took the motor out of the subi on the weekend, went to fit it and found that the wheel on the end of the crankshaft is a larger diameter on the new engine then on the old. this means my custom flywheel and bellhousing WILL NOT FIT! i have 3 questions:
1. i have been told that the old egine may have been modified (possibly reversed) how can i tell, or, how can i tell if the gearbox has been reversed to accept the engine?
2. is it safe to cut cast metal? the bellhousing is a beautifully cast 1piece custom unit, so i am hoping simply to bore out the center hole and fit a new rubber seal to acept the bigger crank wheel. is this possible/safe?
3. as far as the flywheel goes, i am hoping to grind the center out of the custom one (holes to mount to subi crankshaft are on a piece welded to the back of the flywheel, so hopefully simple to grind off) and get the center out of my spare flywheel cut out and welded on in its place. is this the best way to do it?

any tips/advice much appreciated.

I was talking to John Shermann the other day as i have an EA71 ready to go into my baja. He informed me that the EA71 and EA81 engines need diffent addaptors because of not only crank differences (like flange size) but also the bolt holes are different on the back of the block. As it is imprtant to cenralize the addaptor to the crank flange i wouldn't recomend modifiying the addaptor. I think you might need an EA81 addaptor plate, Ring Volksconversions and see if you can part exchange the one you have. Good luck with your project it will be a ripper when complete.

damn, ur right. just checked. another problem however, is that the custom bellhousing is thinner over all then the subaru one, so if i was to use a standard adaptor plate all of the gaps would be wrong, including where the engine mount attached to the body. what can i do? how expensive would a new custom bellhousing be? can i rebuild the ea71 block into an ea81 using the parts i have? are there any cheap conversions for sale (complete setups including engine) at the moment?

what should i do!?!

i`m looking into similar conversions myself give me a buzz as we my be able to split the cost of getting some engineerig work done cheers. luke 0425784367

Hey Hey,

Either get the right engine, or the right adaptor. If it out in any plane you will just be wasting your $$$.

See buggy brads post of $4k drive away for a scooby conversion. You may do it cheaper yourself but this grief you are having is but the start of the ulcer you are surely brewing up now.

kkk

I liked the subaru engine so much I bought the whole impreza!

ok guys, looks like the problem may be solved. bought a cheap adapter off stu y on sunday and am getting a flywheel made up shortly. will post with progress.