Welcome to the North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club Friday March 29, 2024
Home Forums Images WikiNASIOC Products Store Modifications Upgrade Garage
NASIOC
Go Back   NASIOC > NASIOC Technical > Subaru Conversions

Welcome to NASIOC - The world's largest online community for Subaru enthusiasts!
Welcome to the NASIOC.com Subaru forum.

You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our community, free of charge, you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is free, fast and simple, so please join our community today!

If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.







* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads. 
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 10-31-2020, 09:02 PM   #1
AdamRR
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 519846
Join Date: Oct 2020
Default 2003 bugeye. Swap or rebuild 350whp ballpark?

So the dream for my 220k miles bugeye has always been an ej207 ver7 when I had the means and money to do so but that dream was crushed after being told passing a smog would be tricky and not "legit" (I am over swapping parts and tunes and limping to a smog shop just to have a CEL be my worst enemy). I am working for a shop now with a dedicated bay and lift for my project plus I have the help of the owner who is very knowledgeable when it comes to building motors and transmissions. He is interested in helping/teaching me to build and or swap a spicy boxer motor as well as rebuild the stock trans or if I must swap it.

I don't autoX, it will not be seeing a track or strip of any kind nor will I ever be comfortable launching it from a dead stop but I do enjoy the occasional "spirited" canyon run or on-ramp/highway pull and the local subi meets/cruise. I honestly just enjoy my bugeye and won't let it be a throwaway like the first one I had when I was young. My goal is 350whp max and reliable if that is possible for an EJ XD.

So whats my option now that JDM is out?
1) is it true smog will be just another headache with an ej207 does anyone know something my source doesn't??
2) is a usdm STI swap the best option? i know there is a lot more to swap than just the motor/trans. I can find my own links for that help
3) should I consider building my stock 2.0 with forged internals and building the trans or is the above a cheaper more realistic option for my power goal?
4) is a CA smog legal 350hp EJ build a pipe dream?

I've got a tuner in mind who is fairly local with an AWD dyno and has a good reputation but I don't want to contact them with a bunch of questions until I at least have an upgrade path/set goal.

any info is appreciated and im looking forward to your replies. thanks
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.
AdamRR is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.
Old 11-17-2020, 08:03 PM   #2
marzism
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 504864
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: California
Vehicle:
2002 Impreza
Silver

Default

I have been researching the same, so caveat my info comes from secondhand interviews not actual experience. From what I have gathered, trying to attain 350whp reliably is not really feasible for a 2.5L 4-cylinder engine, much less making it smog-legal in CA. TLDR; over the past 10 years California has been aggressively cracking down on tuners. In their eyes it needs to all be factory spec.

If you forego HP goals and just go for a swap to a stock engine and emission system you are going to have an easier time passing. Transmission swap is pretty straightforward just go for what model year you want, based on the rear-diff you want.
marzism is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2020, 08:10 PM   #3
boost this ms
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 236523
Join Date: Jan 2010
Chapter/Region: South East
Location: Nc
Vehicle:
2003 subaru wrx
sedona red pearl

Default

Idk how you feel about running a hybrid setup. But you could do a hybrid RA-sti shortblock with your 2.0 heads. This is the setup I am doing at the moment, hybrid motor with an fp green, stays in stock location. The RA block is supposed to be a bit stronger while staying an oem motor so should last good while if well taken care of.
boost this ms is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:55 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.0
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Copyright ©1999 - 2019, North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club, Inc.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission
Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.