05 WRX - Donor Advice

[s7thomas]

REALLY excited about building an 818C or S and have been researching donors, costs, build threads for the past few weeks.

I feel like a natural jumping-in point is finding/aqcuiring a donor car.

I found a rear-ended 2005 WRX with about 185,000 miles at a wrecking yard. From what I can tell, this would be the 2.0L Turbo (EJ205). I can also see the STI-lableled intercooler in the under hood pic. Supposedly starts, runs, and drives. No MX records. Plan to check it out in person end of this week.

I assume at this mileage the majority (all?) engine components should be gone through and refreshed. What should I budget for a stock engine rebuild?

Thanks,

Sam

[phil1734]

If the previous owner swapped intercoolers, then you know they were at least open to the idea of toying with things. That's about all you can gather. It could be a completely built race motor that was swapped in 5,000 miles ago and then only driven to Church on Sunday, or they just switched intercoolers because they got a hole in the stock one and found a good deal on this one.

In short, my point is there's really no way to tell what kind of condition it is in without either driving it or tearing it apart down to the crank.

At a minimum, you'll want to replace the timing belt, pulleys, and water pump. And if you're that far in, you might as well do the head gaskets as well. Once you get to that point you should be able to get a decent look at the pistons and valves which can give you a better idea of how far they went with everything and what kind of shape it's in. (Stock pistons, burnt valves, worn cylinder sleeves, etc...) If you want to go one step further, removing the oil pan is easy once it's out of the car and you can get a look at the bottom end. If everything looks okay at that point I'd button it back up and let it rip. There's really no need for any more of a "rebuild" then that.

[s7thomas]

Thanks Phil! Appreciate the comments!

[lsfourwheeler]

So, I am just finishing the process of rebuilding my donor's engine. The rebuild has cost me about $2500 all said and done. However, I would consider this a worst-case scenario rebuild cost for a stock or close-to-stock engine. I've upgraded pistons, machined heads, polished the crankshaft, replaced the case halves because of their condition, replaced the turbo and did all of the maintenance items like timing belt and oil/water pumps. My costs could have been even higher had I not done as much work myself or if I had not sourced parts as cheap as I could (for good-condition items).

That said, if your donor engine is just "well worn" and nothing is actually damaged then you could get a way with a nice, thorough rebuild for about $1200-$1500. This would get all the maintenance items done, replace all bearings/seals, piston rings, and cover the misc. hardware costs you'll encounter. Having to machine or replace things can up the cost quickly though.

Hope this helps! And if your donor engine is running well then a rebuild won't be necessary at all. I definitely recommend replacing the timing belt, oil pump, and water pump though on any high-mileage engine.

[Shawn818c]

If you purchase a timing belt kit stick to Aisin or Continential. Avoid the Gates kit! Their quality has gone downhill rather quickly in the last ~2 years.

Rear ended or hail damaged donors are ideal in my opinion. Let us know what the car looks like and the asking price.

[s7thomas]

Appreciate the additional comments. Hood looks to be carbon fiber. Right rear was hit hard, tail lens gone, bumper shredded, trunk lid smashed. Its under $2,000 to get it to my house.

[Hobby Racer]

If it runs and drives as they say, its a good deal.

[Shawn818c]

for $2,000 I would buy it almost sight unseen. You should be able to recover half of that, or even the whole amount, with parts that aren't required for the build.