I'm bringing home a subaru svx in the next week or 2. Dropping it off at my mechanic to pull the engine. Besides the entire wire harness and ecu, what else should I pull from the car? Thanks, mark

Engine, Trans, any/all wiring, ECU....that's about all you CAN use.

There are a lot of guys that have used the dashboard and other stuff, but now you're getting pretty deep into custom stuff.

02 sensors off the exhaust. Don't know that engine but there may be 3. The factory wiring grommets are a huge benefit as well as all the relays that you can snag. You want the Big Block, huh? I've seen a bunch of smoking deals on smaller/lighter EZ30's in your area. Very popular in the northern climates.

Welcome to the club! The "high value" stuff is mainly electronics. If the main door switch panel is good that is usually worth $60-$80. Get the cruise and trans modules (connected to the harness). If the stock radio is in there the SVX guys go NUTS for that. Don't bother with the trans for resale. I guarantee it will be crap. The lights and lenses have value if you want to make some $ back, and the wheels, side view mirrors as well. Not sure how far you want to go on the part-out. The front fenders are worth $ if they are Subie stamped. DO NOT BOTHER wrestling the gas tank out to retrieve the fuel pump. Flippin' PITA. PM me with questions.

$500 for the car. Already purchased. Thanks for info guys

Wise words! New ones are $100 and the one you pull will likely be crap anyway.

Has a legacy trans but I'm not sure I will go to the trouble to part and sell. We'll see. Thanks

Don' get rid of the car, you will find that you are missing parts when you do your
conversion. get rid of your donor after you get your car running.

And then sell it to a recycler.

Good advise but I will not be able to keep the roller for long. So it's now or never.

radiator mounts, misc nuts and bolts, strip it!!

I'm using the radiator out of my SVX in a lay-down slight angle configuration and it works. Fans and all fit, then run the hoses out the bottom plus saves me the trouble of getting new sheetmetal for my front trunk bottom- mines all bent up but solid. Does the fuel pump have to have the tank removed to get it or does it pull out from the floor like lots of other cars? My SVX runs strong, almost hard to part it out for donation but that's what I bought it for so my pump and running gear is good... it'll be good to share notes with someone else doing this at the same time!

The fuel pump and gas gauge sender can be removed thru the access panels
in the trunk. Don't forget the fuel pump controller mounted in the rear fender
well in the trunk.

Mine may have been hit, but I couldn't get all of it out easily without taking the tank out. The fuel pump has a bunch of parts to it. Can't hurt to try though.

Don't know how much space you have and what you're paying you mechanic but glass, doors, door panels, hood, seats, console lid, shift handle,gauges, tcu, rear suspension to a mini trucker, sunroof, bumper covers, brake calipers, are all commonly damaged and craigslist sellable parts.

If it was me I'd gut the entire wire harness and everything attached to it. You can toss pieces later.

Take a gander at the svx classifieds to see what's hot and asked for. Might even make a friend there if you need specific help later.

I'd heard that it's not the first choice for transplanting into a 914 gas tank- not sure why though. If it's deep enough in the tank it can be made to fit with an adapter plate I'd think. I'm gonna pull it and see why not...

The impreza pump transplants well.

He's pulling the engine for $100. He has a big lot and I definately will remove the entire harness but we'll see how far I get on the part out after the harness. Thanks for all the suggestions.

If the rear end is a 151? It's a limited slip and 200-300. The Datsun guys go nuts for those.

It has a 4.44 Legacy Transmission. That's all I know.
Should I hold onto the inner cv's or are they different for a manual.

I've heard (famous last words) that the Legacy and SVX trans are the same except for the final drive. They're a 4EA automatic and they went bad in the SVX because the torque of the 3.3 coupled with the weight of that car with AWD was too much for it to handle without better cooling. I have a piggyback TCU and an auxiliary cooler I'll be using on mine- just wanna see how well it works. I've driven rnellums 3.0 Subie conversion with the 5 speed (very generous, Thank you Ross!) and it's the total package, really! I just want to go sideways for awhile...

Wow, he does that? Very cool, so do I. You can't really tell people about it, words fail, and I tend to get so enthusiastic that I could understand if people get skeptical, like you're trying to sell them something. Giving them a ride is good but there's NOTHING like just giving them the keys and letting them drive it. No questions after that. None. It's fun.

The weight of a passenger added into our "power to weight ratio" formula reduces that by about a 8-10%. Mine will go sideways with a passenger but it is much more pronounced if solo.

I wish I'd gone with a Subaru 6cyl in my conversion. The turbo is going to be fun, but I'd be done by now if I'd gone the 6 route. The intercooler is my biggest issue right now.

I spent an hour in and around Bob's (BIGKAT_83's) EZ30D car on Saturday. What a great car that is. Perfectly balanced. You could drive it anywhere. Temp needle never moved.

He was riding shotgun- no fool he! And I didn't mean sideways like tire burning sideways, I'm just modifying the SVX auto trans because I've got it and it's one thing less I have to deal with before WCR. I may end up with a 5 or 6 speed manual but for now I want to do something I haven't heard of before. Who knows- I might even like it!

You are spot on! Plus it's fun to watch the look on their faces. The kicker is that you aren't ever afraid of anything breaking down ( at least I don't let it bother me) because even if they waste a 5mt, you are really only out 100$ and an afternoon!

let me know where to find the $100, or even $200 5mt trans. I'm clueless for this part. thanks.

You can find the older (weaker) ones in the junkyard no problem. I'm Denver that's about 125 with clutch, flywheel, pressure plate, and state. I also bought a 2003 2.5 rs transmission off craigs for 200.

I'm clueless about trans. Will have to have someone help me find one. I would like it to be complete. Budget build.

If you can weld you can make your own FWD lockout too and save some dough. I also make my own transmission block off plate too out of diamond plate.

i dont weld. coldwater will supply those parts. I already bought one of Ian's engine cradles and trans mounts from a member here.

And just why the Hell not. Go by a welder and get started! That's the way most of us have done it. Your no different. I've heard that even Dr. Evil can weld. Seriously Epps, after a few minutes you'll be tack welding and shortly there after laying beads.

Wait wait wait? A 4.44 trany? Did someone do a tranny swap? They must have! The bigger problem with the svx autos was the final gear ratio was to low and the fluid did flow at a high enough rate to cool properly. Final ratio was like 3.90.
The 4.44 trany would be preferable. Is the tranny in you svx a manual?

It to bad you live on the other coast, I have a 2000 5speed I got just to measure the insides. I would almost give it to you.

It had a trany swap but it's an auto

Is the 6 from the svx the same one that came in the Legacy with the H6 badging?

That trans is valuable to SVX guys if it's the upgraded one....4.44 rings a bell... You could sell it on SVXWorld or subaru-SVX.net. The rear diff is probably upgraded as well if it was done correctly so you need to check that. They need to be sold as a pair.

Do you intend to use an automatic? When I was trying to find just Subaru inner CV joints (part number 28392FE020) that same inner CV was used in both manual and automatic transmissions. I was interested in applications, what cars would have the CV's (DOJ's) I needed, so I didn't look further, but that should mean that an automatic transmission's axles would be adaptable, interchangeable with manual transmissions. You'll need to check to confirm all that, but if you can use manual transmission inner CV's that should make fitting an automatic a bit easier. Check that CV number at some place like parts.com to see all the applications.

No, the SVX engine is the EG33, the later Legacy engines are the EZ30, which is a really nice engine in itself, more modern with chain driven cams and only an inch longer than the four cylinders motors. It has almost WRX horsepower with a naturally aspirated engine... plus it's plentiful and cheap.

so…the EZ30 would be a direct application for my 97' legacy wagon? for a rather big car the 2.5 moves well. how cheap is cheap?

It will bolt up to the tranny, but unless you have an auto it will throw codes. It's definitely been done before though.

Oh my...hate to discourage you but you will have a hard time using a 4EAT AWD auto trans in a conversion. They are HEAVVVY. Somewhere around 175 lbs once you get the 9 quarts of fluid in them. I couldn't even lift it. And they are long too. If you want to go auto find a 2WD trans from a pre-1996 car. Easy to find and cheap. Sell what you have and get a better fit. Wouldn't want that big thing to yank your rear mounts off.

Yeah, I don't know anything more than that those inner CV's are the same. I didn't look any further so you need to check the rest, most importantly if they can even be converted to 2WD. I don't know, but if not the 2WD transmissions are there. The weight should be manageable, the length less so. I don't know why anyone would want an automatic, but if you do it's something to look at.


I thought you were talking about putting it into a 914, which is pretty straightforward. Into another Subaru is possible, they bolt up, but everything else is a lot more complicated. Look on NASIOC, there are folks who've done it, but I don't see much advantage for the amount of work involved. Those later sixes are typically a thousand bucks or less, depending on where and condition, etc. An easy search on Craigslist or eBay, see what they're worth in your neighborhood.

EDIT: Just checked eBay and they're more like $1500 or less. Craigslist around here the same or less.

I'm checking with PO to see if rear diff was changed or left stock. If I can get a couple bucks for the auto trans I will, if it's too much trouble, it will be scrapped. I'm not interested in paying my mechanic more to pull parts than they are worth. Once I get the engine and trans, I'm satisfied.

But keep the comments and suggestions coming, I really learn a lot from you guys!

After taking one look at that monstrosity I let the automatic tranny go with the donor car. No way I was going to pull, advertise, sell, store and/or ship that turd for $200.

I'm thinking the same thing.

Engine is out

Good The cradle should be there tomorrow

Oh and I found wiring diagram for all the crap you can strip out of the harness, though its for 5 speeds, I'll drop it in the mail for you, its from Small Car, so copyrighted material - or else I would just attach it here.

I have a TON of info on the wiring harness stuff if you are going to use the stock ECU. It's easier than it seems, not many wires are actually moved. We'll have to work out a FTP-type transfer.

Engine looks pretty good. How are the valve cover seals? Any oil leaking? I bought the whole reseal kit for the engine which was ~$250 or so just to be safe. Mine was pretty caked with oil though. FYI there is no oil pan seal, you just use RTV so you might as well reseal that in the process. Use the black stuff.

When you guys are buying donor cars and come across either a left or right fog lamp housing, the round ones, please let me know.