Numbchux

Yep, been done many times. Start here: I compiled all of the information I could find at the time into a pdf after completing my first, nearly 20 years ago. It's still available there. There are hundreds of combinations and approaches to do this, depending on your budget, skills and goals. Some of what we did then involves parts that are basically impossible to find now. Reliable daily? Drag Racing? Circuit? Ice racing? Rally? Mudding? Sand dunes? Rock crawling? It's all been done.

That grill looks like 95-99 Legacy/Outback. These only came with Phase 1 engines, either a SOHC 2.2 in the early years, or a DOHC 2.5 later. But the engine is pretty clearly a phase 2 SOHC engine. That would mean it's not original. A 99 Outback Sport (based on the Impreza) would have a phase 2 EJ22. Look on the passenger side, vertical surface of the block, right next to the bellhousing. There will be a flat spot in the casting roughly 1x3". All USDM engines will have the original VIN engraved on this surface. That will give you the information. At a glance, the 4th digit will tell you what chassis (B = Legacy, G=Impreza, S=Forester), and the 10th digit will tell you the VIN (W, X, Y, 1, 2 = 98, 99, 00, 01, 02 respectively, ETC.). And there are many tools online to decode a vin to the specific vehicle.

Woa. That's a serious and alarming crack 😲

Do not run the fan directly to the ECU. There are 2 outputs from the ECU for fans, and they are both to trigger the low side of a relay. The temp switch in the radiator works fine. I've done it that way. I think the only time it would be an issue would be if you have A/C, as you would need airflow even if the radiator wasn't hot. PS, I'm sorry I haven't responded to your email. I can get on the forums at work, but I can only get to gmail on my phone right now. And I'm SUPER rusty on EA82 stuff. I hope you're finding the answers to your questions.

Yea, timing belt broken while running almost certainly needs most of the valves replaced. But they don't usually damage anything else

Yep, totally fixable. Hood, grill, LH headlight and bracket, upper radiator support (still available new from Subaru), maybe latch support, radiator, RH fan shroud and blade, condenser (hard to tell how damaged, and if you want A/C), air intake duct. Maybe bumper cover and/or tow hook cover. Upper radiator support is spot welded in, there's a few ways to deal with that, depending what equipment you have access to.

Yep, lots of good information That page is included in this whole "Subaru of the 80s" page. https://www.indysworld.com/subaru/index.html Check the "Original Ultimate Subaru Repair Manual" on there. Lots of good writeups there. I think this stuff is basically all 15-20 years old, but great place to start

From the old 4X140 wheels page hosted by McBrat at https://www.indysworld.com/subaru/gallery/wheels/wheels.html

I use a ScanGauge a lot, and find my EZ30s tend to sit at about 200F under normal circumstances (actually, most of my vehicles do). And the gauge starts to creep up at about 215. So I agree that if it's 217, there's something not happy. Good flow through the heater core? The thermostat is controlled by the flow of coolant back from the heater core. I worked with several buggy guys doing EJ engines, and occasionally they would block off those lines, but then the thermostat doesn't open at all.

Did you take any temperature readings on the thermostat testing? I've NEVER seen an old one open later than a replacement. The spring begins to get weak before the wax capsule, and they open sooner. So that's super interesting. I'm curious what the temperature difference was.

Looks like an incredible trip! I thought of you the weekend before last, (10/17-18) as I was up in the UP for LSPR. I saw lots of trails and abandoned rail road tracks that I suspect you have explored. Unfortunately I was in my stock Suburban, and had stuff to do with the Rally. And yes, MT Toyota trucks have a clutch bypass switch factory. I find it very strange. I have an 03 Tacoma yard truck, and the only time that I would use it, is if I reach in to start it from the passenger side, but the switch is way over on the LH side of the dash. I know people use it when the clutch switch fails. But how often does that happen?

I used the original XT6 shift linkage in my XT6 with an EJ 5 speed. It wasn't perfect, but it worked. If I wanted to do a better job, I would have cut and lengthened the linkage. I don't know the 6 speed stuff very well. I think it's similar, but at the very least, it needs the cable to get it into reverse.

Engine is the same. I'm planning and testing to attempt to build a Baja with an EZ30 (looking into if a 2nd gen 30 can be run on the 1st gen ECU), with functioning stability and traction control from the VDC, but a manual transmission.... I believe it will be possible, even with my limited knowledge on the CAN data stuff, which is how the VDCCU and TCU communicate. I think I wouldn't bother with that chassis at all. Look for an LL Bean one while you drive and enjoy the VDC. The Bean donor could be wrecked, rusted, whatever. Then get a low mileage JDM engine (they're running about $1500 right now). You will need the gauge cluster, HVAC boxes and much more. It's going to be much easier to get it all from the same car. But it would be possible to get a bulkhead harness and ECU from a Bean, and piece it together.

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.

Severe weather rated all season tires. There are a lot of these out on the market in the last 5 years or so, and people seem to really like them. I work at a Subaru dealership in the Minneapolis, MN area. We're no strangers to snow and ice, but also not really enough to justify a second set of tires for most people, and most of our customers do not have a place to store an extra set of tires anyway. I've had many customers rave about how much they like them. I used to work at a dealership in Duluth, MN, where the weather was more harsh, and snowfall more abundant. We still sold a lot of them, but also a lot more snow tires. I first started seeing them with the Nokian WRG series, but now there are Michelin Cross Climates, Firestone WeatherGrips, Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady, and more. I put a set (not name brand) on our Kia Rio beater, as it only gets driven a few thousand miles a year. I was impressed with how they did last winter. No, not quite snow tire good, but better than any all season I've used before. They don't generally have much softer tread compound than an All Season Touring tire, so I wouldn't expect them to get damaged by rocks too badly, but I have zero actual experience. In theory, they are not as quiet as a touring tire, but generally tolerable with modern car sound insulation.