2.2 to 2.5 swap...
 

Hey guys, my 97 Impreza L just hit 232,000 miles and it's going to be time for a new engine soon. I have been considering going to an NA 2.5 engine to get some more kick from the car (plus I don't want the wiring hassles of swaping in a WRX motor). I have read lots of threads on other sites (i-club, rs25, etc.) about this swap, but I cannot find a specific thread about putting a 2.5 into a '97. I already know about the HG issues with the various 2.5 engines, and I understand that using the rare 98 RS engine is the least complicated way to do this. What does it take to swap in a 99-05 EJ25? Has anyone here done one of these swaps? Any info is greatly appreciated.

Wouldn't swapping in a 2.5 from an '02 or newer be just as bad wiring-wise as a WRX swap?

Honestly I don't know, that is why I was hoping for some ideas. I don't know much about wiring differences between each year.

The best way to do it is to tear every bit of wiring out of the car and plug in wiring and drivetrain and a whole bunch of other crap from a newer car in. This is what I did with my 1993 L wagon. It's essentially a 1993 shell transplanted into a 2001 OBS- literally everything that can be removed and replaced was. However, this is a crap-ton of work and requires acquiring a complete donor car. You could also try just getting an engine plus engine and bulkhead wiring harnesses and splicing them together, but that's worse than the complete swap IMO. Way more room for things to go wrong.

I'm trying to remember if your motor is Phase I or Phase II. If it is Phase II, then you can just take a 2.5 longblock and toss it in, bolt your intake manifold back up to it and switch a couple sensors for the cam and crank. But I think it's Phase I, and I think the Phase I intake manifolds don't swap with Phase II.

Check this thread out. There might be some possibilities there. It's a NA thread, not a turbo thread.

http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtop...=318560#318560