86BRATMAN

To retain a close to stock compression ratio I'd run the 04-06 sti head gasket, part number 11044AA642. Assuming the heads and block are prepped correctly you won't have any future head gasket problems. You can find those head gaskets on eBay for about 70-80 for the pair shipped.

Definitely phase 2 ej25 sohc pistons, and you have a phase 1 block being 96. I highly recommend against using those felpro gaskets on your engine. Oem subaru gaskets are the best choice for these engines.

You originally state the pistons you have are for the 99 dohc, if they are they are they should have a large square-ish dish in the middle, 99+ sohc pistons are relatively flat. There may be some confusion in which pistons you have as both were used in 99, could you post a picture of which ones you have?

If you use the phase 1 head gasket it will be roughly the same at 9.0:1. If you use a phase 2 gasket, which you can safely do with those pistons in the phase 1 block, it will be 9.4:1 which is relatively close to stock.

Sounds like you have it under control.

It will fit, you'll need to know what year the trans is from in order to get a matching rear diff ratio. If you use an sti diff (r180) you'll have to change rear subframe, axles, and knuckles to match. You can use a regular subaru rear diff (r160) and axles with the correct gear ratio. And mate it to the 6 speed using an automatic impreza driveshaft. Do some research on rs25.com, plenty of information specific to that car on that site.

Your compression ratio will end up at 8.9:1 with the 97-99 piston style.

Best way I've found is to use one of the cheap fluid pumps from a auto parts store. Commonly found in the gear oil section.

The cap from a spray paint can works well to plug the driveshaft hole. I use one whenever I'm pulling a transmission.

I don't understand why people don't spend the 10-15 bucks on the readily available harness adapters to avoid hacking stuff up. Stupid.

Headlights and cigarette lighter not working is very normal. Subaru headlights have went off with the key since 1982. The presets going away is most likely due to the radio not being hooked up correctly.

Don't forget the biggest difference in my build, the heads. The dohc ej25d heads alone are a massive improvement over the crap flowing ej22e heads. You won't see the improvement I did without them, I'd put my little 2.2 build against a high comp frankenmotor any day of the week.

The rev limiter is higher (7600) and has more aggressive timing curve. I'm not sure about the fueling, but I'm sure it's better as the ej20d is a 150hp 2.0 stock. The ecu is in the passengers side foot well, pull up the carpet and you'll find a metal plate, the ecu is under it. You will have to get a jdm ecu pigtail to wire in to use this ecu.

There isn't much in the way of aftermarket specific for these cars. Most hose kits are very similar to the 93-01 Impreza though, you will probably have more luck looking for that stuff for them. Basically for headlights you can go with the jdm market projector lights or morrettes (spelling?). Of the two the jdm lights are the cheaper option usually going for 200-300 depending on condition and shipping charges, the morrettes are nearly double that in good condition because they are very rare. Tail lights you are limited to only the jdm versions with the clear signal section, to my knowledge there was never any aftermarket tail lights for the second gen legacy.

the ej25d ecu is straight plug and play, the jdm ecu I was speaking of requires a decent bit of wiring changes. More than most people would do for a daily driver.

I don't think it would be that noticeable for a daily driver. I have an ej22 swapped 98 Forester and it goes well enough, it won't win any drag races but it wouldn't in stock form either lol.

There is an easy way to make this work, you'll need to make an adapter plate to use the phase 2 throttle body with its integrated iacv bolt onto and flow into the phase 1 manifold. And also block off the phase 1 iacv. There still may be the egr issue, but from what I've seen the phase 2 engines don't always follow the same rules as phase 1 so yours may not have it. Another potential hurdle is IF you have to swap timing gears (some phase 2 engines use the same trigger pattern as phase 1, my mom's 04 outback does) the phase 2 timing belt is slightly narrower than phase 1 so the belt needed for this engine would be too wide. I could continue if needed. But easiest way to use what you have already purchased is a set of 99-01 ej222 head gaskets and put the heads/manifold off the forester engine on the ej22e.

The 0.8mm gasket is available oem subaru for the 99-01 ej222, it's a multi layer steel gasket and is very reliable. It's been my experience that thicker MLS gaskets are more prone to failure (not just in subarus but across the board). Take the ej25d for example. But that's another discussion. I am currently running a stock ej25d ecu on my engine, and normally run 89 octane. I can run 87, and have on many occasions with no sign of detonation. I have no doubt the car would run better with some sort of tuning whether it be an s-afc or something more sophisticated I simply haven't came across a deal that I felt was worth it yet. At 11:1 compression I would run nothing less than 93 octane. I do have plans to change the gaskets for the thinner set I have, but it will be after I decide on something to tune with. I am researching the esl daughterboard that is marketed for the overseas turbo cars of this era as I don't want to go full standalone because I enjoy my cars driveablility with the stock ecu, but have not had much luck on their use with na ecus. If I can make use of one of those boards (probably having to swap to a jdm ej20d ecu to use it) I'll definitely be going for some more bang from this little engine.

I'd have to say that between the compression bump, and the much better flowing heads I've gained more than a few hp. I could have gone higher in cr but I wanted something that would still run safely on regular octane fuel if needed. With a 0.8mm gasket instead of the 1.5mm I could have gotten around 11:1. Which isn't out of the question for a future build. If I had to estimate I would say I'm in the 180-190hp 150-160tq range at the crank.

with my set up there is more gain in horsepower than torque over a standard ej22e. Not saying it didn't made a noticeable change though. My car has a 3.90 final drive, a modded intake system, header and full exhaust as well. But it will stretch it's legs and walk away from my friends gt with similar mods and a 4.11 trans. So it's no slouch.

Hope it doesn't turn out to be like this one.

Svx pistons, same bore as ej22e. I can personally vouch that they work as I am running them in a 22e shortblock with 25d heads. With a pair of ej22t head gaskets my calculated compression ratio is 10:1, you could go higher with a thinner gasket as well.

I've seen cases where the fwd light would come on but make no difference to the binding. That was a failed solenoid, this sounds like it could be a tcu issue at this point to me.

I've had good luck with those back bolts with a ratchet wrench. Very handy tools to have and relatively inexpensive for parts store house brands.

6.5 all around in the second gen's. And the stock speakers are were adequate when new, and if I remember correctly made by Clarion. Best way to get at them is to remove the entire door panel (all 4 if wagon and just fronts for sedan as the rears are under the rear shelf cover which requires removal of the back seat to do without potentially breaking the shelf).