Aspen

you can also just swap to a newer short block and use your current heads. Gives a bump up in compression. Requires more labour though.

my 99gt has a single cupholder there. It broke, but I glued it together. I too wonder if it can be bought separately. Until I took it off to repair, I never realized that it could be adjusted to hold different sized cups.

torque bind - drive around in tight figure eights. If it shudders it may be torque bind. If the car was repair it 'may' be OK. It may also have been damaged prior to the repair. My repair 2.5l developed rod knock 25K miles after the HG repair. I wouldn't bother with one of these, but that is just me.

The OBS life comes from the springs and the tire sidewall. I suggest some GR2's.

I USED to have bad shudder at idle in gear. Now it is GONE! Happy, happy, joy, joy. :banana: I did many things to try to fix. Tranny flush, twice, IAC clean, then swap, throttle body clean, new plugs. Nothing worked. Then the shortblock died due to rod bearing failure. So I got a Phase II shortblock and used the motor mounts from my Impreza. All is good now. I can hardly tell when the motor is running now and it idles at about 500rpm. So try the motor mounts. If that doesn't work, try the motor. It doesn't appear to be tranny related. My 2 cents.

It might be better to not do all those tests and instead just find a replacement 2.2l. Driving around with the HG leak is bad mojo for your valves and shortblock. You may end up having more failure shortly. I wouldn't trust that motor on long trips. For the price of those tests and new HG you may be able to find a used motor. If you do wish to check it out, the easy way is to look for black goop in the overflow tank and bubbles after a hard run.

I am pretty sure the dimming mirror is prewired as well. Worst case you can tap into the dome light wire.

The OBS didn't get 2pots until 2003 or so. The RS has them starting in 98. You can use RS calipers/brackets and rotors and keep your 15" wheels. WRX calipers are the same but the brackets and rotors will require 16" wheels. The RS brakes will be a very good upgrade.

Been there. Burn, baby, burn. Take a torch to the bushings. I suggest that it is bushing upgrade time. Call Ralli-spec for the Group N bushings set. Well worth it. You might as well do both sides while you are at it and get one alignment when you are done.

Your new compression ratio will depend on the gasket you use. I suggest a cometic 60 thousands. Should be around 10.6:1. should be good on 89 octane.

The hard brake line is going to be a pretty big job for a shade tree. It is 'possible' to do without dropping the gas tank, but 100 times easier if you do. To drop the tank you need to drop the diff and undo the tank straps. those straps will likely fall apart from rust. That is why the mechanic declined. He knows it won't go well. That stuff is heavy and much easier done on a lift with tools like tranny jacks. I agree that the rest of the stuff can be done for reasonable amounts. If I were you, I would get the hardline done by a shop and do the rest of the brakes and engine sensor stuff on my own. How is the rest of the car for rust? If the tank is ready to leak and the fenders and suspension are rotten, then maybe you should move on to a different car.

Check the pullies for play. You might want rocker cover seals.

My MY99 recently developed rod bearing knock, so naturally, I think you may have too. These motors are pretty weak. I notice mine at start up, when under heavy load and if I rev it up to 3000 rpm with my head under the hood.

The heads will warp fairly easily. You can take it apart, put a flat edge on it. Get it machined if it's not too bad. Check the pistons for excess play while you are in there, these motors tend to have slappy pistons too.

you should definitely post your trim for sale or swap with a WRX guy. Many people want to remove their racks and have the smooth look. Look on nasioc.com. You can likely get the rails and trim for free in trade. Since you are a canuck, look on the toronto-subaru-club board as well.