Ej205 to ej207 swap for 02 bugeye - anything to be aware of?
 

Hi guys I had another thread open but figured I would start a new one to get some general questions..

So I have an 02 bugeye wrx wagon. Thanks to some of the guys help and advice on here I've decided to get an ej207 short block. It arrived at my engine shop this morning woot.

So I have the ej205 pulled and my plan is..

Take cylinder heads off the 205.. have valve stems replaced.. a good clean and reassembly and then fit them to my 207 short block.

So what head gasket would i need? Any recommendations? I'm running a VF35 turbo and thinking I may need slightly thicker?

What oil pump is on it? I'm thinking I might as well get a new one.. What size are they because I've seen a few different types?

New timing belt kit and tensioners

New aux belts

Also the gearbox is off and I might get that reconditioned too and fit a better clutch maybe an exedy

So that's my plan and of course run in and tune once it's all ok.

Can anyone help me with the questions above? Or any other advice whilst it's all off. Want to do this once and do it right.

Ta :)
Ant

Add a new water pump and thermostat to the list and a good inspection of the radiator for peace of mind and maybe a fuel pump they can go weak after time.

Has the old engine had any bearing issues or anything else to generate fine metal bits? If yes, I'd change the modine (oil to water cooler where the oil filter attaches), as it might have shavings that are near impossible to get out.

yep was going to go with those as well - might as well seeing as i'm knee deep haha! Radiator is in really good condition and recently replaced. I think the fuel pump is a walbro255 in there at the min


ummm honestly couldn't tell you in as we aint got it stripped down yet but i'll be getting the engine tuner to check it over so if theres any evidence of that i'll sort a new modene - do you think its worth fitting a standalone oil cooler instead? I know that on the skylines we can drop the oil modene which is gutless for a hot running engine and fit a relocation kit and oil cooler?


cheers chaps good stuff to bear in mind :)

For a road car, I think I'd keep it. I have oil cooler only, and it definitely heats up slower to operating temp, which cannot be a good thing for a road car.

I'm thinking of re-fitting the modine fwiw :)

Nice one that's good feedback.. I'll keep it on :)

So update we stripped the block in the week got the manifold off and checked it all out.. piston 2 was flooded with 1cm of coolant. Inspecting the head gasket it looked like it wasn't sat right.. I dare say the head warped or the block did but either way it was really evident. There was some very obvious shortcuts taken to getting the car back on its feet and running so it could be sold quick (to me) ...anyway the block is gonna get checked too.. the amount of oil it used was equal to coolant (1ltr every 100 miles.. my mileage is small each year so I was able to calculate it by how much I kept topping up).

Checking the oil modene there was no filings or metallic in the oil and none in the filter too.

So my ej207 is at the machine shop.. I'm taking the heads this wkend there and hopefully from there i can get back a nicely cleaned up set of heads bolted up to the block and with new timing belt. I'll likely source a new oil pump but can anyone tell me what size they are? I've seen 10mm and 11mm and some others!