S15 Motor Swap Questions

[Dylan780]

Hey guys,

I did some searching and came up with nothing, I apologize in advance if there is already a topic on this.

I recently got an insanely good deal on an S15 Spec S (N/A and auto) and since I got it for so cheap and the chassis is so clean I figure I will just swap an SR20DET into this along with either an S14 5 speed or S15 6 speed tranny instead of paying more for a Spec R.

The problem I have is...I was planning on picking up an S15 SR20DET along with the 6 speed tranny and swapping that in, but it has shown itself to be very difficult to find an S15 SR20DET. On the other hand, I can purchase an S14 SR20DET very easily as there are many of them over here.

How much more difficult, if at all, is it to swap in the S14 SR over the S15 SR? I guess the plus of going with an S14 SR is it'll mate up easier to the S14 tranny which I know to be stronger than the S15.

Any and all insight/information is much appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[hugh janus]

Ive literally finished an S14a DET swap.

Overall the mechanicals are very easy and we (myself and a mate) did everything in the space of 2 days....however I do have the luxury of said mate owning a 7 ramp garage with literally every tool you can think of, every thing marries up as you'd expect, the real difficulty comes from the Engine loom...which I have to confess I didn't do myself and enlisted the help of a few others.

You will if you decide to go down this route is the following:

S14a (for instance) ECU
Coil packs and loom
Ignition amp
Fuel Pump relays (located above ECU on a S14)
The engine loom (ECU to engine bay)
Start and Charge loom (although not essential)...a few difference between them apparently

you'll also have to remove the NATS2 from the ECU (assuming they have NATS in Canada...or that might be an english insurance requirement as i know its retro fitted in the UK)

Once you have both S14a and S15 looms, these need to be spliced together to make one good loom which should work.

an S15 SR will more or less drop in with no need to rewire (you'll still need a Spec R ECU though)

 

[Dylan780]

Thanks for the quick reply, very helpful!

I will not be doing the swap myself, my local shop will be doing it for me. I have an adequate amount of mechanical knowledge but 99% of it being with Subaru and swapping a motor is something I am not comfortable doing myself yet.

So I guess the main reason I am asking this isn't to gauge the difficulty of the swap (as I won't be doing it) but more so how many more/less parts I will need to source if I was to go the S14 or even S13 route.

 

[hugh janus]

S13 over has the CA18DET so i guess over there its a Red Top SR20 i cannot comment between Black and Red top SR's

 

[Auss15]

The Red top SR has no VCT and different rocker baffles, injector rails, plenum..etc...The S14 motor is pretty much identical to the S15 except the coils have a separate ignitor, it has EGR, smaller injectors..380's instead of 440's...It is pretty much the same motor as the S15...If you are going to add power mods than that's your best option..gearbox...well you caneither use the 5 speed or the 6 speed..the only difference is the diff ratio between the two