1997 Legacy GT Sedan 5MT 05 WRX Swap?

457 Views 9 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Flat4awd, 12 d ago

97lgtnc

Discussion Starter · 28 d ago

Hey y'all! Long time lurker first time poster! So I will try to keep this short and to the point. I have done some research into what it takes to swap a WRX into these cars and I'm really just looking for some advice on planning this project. This is a more sentimental thing for me as I had one of these in white as my first car and i always wanted a turbo
. Well now that I'm older have the time and money to buy and rebuild one i would like to. I know this project is going to take time and money and I'm just starting my research and Reddit pointed me here and i will start searching forum posts, which is fine by me. From what I understand any WRX that is drive by cable will work. So I'm looking for a donor WRX from 05 and older. I want to swap the rear break drums for the WRX disc breaks as well. Here are some details about the car.

1997 legacy Sedan 5mt
288k miles, no rust, some dings and dents. 2 Larger dents, failing head gaskets, interior needs to be replaced.

What I'm trying to avoid is doing doubled up work like for example I know the wiring harness needs to be merged but does that mean i need to gut all the wiring harness's in the car or just the one under the hood? So does that mean i should wait to restore the interior until I'm ready to pull those out since The interior will already be gutted and i don't have to pull it all out twice. Things like that. So what order should i do these things in.

Also if I'm swapping over the WRX do I NEED to have pods for boost/oil because the stock WRX doesn't have those. Honestly I'm not going to be tracking this car or anything so I'm not sure if monitoring those things will be needed if I'm running an AP.

Body damage dings and dents
Interior
suspension
engine / trans

Any information y'all can provide would be helpful.
model

Car Wheel Tire Vehicle Automotive side marker light

Tire Vehicle Car Automotive lighting Automotive tire

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stalkergc

· #2 · 28 d ago

Yes you have to pull the interior to merge the harness unless you are doing the wiring yourself and want to punish yourself by doing it in the car. No you don't need a gauge pod. The rest of the info you'll need to swap your car is all searchable and available in this subforum, it's been done hundreds of times ☺

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97lgtnc

Discussion Starter · #3 · 28 d ago

stalkergc said:
Yes you have to pull the interior to merge the harness unless you are doing the wiring yourself and want to punish yourself by doing it in the car. No you don't need a gauge pod. The rest of the info you'll need to swap your car is all searchable and available in this subforum, it's been done hundreds of times ☺

Awesome thank you so much. I was having trouble finding info about the order other than digging deep into the how to forums which is kinda overwhelming when starting out researching.

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00redOBS

· #4 · 28 d ago

Skip the Cobb AP and switch to a 02-03 WRX ECU for the Carberry ROM. BtSsm can send most parameters to your phone.

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prezy4life

· #5 · 26 d ago

I've been looking for the same car for a while but every time one comes up I'm working on a project so there no room for it. It's a dope looking chassis. Even with the EJ25D it would be good enough for me so a wrx swap would make it even better. I hope the one you found has the cloth interior. Hope all goes well

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97lgtnc

Discussion Starter · #6 · 20 d ago

prezy4life said:
I've been looking for the same car for a while but every time one comes up I'm working on a project so there no room for it. It's a dope looking chassis. Even with the EJ25D it would be good enough for me so a wrx swap would make it even better. I hope the one you found has the cloth interior. Hope all goes well

It does have cloth interior. I was planning on having katskinz leather installed instead of the cloth. Is there something better about the cloth interior or is it just a personal preference of yours? lol

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prezy4life

· #7 · 19 d ago

Cloth looks better in my opinion. They just hold up better over time. The leather cracks and wrinkles which does not age well.

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Flat4awd

· #8 · 15 d ago

The research can be daunting at times, that's why RS25 is so helpful - it's all part of the process. You should start a build thread, this way you will have a clear way of keeping track of your build, and your documentation will inspire others too.

As for sequential order, it's a case by case basis with what parts you have and how much you're willing to spend. My advice to you is to purchase everything for your build first (if you can afford it), then create a plan of attack for the swap. Rarely is this goal attainable, but the main crucial items should be purchased first.

There's also considerations for JDM engines, I don't know what the going rate for front clips are but that would be a sound investment if you're interested. A lot of times the importers supply things such as 4/2 calipers, coilovers, even strut bars for a sweet bolt on affair.

As was said earlier, these cars have been swapped since the 90's so all the info is out there and searchable. Again, please create a build thread; I also love that Legacy chassis and am looking forward to seeing your progress. Good luck to you, they're a lot of fun.

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97lgtnc

Discussion Starter · #9 · 12 d ago

Flat4awd said:
The research can be daunting at times, that's why RS25 is so helpful - it's all part of the process. You should start a build thread, this way you will have a clear way of keeping track of your build, and your documentation will inspire others too.

As for sequential order, it's a case by case basis with what parts you have and how much you're willing to spend. My advice to you is to purchase everything for your build first (if you can afford it), then create a plan of attack for the swap. Rarely is this goal attainable, but the main crucial items should be purchased first.

There's also considerations for JDM engines, I don't know what the going rate for front clips are but that would be a sound investment if you're interested. A lot of times the importers supply things such as 4/2 calipers, coilovers, even strut bars for a sweet bolt on affair.

As was said earlier, these cars have been swapped since the 90's so all the info is out there and searchable. Again, please create a build thread; I also love that Legacy chassis and am looking forward to seeing your progress. Good luck to you, they're a lot of fun.

Hey man thanks for the amazing advice! I also saw where people had taken their old amazon boxes and cut them up to put the screws and bolts in drawn to the location and label those with where they came from. I will start a build thread at the end of the summer. Just have a few more house projects to wrap up then im going to start ordering and planning parts. I saw the list on iWire of all the parts and honestly i think i want to go the route of ordering as many new components as i can. I understand that a donor car would be cheaper but something about buying a wrecked or beat up 05 and older wax just doesn't seem reliable to me lol. So the part list on iWire im going to order as much of it new as i can find, then ill get the rest used since most of this stuff is discontinued. I know i will be ordering a used low mile / reman engine / transmission.

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Flat4awd

· #10 · 12 d ago

Cool, sounds fun. Looks like you're motivated which is huge for that sort of project.

Yeah, iWire is one of the oldest, very knowledgeable and reputable sources for these kind of swaps. Good luck sourcing parts, message me if you need any to help your build.

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