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Hope you have been soaking them in PB Blaster or something like that. Rust belt.

You could inspect the bushings first and see if they're a problem, though sometimes they're not easy to diagnose. To clarify - the Subaru OEM struts for that year are prone to wear at 60k-100k, earlier than most subaru struts so they're annoying to me for that reason but not bad struts compared to any other vehicle. And there's no guarantee the KYB offering for the same year is the identical strut to the OEM. It may be the case that the KYB 05-09 rear struts are more similar to the 00-04 KYB than they are to the OEM 05-09. But seeing as how few people buy Subaru struts, the KYB earlier ones are good options. Subaru springs are sometimes reasonably priced, i've bought a variety of legacy and turbo 05-09 springs and they're not expensive from Subaru. Never tried the KYB assemblies, just the struts and top hats.

I think it's clear what you're working on. But for future reference. DOHC subarus (I think all of them, certainly EJs) require removing the cams to access the head bolts. SOHC engines do not.