Debating on swapping a turbo Legacy GT drivetrain into an Outback

I've got a funny situation on my hands, and I'm looking for some thoughts on it. I currently have two 4th gen Legacy vehicles in my possession, and I'm a little torn about what to do with them. The two vehicles are a 2006 Outback wagon 2.5i and a 2005 Legacy GT limited sedan, both automatic.

 

Both of these vehicles were owned by family members and both of them had their head gasket issues manifest within a couple of months of each other. For those family members, those cars are done, and they've moved on to other vehicles. The reasonable and logical part of me just wants to get rid of them both and have them out of the way. The enthusiast project loving part of me doesn't want to let the turbo motor go for fun's sake.

 

What I'm considering is taking all of the good and necessary parts out of the Legacy GT and swapping them into the Outback. I would completely rebuild this motor in the process, not just addressing the head gasket issue. I have all of the required knowledge, skills, and means to do this, so that's not something I need to consider. Worth it? I'm still trying to figure it out.

 

The reason I'm not interested just rebuilding the Legacy GT motor and reinstalling it is mostly due to one issue. Aside from me preferring wagons by far, the major issue for me is that the Legacy GT was heavily smoked in for the last year. It's a heartbreaking story, but it is what it is. The car was mint in every way upon picking it up a little over a year ago, with the exception of the usual rust on both rear wheel well quarter panels. My inconsiderate and irresponsible family member spent a significant amount of time basically hot boxing this car with the grossest, cheapest 100 size cigarettes day in day out for the last year. I'm so repulsed by this, it has theoretically totaled the car in my eyes, motor aside. I've cleaned the car out, deep vacuuming and decent interior clean/wipedown. It was bad in some ways, better than I thought in others. Sprayed the windows with glass cleaner and the liquid that ran down was yellow, thats how bad it gets.

 

Legacy GT has 150k miles on it and The Outback has 130k miles on it. Generally speaking I figure the parts I would end up needing to swap to get this motor in would be; motor, transmission, subframe, driveshafts, rear diff(?), wiring harness(partial?). I'd probably take the brakes and wheels as well. I think they're bigger if I recall. I'm sure theres a bunch of other things. Probably gauge cluster swap, Automatic climate controls being the wiring harness would travel with everything. That's the basics off the top of my head.

 

So what do you guys think? Would you even bother with something like this, or would you let this mess go? The end result would just be an extra car for me. My daily driver is a nice AWD V8 300hp Mercedes station wagon, so I don't exactly need another powerful AWD wagon. Not to mention I still have a 1999 Legacy GT 5 speed wagon full of STI and WRX parts that I still need to get rid of. But I do love that turbo engine. I'm torn and looking for insight. Help me.

Edited September 1, 2019 by mcduffmcduff

Sell both cars. Enjoy your Mercedes wagon.

 

After you sell the 1999, then look into finding a 09 Outback XT if you still feel the need.

 

No one in there right mind would tell you to swap the GT drive line into the 2.5i chassis. Its much more work then its worth and you still don't have a real GT.

 

Others have asked about this swap, we tell them the same thing.

Before I made this post I searched for answers to this exact question to see what everyone had to say. What I found was that no one had both cars on hand, and would have needed to source a donor car. At that point, it would have not been worth it, and those people should have just sold their 2.5i and bought a GT or XT. I seem to be in a different kind of situation than the typical person asking about swapping a 2.5i. This wouldn’t cost me any real money outside of rebuild parts and maintenance parts replaced for convenience while swapping parts. I have both cars on hand for free. I don’t have to source and purchase the donor car. And theoretically the donor car is totaled, without having ever been crashed, and is good go for giving up all of the needed parts.

 

I would never want the Outback to become a ‘real GT’ either. I like it as an Outback with the cladding and ride height, so not a concern of mine. I’m not looking to purchase a 4th gen outside of coming across a $500 deal or something that a friend owned, etc. I know very much that under normal circumstances this question could be perceived like every other millionth post by some kid turbo swapping something and it literally never makes sense. It’s pervasive and exists in every car forum I’ve been in for the last 20 years. My situation is very much based on this particularly odd circumstance, and honestly I’ve never seen anything like it come up. I would personally never recommend any swap anything ever for the most part because it’s usually kids who have no idea what they’re getting into.

Edited September 2, 2019 by mcduffmcduff

I gather you have a decent place to work on both cars.

 

I hope you have all the tools necessary, do you have a engine hoist and may be a engine stand, floor jacks and jack stands, a decent tool box ?

 

Your in for a lot of work.

 

here's the service manual,

 

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

I don't think having both cars on hand makes the answer any different, namely that it's not worth your time. You'd be better off finding a OBXT wagon with a blown motor and swapping the powertrain from the LGT into it, IMO.

I would say the smart option is not spending time on this unless you enjoy it.

 

I personally have a 1jz Sc300 and a 1uz sc400 taking up my entire garage for 6 months and the amount of work it will take for me to combine them into 1 good car is scary.

 

I will keep them for another 6 months myself in case I get the urge to spend my days off doing the swap, however I know it's probably just better to sell both for parts.

A leaking head gasket on the 2.5i Outback is a common issue with 130k miles, you could always just pull the motor and replace the head gaskets.

 

Blown headgaskets are not normal on a GT and may have been misdiagnosed. I would assume it needs a motor. IMO Unless it is in exceptional condition, a 2005 Legacy GT sedan auto really isn't worth fixing properly with a blown motor. No point in putting $4k in parts plus labor into $5k car. Used Legacy GT motors fetch a premium due the demand (personally I don't think they are worth the gamble). The most cost effect to fix a 2005GT sedan with an accident car with a good motor, but that add another broken car to your stable.

 

As mentioned above, if you want a wagon, I would look for a 2008/2009 OBXT with a blown motor and fix that with a new short block from Subaru. Or look for a clean 2005 LGT wagon with the same.

I don't think having both cars on hand makes the answer any different, namely that it's not worth your time. You'd be better off finding a OBXT wagon with a blown motor and swapping the powertrain from the LGT into it, IMO.

 

Best bet right here if you really want a bigger turbo Subaru wagon.

I should mention why I think that's the case... swapping a motor is easy work. Replacing all of the wiring, ECU, BIU, etc., between the OB 2.5i and the LGT is a lot of work. Even if it isn't necessarily "difficult," it's still a lot of man-hours even if you know what you're doing. Not to mention there's still all the chassis bits to swap as well. You save yourself a hell of a lot of time and money just offloading the 2.5i and picking up an LGT/OBXT wagon.