Club 80-90 Forums

Morning, I'm getting ready to swap over to a Subaru engine. My 2.1 runs well (it's never let me down) but is down on power. To be honest I've always wanted a Subaru Legacy but can't justify another car so the engine will have to do.

Options are EJ20 orEJ25 to go in a pop top westy. The 2.0 is readily available but I'm worried that I will always thinking the 2.5 would have been a better choice.

I'm after honest opinions of anyone with a 2.0 or 2.5. Really need to get on with it this month and stop thinking about it.

Cheers
David


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The EJ 20 will have similar power to the DJ.
It is loads cheaper to buy, was to find, and generally not abused.
I was interested in the EJ22......Bonkers power, enough said really.
Then I thought , hang on it's a campervan.

I'm going from an MV Kev so I'm pretty sure the EJ20 will be enough. Hopefully someone that has an EJ20 sees this post. I'm ready to get on with the swap after a successful PPI claim on my old EGG credit card.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you can find an EJ22 go for that, you may find the 2.0 ltr not much of a power upgrade after all the work has been done. Maybe 2.5 is better but early quad cam types need head gaskets doing.

Personaly i would not even concider the ej20. As there is not enough gain for the cost. The ej22 is a much better all rounder imho and i am always surprised whenwe drive it.
So either ej22 ej25 or ez30 h6. Dont be concirned about the mpg of the h6 there is minimal difference due to the way they produce there power

Neil

Thanks for the input Neil. I'd ruled out the H6 as it had been mentioned that it was too much for the gearbox. I bought a box recently from Elvis that he had built by Aidan so it could be another option.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Talk to aidan about the gear box as i dont know. There are however plenty of h6 powerd busses out there.

Neil

If you go H6 get a 4 speed gearbox from an Aircooled 2 ltr , needs early rear gear linkage rod mod.

How can the earlier aircold box be stronger than the later ones? The case isnt even as stiff (less ribs)
Since when was a wide-ratio 4-speed transmission ever superior to a close(r) ratio 5-speed?

My 2.6 SA put out 200Nm when it was new, thats ~147 lb.ft and the 5 speed (read as AAP) had approx 180,000km before I had it reconned. It wasnt too bad at all iirc, nothing broken although it may have had some maintenance beforehand. It used to tow a caravan and a boat from Harare to Capetown so it never got an easy life!
What does the 3.0 H6 make torque-wise?

Sent from my Atari 7800

PS I know someone who converyed his Carat to EG33 with a UN1 transmission. He reckoned its the perfect fast bus and he has owned a lot of cars.
You will need a Busprojekte.de bellhousing. Not cheap, but you get German quality.
Check out the UN1 ratios in my Superboxer topic...

Sent from my Atari 7800

The search begins for an EJ25 tomorrow.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I have a ej20 which is absolulty fine but I do think I wish I did have a little more. The ej20 is apparently 115 hp and the ej2.5 is 160hp! When mine gives up I know what will replace it!

The Subarus score over the wbx primarily because of torque, not peak bhp.
The EJ22 has a 79mm stroke iirc, so it has an immediate advantage over the 76mm DJ even though it is lower compression.
The torque band is also broader, the 4 valve heads mean more torque is made at higher rpm, which makes them a stronger performer.
They also tend to be younger & less knackered than most "recycled" wbx, but thats another story
However the EJ series is now a classic engine too. Spares are not cheap! It has been replaced by the even longer-stroke & smaller bore FB/FA series, which are physically wider than previous engines.

Sent from my Atari 7800

The ej25 is known as the cadburys engine in the Subaru community as its so weak we assume it made from chocolate lol , iv gone for a ej20 for my van as its far less work to make it realiable , ie you can use it more or less as it comes ,, ej25 are known for headgasket issues and ring lands failing ,, once you get into the turbo ej25 they have even more issues to try and overcome like the cylinder walls moving around and heads lifting ,, so there are a few reasons for me going for the ej20 (and I own another turbo ej25 that runs mental power lol) ,,, the ej25 makes great torque but without spending a few quid mare it safe I'm going to stick with the ej20 in my van and if it runs out of power I'll swap for a ej20 turbo unit


Just out of curiosity really but has anyone on here tried to Stroker a NA engine yet ??,, ie 2.5 crank into a 2.0 = 2.1 Stroker ,,, 2.5 crank into a 2.2 = 2.35 (considered the best all rounder in Subaru world) , there are even kits to Stroker a 2.5 up to a 2.6 now aswell

Iv stroked the ej20 turbo engine but never thought if it could be done to the NA engine aswell but can't see why not really

That would mean real engine building though

Sent from my Atari 7800