WRX + FTO = ??

[Taz]

After having been screwed around too many times in the past week, it looks inevitable that my FTO doesnt want to leave my side.
So instead of getting my WRX, instead with the financial year just ended and a lot of cash soon coming my way i thought i might as well finally do my conversion with help from my tax return, instead of my initially planned 4g63 - although i will stil probably need a evo 4 floor unless my research shows that a WRX would be suitable enough.
I will be starting in the next month or two and will slowly but surely do pretty much what smokesolid is doing (if you have him on FB) but with a WRX under the hood.
My plans so far is an EJ20 conversion - stock half cut (for the time being) but most likely with a front mount due to lack of space most likely. Depending on price, i will most likely get a 2003+ Sti gearbox and will most likely fit a lightened flywheel, stage 2 ceramic clutch and brembo's before i run it on the street/track.
All up i dont know what my budget is for the project but i imagine my wallet will be left a good 20k lighter by the end.
This also means that i will eventually (probably sooner than later) have a lot of FTO GPR goodies up for sale that i will be replacing - including 135km mivec engine, possibly strut top and sway bars depending, definitely the GPR stock spoiler and suspension. i will everyone know in my conversion thread when i will go ahead and gut the car and sell off all the parts.
At this stage i dont think anyone has done an EJ20 in an FTO? Im not sure if anyone else has even thought about or tried doing it, but my basic math tells me its barely going to squeeze in, but nonetheless squeeze in. The problem will be the awd conversion.
Im also looking at kits and wings for the car, aswell as minor visual upgrades, for example i saw an FTO with some carbon wrap on the inside of the rear lights that really shone out and made the back lights look sexy and a new armrest shape/design. Also before the conversion im looking at f**king off the little boot on the shifter and going old school by making a stainless steel plate shift pattern with a nice carbing shifter on the top - i suspect a few people will want these when i pull it off so ill be sure to either get a few made or get exact measurements and a guide up as i think it will look tops, but i am wondering if my armrest design will go up to and slightly change the shifter panel space, but most likely it will be a universal manual FTO fit.
In any case i guess look out for the thread soon if your interested, or if you have any helpful comments PM me.
And thats my 2 cents.

[MH999]

I thought you sold your fto? imo i would just use the 4g63 as it is proven to work,and compared to the ej20 its a better motor ,easier to work on and maintain,i also heared subaru boxes are sh*t,but if thats what you want to do then go for it, i also recon you will need to double your budget of 20k if you want 4wd as you would need to cut out the floor pan and weld in a evo4 -6 floor which would need lots of fabricating,also you would need to reinforce the shell with the floor out so it doesnt twist etc.Look at this http://forum.fullyloadedcars.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2

[Taz]

unfortunately no, i didnt sell my FTO, on the day i was meant to deliver it i got a txt saying my buyers buyer is doing something or some crap and he cant get the money for his car and havent heard from him since
ive heard a lot of crap about both motors and how both are better than the other etc etc in the end its all a matter of opinion they are two different styles that work differently and are preferred by different people, and the reason im leaning towards an EJ20, is that it hasnt been done before (to the best of my knowledge) and i have a mate who is quite frankly a WRX specialist and knows more about the EJ series than anyone else i know.
As for doubling my budget of 20k? i dunno if its going to take an extra 20k for changing a floor - 20k is a lot of money for one job. the shell would be easily reinforced with a half cage before i take it out and all in all i just cant see it costing anywhere near 20k, maybe thats just me..
In any case i am starting my shifter pattern today and seeing what i can come up with..should be fun

[silverGPX]

just go the 4g would be so much better, and youll have a big following as a lot of people are wondering how to do it.

[Kustom]

if your gonna do that then just buy a wrx and drop a fto shell on it.....?

[vipfto]

well I take my hat to you for trying but beware to fork out around double what you predict, 20k will get your motor and maybe have it fitted, dont mean to put you off but this is a seriously massive undertaking let alone 4wd to boot. However GL and post up progress

[Storm]

I'd go for the 4g63 motor and if you get an EVO3 rear floor pan you can stitch in the diff hanger and mounting points for the tank. All the rear suspension links are the same as is the trailing arm, apart from the fact it has a driveshaft running through it obviously. The floor tunnel is big enough for a propshaft, although the exhaust would not longer fit in it.

I had that much planned out and my welder, who already has a MK3 Supra with a Merc V8 and all the running gear in it, was ready to start cutting when Margaret lost her job and decided Uni came before the car

[Taz]

hmm, i thought 20k was atleast suitable to get the car running..
for 4k i can get a complete half cut including gearbox, and doing some of the labour myself i would not have guessed that 16k wouldnt cover the cost of putting it in?
smokesolid had numerous hiccups with his 3sgte and he didnt top 12 with his labour.
In the end i wont really know till i cost it all up but hopefully getting the car running wont be over 20 - especially since i have mates that will gladly help out on the weekends to get the dirty work done and labour will hopefuly be f**k all.
Thanks for the advice storm - 4wd will definetly come after the car is suitably running the new engine in it, possibly a few months down the track again due to the cost and time involved.
At the moment i will be purchasing a half cut in the next few months and begin to disassemble it at home to get all the necessary parts out and hopefuly get my car prepped as much as possible before shipping it out like getting my 6a12 out and prepping the bay as much as possible.

[MH999]

At the moment i will be purchasing a half cut in the next few months and begin to disassemble it at home to get all the necessary parts out and hopefuly get my car prepped as much as possible before shipping it out like getting my 6a12 out and prepping the bay as much as possible.

I bet in a weeks time you will probably just bump up your forsale thread,There is nothing wrong with that i had plans to do somthing similar with mine i was just about to get a 15k loan,then i said no i will wait,then 3 days later my fto was on ebay and it was gone lol.Anyway you seem really keen on this conversion we cant give you much advice on the ej20 but if you know poeple that can help you then by all means give it a try,if it doesnt end up working and you end up wasting all that money you can say oh well ''been there done that'' its only money,i am not talking the piss ,just go 4g63

[Taz]

Shouldnt get to me selling my FTO again hopefully.
I really want a project car to start on to keep me occupied, and now that the WRX i wanted is out of the picture it would be pointless me selling my FTO as i wouldnt want any other car instead.
Would be nice to go an EJ20 ive always loved the engine, and for me it just seems that the 4g would be too for lack of a better word cliche. But if everyone else says that the 4g is the way to go maybe i should swing that way..even my mechanic as a WRX specialist was a bit iffy on putting one in over a 4g.
I guess too if i go 4g i can just buy a donor evo 4 and use the floor as well instead of buying a half cut and sourcing a floor too.
My only problem is finding one cheap enough, as it would have to have to be in pretty good nic - so that means forking out money.

I also tried many alternatives for my shifter plate, and it seems that it is either impossible, or going to require some extensive thinking through and tricky mods.
The reason is that where the shaft bends at the base, it is barely a few mm above the top of the console, which makes it impossible to simply lay a plate over the gap instead of the boot like intended, and instead would have to be slightly elevated above the console, or the console height itself be raised a few mm for it to work, and ultimately probably wouldnt be worth the cost and effort involved for such a minor mod. Shame really, would of looked top i reckon

I guess i need to start the long search for a cheap enough evo 4 - hopefully one thats dinged to hell or crummy paint etc to bring the price down, the body condition (apart from the floor) doesnt matter to me. I may have to look at getting a written off evo 4 (A pillar write off) with a good nic engine, and one thats had a shot engine to get the floor? I mean what are the chances im going to find what i need for the price i wanna pay.

[MH999]

Actually dont go evo 4 as they are prone to crank wobble,go evo 5-6 lol.Your best bet is pickels auction or any other car auction place.

[Lawso]

if i can find it, i saw a thread where someone dropped a eg civic shell onto a wrx drivetrain and motor...i'll have a look

[SG]

If you use evo3 rear trailing arms at least you'll have the spot for rear axles to go through. If you use evo 4 i think theres an extra linkage in there somewhere for rear suspension... Evo 4-6 use the same diff hanger/floor plan links afaik. But 5 & 6 have a wider wheel base.. so its either longer axles, or longer diff and rear sub frame for them. Suspension links i think are the same but the pickup points are in different spots...i dont think 5&6 are a good choice unless u do something about the extra tracking

[spency]

If you use evo3 rear trailing arms at least you'll have the spot for rear axles to go through. If you use evo 4 i think theres an extra linkage in there somewhere for rear suspension... Evo 4-6 use the same diff hanger/floor plan links afaik. But 5 & 6 have a wider wheel base.. so its either longer axles, or longer diff and rear sub frame for them. Suspension links i think are the same but the pickup points are in different spots...i dont think 5&6 are a good choice unless you do something about the extra tracking

Is it possible to get driveshafts engineered/made to suit? Smokesolid needed some for his conversion.

[Valandis91]

If you use evo3 rear trailing arms at least you'll have the spot for rear axles to go through. If you use evo 4 i think theres an extra linkage in there somewhere for rear suspension... Evo 4-6 use the same diff hanger/floor plan links afaik. But 5 & 6 have a wider wheel base.. so its either longer axles, or longer diff and rear sub frame for them. Suspension links i think are the same but the pickup points are in different spots...i dont think 5&6 are a good choice unless you do something about the extra tracking

Is it possible to get driveshafts engineered/made to suit? Smokesolid needed some for his conversion.

yeah mine are custom made

[Bennoz]

Yeah driveshafts aint hard to make.

[Storm]

If you use evo3 rear trailing arms at least you'll have the spot for rear axles to go through. If you use evo 4 i think theres an extra linkage in there somewhere for rear suspension... Evo 4-6 use the same diff hanger/floor plan links afaik. But 5 & 6 have a wider wheel base.. so its either longer axles, or longer diff and rear sub frame for them. Suspension links i think are the same but the pickup points are in different spots...i dont think 5&6 are a good choice unless you do something about the extra tracking

Is it possible to get driveshafts engineered/made to suit? Smokesolid needed some for his conversion.

If you stick to using an EVO3 rear end you can use its driveshafts and you dont need to cut out the whole of the floor so you'll keep more integrity in the car. You do need to cut out the part the swinging arms attach to but this it replaced by the diff carrier and the FTO arms & links fit back on.

Match that up to and EVO3 propshaft, an EVO6 or later engine and transfer box and you'll be taking the piss out of anything on the road.

[Taz]

Sorry to dig up this old thread - Storm, is the evo 3 and 4 diff the same? Google only spits up a bunch of crap when i try and look into it or im doing it wrong.
Found a rear diff (evo 4) for cheap and if it is the same as the evo 3 (which you mentioned is a far easier option to match up) i think ill give it a whirl.
Im assuming then if the Diff is the same the driveshafts are as well? Can in interchange a evo 4 diff with evo 3 driveshafts?
Cheers