Wrx
We are actually fabbing a transmission crossmember and a engine cradle/subframe as well as steering rack mount. As far as we can tell, there is no good way to just slap some mounts on there and drop it in. The engine would either sit too high or the oil pan would have to be absolutely flat. The nice part is it looks like everything should line up very nicely and have PLENTY of room once we fab up the engine cradle/subframe. The other nice thing is we should be able to use just about any pan we want on it since we are designing the crossmember around the motor. It is still a work in progress, but we have the transmission mount complete and are starting on the engine portion now.
One is getting a t-56, one is getting a 4L60E. The t-56 is going to be road race and single turbo with IRS. The 4L60E is getting twin 70mm turbos and a solid axle rear end. It is going to be built more for drag racing (my 2003 WRX).
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Verdad Gallardo Donno, we have a lot of projects at the shop right now and my personal stuff takes back burner, lmao. We hope to have everything done by spring. Crossmember will obviously be done long before that as we will still have to do the turbo kit and intercooler set up as well as the rear end set up. The 2.5 will more than likely be done before that as it is using an existing rear end rather than a whole new set up. All we have to do on it is finish a cradle and do the turbo kit.
I can grab some pictures of the transmission crossmember this weekend probably, but the engine cradle is still a straight piece of chromoly 
We have not started on it just yet. Are you planning to do a T56 or an auto?
We have not started on it just yet. Are you planning to do a T56 or an auto? The cool part about a 4L60 or 4L80E is you can do paddle shifters as well for pretty cheap. That won't be in my budget just yet, but down the road it will definitely be going in. You can get the TCI controller and paddle shift set up for under $1k. For now I just had a custom harness made (pretty reasonable too!) And will control it with the tune.
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 59
Likes: 0
Ya that is a good deal for the most part I was kinda leaning towards the t56 because I did want a fun street car/ road race car are you using the stock subie wrx r160 rear for now when that IRS one is completed?
You guys need to put your heads toghether and get some kits out there. This car is plentiful and has great headroom for tall guys and have a strong chassis. If the front cradle could be designed to improve handling this thing would be a slam dunk. Years ago people thought the only thing you could swap into a miata was a turbo, now look how many threads are on here.
Keep it up!
--JMarsa
Keep it up!
--JMarsa
Oh it is not even funny how much the chromoly subframe will stiffen things up. The stock piece is pretty flimsy.
We have considered doing a kit and may still. The problem is all the components that need to be changed; rear end, subframe, transmission cradle, etc. If we just sold the cradle and tranny crossmember, it would be doable, but we have around 10-12 labor hours in bending and welding as well as $350-$400 ish in materials. Most folks want a cheap chinese steel, mass produced solution. We prefer to hand fab everything and it would cost $1200-$1500 to produce when counting in the labor hours and materials. At this point we are unsure what kind of market there would be for that in the Subaru world as a lot of those guys are purists.
We have considered doing a kit and may still. The problem is all the components that need to be changed; rear end, subframe, transmission cradle, etc. If we just sold the cradle and tranny crossmember, it would be doable, but we have around 10-12 labor hours in bending and welding as well as $350-$400 ish in materials. Most folks want a cheap chinese steel, mass produced solution. We prefer to hand fab everything and it would cost $1200-$1500 to produce when counting in the labor hours and materials. At this point we are unsure what kind of market there would be for that in the Subaru world as a lot of those guys are purists.
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 59
Likes: 0
Yes indeed most are purist which is sad to see and good at the same time honestly I would love tO have a chrome moly subframe for the swap and figure the rear out later maybe blow it out on some slicks on a hard launch haha cobra irs I an awesome idea tho never thought about that for it
The Ford Cobra 8.8 can be built to be pretty stout. The other one we are considering for when his diff goes is the Exploder (explorer) IRS 8.8 rear end(notice I said when and not if!).