58 replies to this topic

[AussieTemplar]

Hey all,

I'm almost 12 months into my red provisionals and really am loving driving. I love cars, I love Suby's and I love reading about turbo conversions and the such. Right now I am really weighing up something probably very unlikely to happen and probably stupid. The last mini meet we had really inspired me.

Should I hold onto my 1999 RX and over the period of the next 2/3 years and modify slowly in prepartion, eventually finalising my car with a full turbo conversion?

The way I see it, a turbo conversion would be like me buying a new car, but not really. A new way to drive the car? I new experience over my slow 2.5 N/A automatic. Coverting it to manual. Turboing it. Boost.

But I'm not talking about an ordinary 2L STI engine swap. I am thinking a full rebuild of my current EJ25 with m0ar turbo, and I know that EJ25 turbo engines eventually blow up, but what would I do, how could I work through it, to make this not happen?

I'm probably a little ambitious, but what's there to do. I've got just over 2 years until I am on my blacks. How much will this all cost? Whats the best way to go about it? Is it worth it? Or is it just best to not spend anything more on my car, save up and buy a turbo car when I'm off my P's.

Thanks for reading, will appreciate any advice.

Nick

[skillionaire]

Hi,

Spend the money on a kart and go racing.

/wishestimeoveragain

Cheers,
Nik

[Scuba-Roo]

Hey, yeah I wouldn't convert it spend a little on minor mods like what you've done just to satisfy your needs then buy the real thing the two years goes fairly quick too and you've got two years to find a car you want you'll change your mind a few times along the way too

[Shaz]

Nick,

Lets get one thing straight. Its going to be CHEAPER to buy an already turbo'd car. Simple as that.

However.

The amount of pleasure you will get out of driving YOUR car, after YOU have turbo'd it, will be far greater then what you will get buying someone elses car. The simple reason being, you BUILT the car yourself. All your hard effort, research, development, parts shopping, advice, trials, errors, wins, amount of swearing, etc etc.

Driving a car you have built yourself is so much more rewarding then buying an already done one.

In your situation, there is going to be a few things to consider though. The fact yours is an RX, means it isnt going to have the amount of creature comforts, and suspension built for a turbo. So you are going to have to weigh up that too, because buying a turbo engine is all well and good, and convertting it is fine, but no point doing any of that if it isn't going to handle properly.

What i would suggest if you're set on turboing your car, is buying an EJ25 motor. Over the next 2-3 years, build it up. That way you can spread the cost out over a 3 year period, and take your time learning how to build a motor. In the meantime, you can start fitting ancilliries to your current car to prep it for the conversion (Fuel Pump, Swaybars, Links, Bushes, Manual Gearbox, Manual Diff, Manual Tailshaft, etc)

Then when it comes to the time to actually turbo your car, its been premodded to accept the turbo engine.

In other words, your car will be shaking hands with your engine.

Cheers,
Shazza

[SAV84C]

Why rebuild just a normal EJ25?

Why not go for the EJ257? Its already turboed from factory?

But as Shazza said build ur car up over the next few years, so its ready to handle the extra power...

[AussieTemplar]

Hey, yeah I wouldn't convert it spend a little on minor mods like what you've done just to satisfy your needs then buy the real thing the two years goes fairly quick too and you've got two years to find a car you want you'll change your mind a few times along the way too

True, but as Shazza mentioned below:

Nick,

Lets get one thing straight. Its going to be CHEAPER to buy an already turbo'd car. Simple as that.

However.

The amount of pleasure you will get out of driving YOUR car, after YOU have turbo'd it, will be far greater then what you will get buying someone elses car. The simple reason being, you BUILT the car yourself. All your hard effort, research, development, parts shopping, advice, trials, errors, wins, amount of swearing, etc etc.

Driving a car you have built yourself is so much more rewarding then buying an already done one.

In your situation, there is going to be a few things to consider though. The fact yours is an RX, means it isnt going to have the amount of creature comforts, and suspension built for a turbo. So you are going to have to weigh up that too, because buying a turbo engine is all well and good, and convertting it is fine, but no point doing any of that if it isn't going to handle properly.

What i would suggest if you're set on turboing your car, is buying an EJ25 motor. Over the next 2-3 years, build it up. That way you can spread the cost out over a 3 year period, and take your time learning how to build a motor. In the meantime, you can start fitting ancilliries to your current car to prep it for the conversion (Fuel Pump, Swaybars, Links, Bushes, Manual Gearbox, Manual Diff, Manual Tailshaft, etc)

Then when it comes to the time to actually turbo your car, its been premodded to accept the turbo engine.

In other words, your car will be shaking hands with your engine.

Cheers,
Shazza

You see this is the idea I love. Building my own car. My own engine. My own problems, my own achievements. It's what I had planned. Start upgrading everything. Suspension, driveline, manual conversion, etc etc. It sounds like fun.

Why rebuild just a normal EJ25?

Why not go for the EJ257? Its already turboed from factory?

But as Shazza said build ur car up over the next few years, so its ready to handle the extra power...

Yep, it's what I guess I didn't say well enough, I want to build my car up over the next few years.

And yep, EJ257 is probably the way to go.


I'm still in a learning phase. My dad use to take cars apart and put them back together again in the drive way of his old house when he was my age, I really want to be like that. Obviously things aren't that simple anymore, when back in the day you had pretty much just the engine, now you have the computer to worry about and what not.

Thanks for the advice so far guys, all is being taken onboard.

[Ben_20EJT]

personaly i would just enjoy what you have now, maybe convert it to a manual, and sell it when your off your Ps and get say a b4 or a gen2 leg, something turbo from factory. this is what i will be doing once im off my Ps in 10months.

thanks,
ben.

[Start]

Its true - building it is half the fun.

The accomplishment is pretty awesome, and the headaches are all part of it.. hell I work in IT and managed to do it..

I ended up doing it all in one go, but along the way had put on Legacy headlights, Turbo Bonnet, Rims & Exhaust before hand.

If you love the car, and its worth keeping, then go for it...

I had mine about a year before the head-gasket blew, it only had 80,000 on it, and the decision to turbo was an easy one ..

Mine was a NA 2.5L Auto nugget too!..

[AussieTemplar]

Its true - building it is half the fun.

The accomplishment is pretty awesome, and the headaches are all part of it.. hell I work in IT and managed to do it..

I ended up doing it all in one go, but along the way had put on Legacy headlights, Turbo Bonnet, Rims & Exhaust before hand.

If you love the car, and its worth keeping, then go for it...

I had mine about a year before the head-gasket blew, it only had 80,000 on it, and the decision to turbo was an easy one ..

Mine was a NA 2.5L Auto nugget too!..

Wow so you turbo'd your auto EJ25 and after 80k it died?

What are you doing now? What would you do differently today in order to prevent that happening?

Cheers.

[Matt]

Wow so you turbo'd your auto EJ25 and after 80k it died?

What are you doing now? What would you do differently today in order to prevent that happening?

Cheers.

no i think he means he had the ej25 n/a and it died.....than he put a full turbo engine into it

thats right aint it??

If your gonna convert, go all out i say lol.....sti halfcut etc (you wont regret it ) though i am biased

[Shaz]

If your gonna convert, go all out i say lol.....sti halfcut etc (you wont regret it ) though i am biased

This man speaketh the truth.

Cheers,
Shazza

[Start]

Wow so you turbo'd your auto EJ25 and after 80k it died?

What are you doing now? What would you do differently today in order to prevent that happening?
Cheers.

No, I mean my Auto EJ25 died with 80,000 on the clock, cause the body was immaculate I did a complete Turbo conversion.

And yeah go STI, its only a few extra $$ and well worth it for your trouble.

Nothing can really be done to stop the HG blowing, Unless you get it replaced with a new steel HG? the Gen 2 EJ25 are well known to have issues.

[Jordan]

IMO (also what i plan on doing)

[alexGT]

hi.

buy it already fast. much less pain and work in the long, unless you want it that way.

i've done both, both fun but i'm over modding cars now..

[Shaz]

I know a guy who has one of those Club Spec EVO4s for sale.

$27k.

Cheers,
Shazza

[Scuba-Roo]

Yeah I know it's fun but at what cost? Theirs so many little things you'll need for a conversion that add up quickly. Just say you start building a engine now and in two years you've spent 10k on it and get over it. Your left with 10k of receipts you'll sell for 5 if your lucky.


I'm not saying don't do it, but you've got to be realistic about things. Yeah it's cool and rewarding to build your own things, I know that for fact, but it's also rewarding knowing you worked hard and saved up to buy things too.


I've been looking at converting my old gen1 wagon, even just to a 98 wrx while keepin my RS as a daily, but for the price of that I can buy a bug STI, forged motor, bigger turbo, 6spd and brembo's. Theirs no argument for what would be more fun and rewarding to drive.


Best of luck with whatever you choose

[Jordan]

I know a guy who has one of those Club Spec EVO4s for sale.

$27k.

Cheers,
Shazza

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/private/details.aspx?__Qpb=true&tsrc=allcarhome&__Ntk=CarAll&Cr=9&__Ns=pCar_RankSort_Int32|1||pCar_PriceSort_Decimal|1||pCar_Make_String|0||pCar_Model_String|0&R=10401857&seot=1&__Ntt=2000%20wrx%20sti&silo=1011&__sid=12F2BA55327C&keywords=2002%20wrx&__D=2000%20wrx%20sti&SearchAction=N&trecs=41&__Ntx=mode%20matchallpartial&__N=1216%201246%201247%201252%201282&__Nne=15&__Dx=mode%20matchany

[SAV84C]

Yeah I know it's fun but at what cost? Theirs so many little things you'll need for a conversion that add up quickly. Just say you start building a engine now and in two years you've spent 10k on it and get over it. Your left with 10k of receipts you'll sell for 5 if your lucky.


I'm not saying don't do it, but you've got to be realistic about things. Yeah it's cool and rewarding to build your own things, I know that for fact, but it's also rewarding knowing you worked hard and saved up to buy things too.

My brother is a great example of this.... Just recently he pulled the pin on his EVO2 Satria project after 1.5yrs of building EVERYTHING himself... He figured it was going too be too quick for the street and getting it registered would be a big PITA... So the only option that was left was a dedicated track car but in its current form it wouldnt be quick enough for the track without putting another 5-10K into it and even then the costs to keep it maintain wasnt totally worth it... So now he is parting ever bit of the car out getting as much back as possible and just buy an EVO 5 or 6.5


I say buy an already turbo powered car less headaches

[CodeBurn3r]

Club spec evo.. nice car, but remember, its stripped of all creature comforts
comfy seats.. no
Climate control... no
sound deadening... no

and a few other things i was told.

as a daily, they those seats would be a killer..

i looked at this quite a few times while i was on my P's and to be honest, time flies!

i slowly did things like headlights, suspension, lil things that kept me happy while i had it.. now im off the P's i know i could probably sell and pick up a GTB or impreza, but i dont want a wagon or a rex, i like my car..
mines in good condition, it has those lil extras like leather, climate control, etc etc that i like in a daily, and it rides amazingly well.

thus i have decided to get the V3-4 sti cut and do it.. i know i will loose money in the long run, but i don't want to buy a new car and have it all done for me..

like shaz said, its a journey and a hobby for me too, and the reward of knowing i did it all myself is the winner.

dont make any plans now, just wait it out and see what unfolds in 2 years, hell, i originally started buying stuff for a EJ22 Turbo build, but i ditched that idea cause of tuning hassles i would have, you get ideas, you learn they are bad, you persist, then you learn and change direction.. its just they way it is. i bet most of the guys here have not gone through with their original idea for their car.. and most are probably happier now and look back and think, yeah i made the right choice.

[Shaz]

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/private/details.aspx?__Qpb=true&tsrc=allcarhome&__Ntk=CarAll&Cr=9&__Ns=pCar_RankSort_Int32|1||pCar_PriceSort_Decimal|1||pCar_Make_String|0||pCar_Model_String|0&R=10401857&seot=1&__Ntt=2000%20wrx%20sti&silo=1011&__sid=12F2BA55327C&keywords=2002%20wrx&__D=2000%20wrx%20sti&SearchAction=N&trecs=41&__Ntx=mode%20matchallpartial&__N=1216%201246%201247%201252%201282&__Nne=15&__Dx=mode%20matchany

Its way better then that one man. And much, much faster.

Ask Dylan or any of the regs.

Cheers,
Shazza