Unorthodox Swap Question(s)

Hello Everyone, I am a new member on this forum.

 

I have several questions regarding a situation I found myself in recently.

 

A good friend of mine has offered me an entire totaled (Damage only exists on the back of the car) '05 LGT Limited with a 5EAT for 800 bucks. I currently have a 5MT '05 2.5i, which I really, really, want to keep for personal reasons, but I don't mind making modifications to it at all.

 

Things to note before I begin: I am very well mechanically inclined, and I'm not scared of performing an engine swap.

I've helped drop an S52 into an e36 325i before, this concept is not new to me.

BIU = Body Integrated Unit (Controls everything from the lights, to the window switches and radio) Located right above the pedals in an LGT.

 

My Dillema:

Donor car is an automatic; From what I have read, this wouldn't be too big of an issue if I had available a TY757VBAAB available, but I do not. The manual transmission my 2.5i has is a TY757VCACA, which has different ratios, and is not as strong.

 

Donor car has nicer interior; This is where posted articles that exist on several forums fall short. To ask this simply, is it possible to swap allof the needed relays and such for items such as the heated seats, heated/turn signal mirrors, and the heated windshield? Moreover, What is, and is not possible to swap?

 

Donor car has dual climate control dash; This is where things get tricky for me. I know that the two systems are not plug and play, which means I would have to take the dashboard out of the donor car, and swap it in. But, there is a bump along this road; the BIU in my 2.5i is not programmed for the Dual climate control, but is programmed for a Manual transmission. Whereas, the BIU coming out of the donor car is programmed for the Dual CC, but not for a manual transmission.

 

Donor car has a different wiring harness for the ECU; This isn't such a big deal, as I have already tracked down an ECU off of an '05 LGT 5MT, and I assume I wouldn't have a terribly hard time finding a wiring harness. What I do need to know is, do the wiring harnesses differ between the A/T and the M/T when it comes to the BIU? Another option might be just to re-flash the donor ECU so it doesn't expect the TCU's input anymore. The issue I foresee with this is that I may have to butcher the donor car's wiring harness to make this work.

 

My current transmission is a TY757VCACA (aka weak 5 speed); Now, please correct me if I am wrong, but the LGT transmission (TY757VBAAB) has a different style of connector for wiring harness that goes to the reverse and neutral sensors.

Note**: I know this transmission is terrible in terms of strength, and I may be able to find a proper LGT transmission later, but for sake of this swap, please assume that it is all that is available. I can contain my need to beat on the car until I source a better transmission.

 

Should I take the master cylinder and booster? I had already planned on taking the calipers and rotors regardless if I take the engine or not, but will I gain anything from taking the Master Cylinder and the Brake booster off of the donor car?

 

I apologize ahead of time for the omnibus of questions regarding this subject, I have questioned my local Subaru specialists on this subject as well, I thought it would be beneficial to have input from this forum as well. And please, I know I would save myself countless amounts of effort by buying a Legacy GT with an Manual, just humor me.

 

Your input is severely appreciated,

-Skeen.

no offense.. buy that LGT, part it out, sell the 2.5i, and buy another LGT with all the money's. trust me it will be easier that way.. or sell the LGT and buy an s/c kit or turbo kit for your 2.5i

Pretty much what he said ^. More work then its worth.

Parting out and changing car isn't as fun to read about so my dime would be to start with getting a huge bucket of time and space.

 

Then completely strip out the interior and wiring harnesses of both cars, then transfer over the whole driveline including gearbox and then install the LGT wiring harness and interior in the other body.

 

I don't think it's sane, but how boring would the world be without a bit of insanity?

 

And for insane swaps: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140053

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BAURw-PJVM]V12 twin turbo Subaru Liberty - YouTube[/ame]

IMHO, I agree with Max and 06silvarubiLGT.

no offense.. buy that LGT, part it out, sell the 2.5i, and buy another LGT with all the money's. trust me it will be easier that way.. or sell the LGT and buy an s/c kit or turbo kit for your 2.5i

 

Pretty much what he said ^. More work then its worth.

 

IMHO, I agree with Max and 06silvarubiLGT.

 

I do appreciate your suggestions, but parting out a car like that is meaningless to me. If I was deterred by the amount of work that this swap was going to take, I wouldn't have posted here. I have loads of time on my hands, and have two BMW's that fulfill my need to go fast.

 

Again, humor me. Please.

 

Parting out and changing car isn't as fun to read about so my dime would be to start with getting a huge bucket of time and space.

 

Then completely strip out the interior and wiring harnesses of both cars, then transfer over the whole driveline including gearbox and then install the LGT wiring harness and interior in the other body.

 

I don't think it's sane, but how boring would the world be without a bit of insanity?

 

And for insane swaps: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140053

 

 

Insanity is a state of mind to live by. I read through that thread a while back (I've lurked on this forum for years as a guest). Definitely a completely insane swap. Neat results though. I'm not sure how I feel about slapping a V12TT into a BL5 to be honest.

If you have the floor space in your garage and all the tools, its still going to be a huge undertaking. The brakes are different on a GT also. But after you've done everything else the brake swap we be easy.

 

http://people.csail.mit.edu/ilh/vacation/

 

That should help you a lot.

 

Start another thread called, Insane Swap it will be easy to find...

 

You might want to make a list of everything you'll need to do so you have a plan.