I got this 1971 1.7 car about 3 years for $1800 for my son to drive to high school.

I painted it in the garage and it looks good from 1000 yrds or so..

I got it running pretty good. And did the brakes, wheel bearings, shifter bushings, fuel lines etc.

I did ok for a year or so but it developed massive blow-by.

So after discussing our options we decided to put a subaru engine and transmission in.

We more or less just followed those that have gone before us...so nothing really new.

But we did learn a few things and thought we would share a few pics.

First the donor........

A 1995 outback with a 2.2 5 speed.

95-96 is when Subaru changed from OBD I to OBD II so its just about the worst year car to get for a conversion.

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I pulled the engine and transmission, wire harness, full pump, fuel lines, radiator etc.

Once I got the wire harness cut down I hooked the engine up and got it started. Just to see if it would run.

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I replaced the timing belt, oil pump seals and valve cover gaskets to seal up the Subaru. I also modified the transmission to 2wd. I welded the gears and made my own block off plate. A rear view......

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This car has a mechanical speedometer cable. The VSS is the speedometer head in the dash. So I did some backwoods engineering and connected the Subaru cable to the Porsche cable to make the speedometer work. Then I made a speed sensor from a Subaru ABS sensor and some 1/4 key stock welded to a hose clamp, which was clamped to the inner CV joint....

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The speedometer works but it reads about 20 mph fast.....good for a teenager...

We put the radiator in the engine compartment. My son plays the guitar and needs the front trunk for the amp...We live in northern Az. So we might get away with it. So far it runs right at 190 degrees without the fans on.

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So far the air scoop has not dragged on anything. But he will have to watch it.

A ebay MR2 shifter...nothing new here......
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Kind of copied coldwaters shifter set up......

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It works ok. I still have some adjusting to do...

A pic of the computer, air intake, wires and the diagnostics port. Still have some clean up to do here. Had to cut a hole in the floor for the clutch lever / cable.
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So more redneck engineering..........

To install the temp. sending unit I Tapped into the heater hoses. I welded a ground wire to a pipe "T" and put the sending unit in. It works for now but when i install a heater I'll do something different. Just wanted a temp. gauge right away to test the cooling system and this way the easiest way I could think of.

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Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to post their builds with all the tip and tricks to make this swap as easy as possible. I know our build is cheap and dirty compared to most but we had fun and the car is a blast to drive.

Thanks all......

Actually on a lot of swaps it isn't that obvious what was done and how, so somewhere down the line if someone else tries to sort things out it will be hard. Your's is right there, is up front, makes sense, and is totally logical. It'll work out well. Only suggestion I'd have would be after he tears it off make the replacement radiator scoop is flexible. I make this suggestion from experience.

But you know the biggest and most important thing about your conversion? "we had fun and the car is a blast to drive." That's it, what it's all about, nothing more, nothing less. You got it right and it's perfect. Good job.

Thanks for the kind words.

The time spent together and teaching the kid a few things really was fun and if it lasts for 2 more years of high school that will be the icing on the cake.

Flexible scoop....good idea. What material would you recommend? Rubber mud flap?

Nice build, you did a great job, and yes the father son build time really is more important than the finished product. The fact that it is finish is the icing on the cake.

You won some serious dad points on this one

Great looking radiator system! Be sure to upload some more build pics!