Club 80-90 Forums

Hi!
I've very recently bought a new (to me) T25 which has a Subaru engine.  I wasn't especially looking for one with a Subaru engine but it drove very well so certainly seemed like a bonus.  Unfortunately the insurance company (Just Kampers) want to know all about it (as do I to be honest) and have sent me a modifications form to fill in.  As a complete noob to the Subaru world I'm unsure how to find out what the engine number is as there is nothing obvious on the engine I can see and there appear to be hundreds of Subaru engine variants.  I expect the insurance co just want to understand how fast the engine is (and I'd like to know so I can get the relevant Haynes manual).

I've established it is a EJ20 (this is engraved on the engine) and what paperwork I have on it states it is a Impreza 2.0 N/A - is that enough for the insurance?  (Doesn't tell me the bhp or anything)
Can anyone identify the engine number from this photo (hope this works!):
https://imgur.com/a/subaru-ej20-PDxoHbx
 

Needs a clean!

It's an EJ20 n/a, so about 125/ 130bhp. That should be enough for the insurers- I suspect they saw Impreza, and are concerned it's a 300hp turbo monster. But it's not, so you're not pushing any rules.

If you had the reg of the donor car, then you'd find out if it were an ej201, ej202 etc. ours is from a 99 Forester, and is an ej202.

Can you get the reg of the donor from the previous owner? That will tell you a lot.

Fantastic engine though. Enjoy

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Thanks much appreciated! 

I knew it was circa 125bhp just from driving it but wasn't sure if what little information I have would be enough for them.  

Unfortunately I don't have the reg of the donor.  All I have is a dirty invoice from Scoobybits which unfortunately misses this vital bit of info.  

The lady I bought it from told me it was a 1.9ltr 1915cc engine (and me not knowing any better didn't question it) but I think that was the previous engine.  Doesn't look like she updated the vehicle registration either.

Engine number is stamped in hard across the top of the crankcase where it meets the bell housing, the number runs across both halves iirc

Make sure the van is correctly insured etc, but IMO it's not worth the hassle of updating the CC with the DVLA, especially if you have little paperwork related to the engine or conversion. They'll likely want to see an invoice from a garage for the installation of the engine, and if you can't supply that, you'll have a headache.
I've never heard of anyone receiving any kind of penalty for having an incorrect engine number or CC on their logbook, but I have heard many stories of people trying to do the right thing by informing the DVLA and ending up needlessly opening a can of worms!

cobblers wrote: ↑20 May 2025, 13:41 Make sure the van is correctly insured etc, but IMO it's not worth the hassle of updating the CC with the DVLA, especially if you have little paperwork related to the engine or conversion. They'll likely want to see an invoice from a garage for the installation of the engine, and if you can't supply that, you'll have a headache.
I've never heard of anyone receiving any kind of penalty for having an incorrect engine number or CC on their logbook, but I have heard many stories of people trying to do the right thing by informing the DVLA and ending up needlessly opening a can of worms!

Oh interesting.  Thanks for the heads up.  I changed the colour of my other van and updated the DVLA without fuss so assumed the same would be true of this.