So my 93 has been sitting in my driveway for almost four years now. It was having issues running and was getting really crummy gas mileage. It finally would rarely start and so I bought a 2004 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport M/T from my brother-in-law for my new daily driver.
The computer was saying lack of signal in power transistor circuit. I let it sit and have attempted to start it with little success other than a couple times it ran well and I was able to drive it down the block and back. I think I have found the issue, the engine harness seems to have broken wires where it curves back by the power steering connection on the passenger side before it depends along the firewall.

I found a company that can fix the harness (restore it) for 400-1500$ depending on what is needing done. They would completely restore it. The car has 252000 on it right now so the engine is definitely high miles, but has always run well and not burned oil or had other problems. I love the way this car ran.

My dilemma is that I have always wanted to swap this 3.0 vg auto with a VQ35 and a 7 speed manual. I have priced JDE VQs and transaxles and I could probably get that portion of the swap for around 3000. I know I would also need an ECM and harness (which don't come with JDM engines) so am trying to figure out the best way to proceed.

A lot of the electronic components (wiring) in the car will need to be reworked as well, but I feel comfortable tackling that. I also understand I will need to custom fit some components to make it all work.

Does this seem crazy for a 30 year old car?

Give it up, repair, or swap?

 

How nice is the body?

 

Honestly I would fix it, I had $10k dumped into my 3rd gen and dumped $60k into my 30 year old Toyota in the last 2 years alone

Where are you ordering the engine from where you can't get the ECU and harness with the engine? I bought my JDM engine a little over a year ago and just paid an extra 500 bucks or something to get the wiring harness and ECU with it. In the end I just did a Haltech 2500 and custom wiring harness made from scratch but the parts dealer had no issue tossing me the factory ECU and harness

 

VQs are tall according to some VG to VQ swaps.
I say repair the car unless you want more power, you can turbo it unless the swap is cheaper.

 

I am really just at the beginning stages so I haven't found an engine that comes with the ECU and harness.

I know there have been VQ swaps done and I would love the extra power that a VQ has without having to put a turbo in. (https://www.nwpengineering.com/)

The body is in good shape but there are gremlins in the wiring (the door locks don't work all the time). I lived on Whidbey Island for a few years and the salt air may have compromised the wiring a bit. I had some work done on the car in 2015 (body work to repair the rear quarter panel and a new paint job) my son wants me to get the car running so he can drive it when he gets his license. . . I dunno about that. My wife bought the car for me as a surprise in 2005 while I was out at sea, it was stolen and returned and we put a custom interior in it.

 

Depends on how far you want to go and your budget at that point, if you want plain power it might be best to just build the VG30E and turbo it then run it off Nistune or a Haltech, there's lots of guys here that have done VG30ET but the biggest issue you'll have is the GXE and 89-91 SE auto trans won't hold the power.

If you do VQ swap main thing I recommend is if you're getting help with the swap from a swap like I did when I 2JZGTE swapped my Toyota Crown, listen to their recommendations before buying the wiring harness etc. I spent probably $2k on wiring harness, factory ECU, aftermarket TCM, etc when I was going to do the swap myself but when a shop that knew how to do everything helped, they did a custom wiring harness, Haltech 2500, etc and said it would be way better in the end going that route to make 500hp+ leaving me with $2k in parts laying around lol

 

Thanks for the info and advice, I will have to do a little more digging to figure out what direction I will go. Regardless I will have to remove the whole engine so maybe I will start there. . . The steering rack needs rebuilt or replaced and I would like to address that while I have it apart. Here are some pictures of it as of right now.

 

That body looks clean, doesn't even have the common rear door drain rust

 

Given the "COVID car" disaster, building any car that is supply chain failure proof is a good idea. My advice is to build it with easily replaceable components. The fewer electronic chips, the better.

 

It looks good in the pictures, how does the underside look in terms of rust? Getting it running as-is is going to be a lot easier and cheaper than dealing with swapping. I guess it all depends on what you want out of it. Finding parts for the 3rd gen is getting harder and harder, you may want to look around and put together a list of what's available and what isn't before you begin to make sure you'll be able to complete the project properly. Things like proper shocks and springs, bushings, weather seals, etc.

 

It is really not bad underneath other than the exhaust needing completely redone. I had to replace the flex pipe and muffler after I got pulled over for excessive noise, that was years ago and the rest of the exhaust system has started to leak. I live in an area that doesn't use salt for snow melt on roadways so rust is not too much of an issue. There is a bit of rust under the paint above the windshield and also on the front lip of the sunroof.
I guess taking the harness out wouldn't be as much work and I could be driving it sooner. . .

 

Looks just like my 3rd gen. I have been going through the same dilemma you are going through whether or not rebuild the VG or swap a VQ into it. I recently replaced my rear suspension as it has been on jack stands for over a year inside my garage. I have full access to my parents old 4th gen to just swap everything over but haven't really made up my mind on it. I did the VLSD 5speed during COVID along with fixing my exhaust leaks, but still needs more work. Can't wait to get her running again as I miss driving it. Let us know what you decide on doing.

 

So it has been a while! Finding parts is a pain, but at least they're cheap! The harness has been removed and is at a restoration company. It is going to be 1,300 for it to be restored. The engine is good, I still had no burning oil or oil leaks from the bottom of the engine, I am going to completely remove the power steering system, clean the reservoir and flush the pump then put in a rebuilt rack and pinion, new tie rod ends and hoses with a filter. That should take care of the leaks the car does have. I also plan on flushing the cooling system and possibly replacing the radiator to hopefully get that cleaned up (I had to put regular water in to limp my car home when I got a pinhole leak in the bypass hose. . . Rust anyone?)

With 252k on it maybe I can get a little more?

I am going to wait on building it up. . . My teenage son wants to drive it, so he doesn't need it to peel out any more than it does already.

 

And there it is, I came on to ask if anyone has any rear seat belt latch buttons available. . . One of mine broke and I have had to leave a baby seat attached to that spot since the belt can't be undone without a tool.

 

Still waiting on the wiring harness so I can put it back in for you.

 

Okay, so I am waiting on the wiring harness restoration, after doing research and the input I got here I decided to keep the VG since it does run so well. I would still like to do a manual swap on it. I will have to do research, but I found a '05 6 speed with linkage, pedals, and other hardware only about 8 hours away, if an 05 will fit a VG engine. . .

 

Yeah, whatever sibling of my children.

 

VQ manual would be a nightmare to pair with a VG, VG 5spd or converting to a VE 5spd and changing hubs etc to accommodate it is easier

 

Thanks for the info, my dad is taking it under advisement. It is a pain to find parts. . . We may end up having to search for a couple donor cars to get both running. . Or he could have my wiring harness and I could take his transmission! YAY!

 

Damn, can't wait to see this done. Im still working on mine as we speak and finally aquired the digital dash since I only had the HUD. I do have my old VG 5spd transmission but will need to have rebuilt. I swapped the VE VLSD 5 spd instead. My old VG 5 spd still works but has bearing noise and that's why I swapped it out for the VE VLSD. I have no use for it so it's just taking space in my garage. I am willing to let it go but prefer to be picked up locally.

Haven't heard of anyone doing a VQ 6spd swap onto a VG? May very well be a nightmare if you tackle it. You are better off doing the VG 5spd or the VE 5spd swap. With the VG 5spd all you need is just the shift linkage, flywheel, clutch lines, clutch master cylinder and clutch pedal, Im sure there are other stuff you may need but you don't need to change your axles and hubs unless you do the VE 5spd.

 

My transmission went out so my dad (PyRex) let me have his transmission. We now have a 93 GXE AT sitting in the garage and his car has no transmission in it
My car runs now and we got it aligned and did tie rod ends, lower control arms, shocks all the way around, and it runs well, we just have to fix up the exhaust leaks and power steering hoses and it will be back into to pretty good shape.

Where are you located? We're in north Idaho. we found a possible 92-94 VE 5-speed with linkage on Facebook. Not sure if that will pan out. If you have a VG that could be repaired, my dad may be interested.

 

I think the choice on what to do next depends on your personal circumstances.

However, a 30+ year old car will have a shrinking supply of parts even used.

How much time do you have to mess around with the car? I recall years ago, I would spend an entire weekend underneath my car. But those days are long gone.

I do have a 2003 that still runs well and I still find whatever time I have to keep it running.

 

Im located in Miami, FL. if you can get the VE 5spd that would be great, otherwise the VG 5spd transmission I have can be rebuilt but didn't want to spend the money fixing when I finally found the VE 5spd.

 

If my dad isn't interested in this one I very well am. We intend on manual swapping both of them eventually. I'll need to save up for a bit but as I said, if he doesn't take it, I probably will.

 

Let me know as its been in my shed since COVID in mid 2020.

 

I found an 89 manual that a guy had on sale for 600. We are going to buy that and manual swap this one and we can also use the wiring harness out of it as a replacement. I've also made a list of parts that we'll want to make both cars a little nicer.

 

We bought an 89 se for $500 that only has 180,000 miles. My son has taken the dash apart to swap his gage cluster out and started removing other parts he wants for his 93. We are going to look into renting a garage/shop and moving both vehicles there so we don't tie up my neighbor's garage for a couple months.

We already have the AT out of my car, and the cv axles are on it so I can move it around. Trying to figure out the logistics of pulling the MT from the 89 and then moving it out of the way to get the other car in, unless I go to a pull and save to get the hub part off of some cv axles is where we are at.

I have the donor to take pictures of before we disassemble, and all the components so likely all I will need to purchase is new hoses and possibly a new clutch. I also have an engine that I will not need, it needs new injectors but other than that looks really good. I also have an engine wiring harness that will *hopefully* work. I may have been had on the restoration of my harness, but now at least I have a chance of getting Maxhuck running again!


Donor car!

5 speed!

Nitromaxx's new gage cluster.

 

I was fiddling around the other day and pulled the engine harness out of Max donor and moved it into Max Huck. Almost everything fits except for the fuel injector plugs and one of the accessory plugs on the inside. Huck is almost to the point where he's ready to run, but we'll have to solder on new plugs that'll fit on the injectors. For my Max ( Max Smart ) I've been having a misfire at low rpm. When I lent the car to my cousin I found that the distributor was arcing periodically, so when I 'get Smart' back today I'll change the distributor and see if that helps.