current 2.2L is the downtime. The 2.5L could basically be up on an engine stand until it was ready for installation where I would likely have to complete the 2.2L in stages. :-?

Paul

[lumpy]

Luckily our crusty old fart has a '95 ;)

Hey, I resemble that remark! :razz:

lump

[Huffer]

We could do an engine swap for parts... ;)
I'll trade you mine w/ cash for the lower mileage one. You'd have to tear it down anyway. :D

[jey]

If you don't want to get into complex wiring then you shouldn't do the 2.5 swap probably. An NA buildup might be worth it, but doesn't seem to provide nearly the same type of gains than turboing it would, and you don't want to go that route.

[lumpy]

My goal is to keep this well under $1,000 or it's really not worth it. If I'm going to get into a complex wiring job, I would just swap in a EJ20 at minimum. I likely wouldn't use this car as the platform for that kind of money and time commitment. At that point I would have been better off keeping my WRX wagon.

The only reason that I'm considering this is because I have this 2.5L that I can buy cheap. What exactly are we talking as far as the complexity of the wiring job? Just rewiring a few clips or are we talking about splicing harnesses? Any other gotchas?

Thanks for the input everyone!

Paul

[jey]

My car came with the 2.2 and just swapping on the 2.5 heads/intake manifold there were a bunch of things to figure out. I didn't do the swap, but to this very day I still have no idle controller - they are totally different between the two engines.