VERY glad to see you going the evo strut tower route... good choice! will make a world of difference!

 

Ok, so I have been debating doing this swap for a good amount of time now, I just want a game plan before I start, I see where to get almost everything I just have a couple questions:
1. Where is a good place to look for the floor pan?
2. Why is it good to switch to the evo V+ Rear strut towers?
3. Where to also order those? I read BCSpeed's and he says the rear floor pan isnt from the company anymore, but nothing about the towers?

 

Bcspeed is using fully adjustable coilovers so the evo rear towers aren't needed. I ordered the towers from japperformance along with all the other hard to find parts.

I believe they'll still ship floor pans but apparently evo8-9 pans will work. Also, according to Adam who has done a couple of these conversions, evo 8-9 rear strut towers will also work.

You'll need the 5-6 gas tank and filler neck. Most of the other stuff you can get to work from the 8 and 9.

 

So the evo 8-9 floor pan will work. Where is this confirmed I would hate to get it and it not work.

 

Its been said by a few people which is why I stated that it apparently worked. Not enough people have done floor pan swaps on these cars, unfortunately. The few I know of, including myself, are using jdm evo 5 pans.

 

I wonder how much i could get a 8 floor pan for? I'd be willing to test this out. It would be better/convenient/cheaper than what I got quoted from the UK for the evo 5 pan.

 

Ive heard that it works from a few people. It would probably be cheaper. Find someone with a wrecked 8 on here and pick it up if you can. Good luck and document your build if you decide to do it!!

 

I had a couple small updates but nothing worth posting and hadn't touched the car in the past 2 weeks. I found out today that my strut towers are back in Great Britain and never cleared customs so I've basically waited 1.5 months for nothing. Hopefully they'll get them sent back out quickly. Instead of waiting around, I ordered a Comp Clutch 6puck today and bought some ARP headstuds and will hopefully get the engine swapped in the next couple of weeks.

Got some work done this weekend.

I traded my Evo 7 valve cover for an Evo 4 aluminum valve cover that's been shaved and powder coated white. I'll be running 2 -6an fittings for crankcase ventilation.




The engine is just about ready to come out of the clip. Only have 2 mounts left holding it up and shouldn't take more than an hour to completely pull.




Also installed the complete Evo 8 rear end. Still have to torque all the nuts/bolts down but I'm waiting on the strut towers to button it up.




Got the manual pedals, shifter, and black Evo 5 ebrake handle installed.




The MR wheels had been painted a couple times over before I got them. With the help of a couple of friends, they're almost completely stripped to be repainted.




To kill the time, I decided to repaint my brembos. They were scuffed up and faded from red to pink. Repainted, bought some new decals, and clear coated over them.




And here's the SC61 I picked up from my buddy Eric. Gonna shoot for 600awhp on the stock motor. We'll see how long it takes before I window the block

 

very cool!! love the progress!! i only check back on evom.net to check up on yours and BCspeeds builds

oh, and not trying to clutter your thread... but ill be tackling my full STI swap next month swapping EVERYTHING to full 06' STI.. full harness front to rear, engine, drivetrain, brembos, full working dccd, auto HVAC, all suspension components..everything!! i have it all sitting in my garage just begging for me to swap it over..lol

heres a link to my build thread on NASIOC if you wanna take a gander
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=2326927

 

Thanks man! Dude your build thread is looking AMAZING! I still have a thing for Subarus and love STi swapped bugeyes.

I don't venture on to nasioc much anymore but let me know when you start the swap so I can keep an eye on the progress.

 

Update! Got the strut towers welded in, everything seam sealed, wheel wells undercoated, wheels painted, and some parts in.

Here's the wheel wells after welding in the towers and some rubberized undercoating. It was a ***** welding them in and I kinda wish I just ponied up for some coilovers. I think the wheel liners are slightly different on the Evo 5 vs. Mirage since I had to do some forming around the towers. Hopefully it'll be okay. Once the wheels are on, I'll know if I still need coilovers/lowering springs or not. I've got a dent on the driver side quarter panel that still needs to be pulled. Luckily it doesn't have to be perfect since the wheel arch flare will hide most of it. Also need to cut my quarter panels and weld a flat metal extension to the panel to allow for wider wheels/tires.

Driver side


Passenger side


Here's a trunk view of the strut towers. The Evo 5 ones are slightly taller and appear to angle towards the center of the trunk a little bit more (I'm assuming to give more suspension travel).

Before with Mirage strut towers


After with Evo 5 strut towers


Got the Evo 8 rear seats mounted in with black seat belts, instead of gray. The seat back has a little different fit between the Evo 4-6 vs. Evo 7-9, but they fit. I still need to riv-nut a couple holes to mount the backrest completely and the seat bottom will come back out once I order a fuel pump.




I caved and got the wheels bead blasted. I got tired of trying paint strippers/aircraft remover, sanding, pressure washing, etc and decided to pay the $80 to get em stripped. After stripping, I used 1 light coat + 1 medium coat of self etching primer, 1 light coat + 3 medium coats of graphite gray wheel paint, and 1 medium coat of clear. I didn't use much clear and I probably won't polish em up since I don't want a high gloss finish. I'm looking for a set of stock Evo 9 wheels to paint white for a winter set.





Here's my comp clutch 6 puck. I wanted to go with a comp clutch twin disc but it seems a little overkill since the stock block will probably be the limiting factor, plus it's not in the budget. I didn't qualify for any financial aid at UNM for Anderson School so time to prioritize where my money goes.



Evo 8 ecu.

 

man oh man! thats one hell of an update lol.... everything else should hopefully be a bolt-on affair

btw.. i started my swap on wednesday car has already been completely stripped down, and have half of the STI wiring wired in.

 

Hi. I've been reading all these topics about conversions and have about all the info I need to do a Mirage to Evo swap. But I see a couple people with the VIII ECU, and I have not been able to find much info on this. Does this ECU just plug into the same connector as the V ECU or do you have to change the plugs? And are the pin outs the same? Just curious As I am undecided on the V/VI drivetrain or just getting a VIII/IX setup. Thanks and great job on this build! I'm worried about the rear pan setup myself, but seems "simple" enough.

Jose

 

The Evo 8 ecu works but needs a few wires repinned. Todd on lancerregister supplied me with the info and I can shoot it your way. On a swap, you can use the complete evo8-9 rear end, trans, engine. The tcase, driveshaft and the engine harness you'll want to be chassis specific. I was wanting to use an evo8 engine harness but would require a lot of repinning and no one had a write-up on it. If you're good with wiring, it can be done. The floor pan is the hardest part and it should be all downhill from here. I'll be using a evo7 engine w/ evo5 harness and evo8 ecu.


Coilovers came in on Friday so I got the rears put on this weekend. A buddy of mine mounted up my temporary tires so I can get the car back on the ground. Once all the bugs are worked out, I'll get em swapped out

I'll probably need to raise it up a hair, but that can wait. Still need to cut/extend my quarter panels for the wider stance and install my rear arch flares. It was a good feeling seeing the car back on the ground after being on jack stands for a few months.





And just as fast as it came down, it went back up . I've got the front suspension all removed and the engine basically ready to come out. I'll try and get the engine pulled this coming weekend if I have time.






That's it for now.

 

Nice progress! Looking good.