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Time for an update. I've been very busy at work catching up after my trip, but I've still gotten some mundane things done. This spark plug had to be drilled out, and the threads got messed up in the process. Easy enough, I grabbed my Helicoil kit and got it fixed up easily. I was able to purchase all new valves for the engine, which was a little surprising. The old ones were pretty pitted, and I've gone this far, so why not. . I grabbed some old fashioned valve grinding compound to seat the new valves. The valve seats looked good, just a little dirty and full of carbon. A quick lap is all they needed to have a nice uniform sealing surface. I've been mostly cleaning up the rest of the parts, and I also tore down my parts EA61 I secured in Washington. Next will be re-assembling the crank and preparing the case halves to go back together.

for me, a 95 model year would be the ideal.. has OBDII for diagnostics, but still relatively simple, and non-interference, so no problems if a belt breaks or jumps time.. just realign, and good to go. After 96 is going to be interference - meaning valves hit pistons if timing goes out.. which typically means major head work.. there is a bit of a grey area surrounding the 96MY, and when the interference phase II was actually introduced.. so for my money, 95 is the way to go.

I've never driven a 1st gen '90-'94 Legacy, but from what I understand they are extremely similar mechanically to the 2nd Gen '95-'99 Legacy, Body and interior wise there are pretty big changes between the two. I've owned a '95 Legacy for 7 years now and I have to say that I really like the car. It's simple and light and easy to work on. It doesn't have a lot of power but the low weight helps to make up for that. It might help if you give an idea of what kind of roads/terrian and weather you're planning on seeing on your trip. One thing that comes to mind is that 2nd gen legacies are OBDII, which can be more convenient when it comes to diagnostics. If you're going for a manual you will probably see a lot of cars with the 2.2l EJ22, stay away from the Phase II EJ22 engine, it's not as reliable. I believe '98 was the first year for the Phase II, or maybe produced in '98 for the '99 model year. Someone will know the exact year. Also, be aware of the EJ25D, from '96-'99 here in the U.S. It can be a good engine but only if the headgaskets have been changed by someone who knew what they were doing. Although this one is less common to see paired with a Manual except in a few models or if someone did a swap. I'm sure there are others who will comment with much more info about the differences between the two generations that I can. I don't know what used car prices for these models are like in your area, but I know up here in the PNW one can find a very nice 90's Legacy for $5k. I would watch out for anything with too low of miles though because any car that's sat around that much could have issues just from not being run or driven regularly; but it depends on how it was stored. Good Luck with your search! It sounds like you're going to have quite an adventure. If you have any specific questions about the 2nd Gen Legacy, I may be able to answer those. I've done an engine swap on mine and almost all of my own work on it except welding.

hi, you can use a radiator intended for automatic trans just put rubber caps on the cooling outlets to the trans. They fit the car the same. the aftermarket can supply this they are still svailable. Online search! If you can find it, one with all metal tanks is preferred imo , but there were single , and double row cores so try to find the 2 row. I think any loyale year model will fit.

It's happended to many folks. Always good to get it on the road again.