so i did some half cut shopping last week and looked at a few sti halfcuts. i recently picked up a 95 base model impreze wagon 5 speed. wondering if anyone has done any swaps on that platform and is familiar with what goes into swapping the sti running gear into the american base model. the half cuts i looked at were the same body style as my wagon so i would score the good body panels brakes. this subaru stuff is a whole new ball game to me from what im normally building. im assuming everything will bolt up since i'll have a complete half cut to work with. wiring harness is my only main concern and rear diff/axles. if anyone can share any good info it'd be greatly appreciated. thanks.
By running gear do you mean the engine? and the transmission? The entire bulkhead harness will have to be merged together. If you're savvy you can do it yourself because the pinouts are available online. There are companies that do it for $500+ when you send them the harnesses. But other than that, mechanically it will drop in. The transmission will fit just fine. Just be careful of the final drive values. A lot of JDM transmissions are different. And I'm not sure what the final drive on yours is. Stock axles will fit fine in the front. The rears will depend on what kind of rear diff you use. If it's a VLSD or MLSD you will have to switch to the appropriate axles. The rear diff will physically bolt up just fine.
Where you going to go RHD on this wagon? If you are you will not have to get the harness merged. It is just a remove replace. When you do the swap there are pieces of the fire wall you will need to move to the US chassis. There are a few people on RS25.com that have done this kind of swap. Just read read read and you will get the idea of what you need to do.
i know my harness stuff will work fine if i make it right hand drive. i converted my s2000 bout 2 years ago. but since this is kinda the practical everyday car im not sure if i wanna make it right hand drive. even though the cool factor is high, still sucks having to lean across at the drive throughs and toss quarter at the toll booth. mainly. wondering about clutch stuff, the car has a cable clutch, but the jdm cars have hydro. do i have to rock the cable or does anybody make a hydro clutch set up for left hand drive cars? im not in a big rush to start this as a project car unless the stock motor dies anytime soon. im wanting to finish all the other current projects first but summertime may be ready to start the wagon.