AdventureSubaru

That trailer hitch setup, both in the position of the metal as well as the welds was just asking for trouble. Good thing it failed when it did and not when you tried to actually tow something with it. Not trying to be snarky, but people can get hurt over stuff like that. I know I'd be royally ticked if a trailer got away and caused an accident and I see something like that as the cause. Not sure what the limiting factor is - whether you need a better welder or some more time and know how on how to do it right, but hope it gave you some first hand knowledge on how not to do it. Get some good welds for it next time and plate the top or bottom or both and get some overlap. That steel should bend long before it breaks. Sad day on the hatch. Looks like it did it's job and kept people on the inside safe though.

I've been running chrysler steels on my Impreza for the last few years. You should be fine.

can you get a few pics of the rusted area?

Unless the car is sustaining a number of places where structural integrity can be questioned, it's usually a pretty easy trip to a local welder to ad some structural rigidity. Those rear strut towers did rust out but I've seen a number of them repaired with a couple chunks of steel and some welding. I've used a few local welders off of craigslist for similar jobs before I learned to weld myself. If you were local, I'd offer to do the job for you for a pizza and a 12 pack of soda.

Good to know! This is exactly the sort of info I was hoping to find. I'll try and track down a 97 or 98 ECU and the other parts. It will make it all a lot more comfortable and legit to not have to slip anything past smog shops but to just point to the sticker. Thanks again! I'll try and post up a little follow up and maybe a how-to since I don't think there's a documentation of this yet. May fit in the USRM

Or, think this one through with me. How long after installing a non-EGR intake manifold would the check engine light come on? If the car were driven to the point that all the monitors were up and the manifold were swapped in just before going to a referee, we would only need it to run with no check engine light long enough to pass smog. If it were inspected by the Refs with no EGR present and smogged, they would issue the sticker and problem solved. Any idea what that timeline would be? If it would pop the code instantly, we're back to the drawing board. If there's a little while before the check engine light comes on, we have a solution. Once the referees hand out a sticker we could swap it back to EGR and there would never be an issue again.

new thoughts - (And remember that since we are discussing California laws, you have to throw common sense out the window and realize there is no real world value to any of this except to fit within California laws and expectations) 1. Grind the EJ22 stamp off and replace it with an EJ25 with some high temp JB weld or something and pass it off as a 2.5 - It could always be explained as a frankenmotor 2.5 block with SOHC heads (Or a 2000+ SOHC 2.5) so as to not get flagged or noticed by a shop. (just in case) 2. Smog it and run it as is but have the catless midpipe, non EGR intake manifold and such in reserve and should it ever be flagged we try to tackle the EGR delete idea. In theory, there should be a way to get a motor that was originally EGR to run non EGR without any codes. There's just a step after plugging the EGR port on the head and swapping the manifold that as best we know has not been pinpointed correct? Either deleting or swapping some wiring somewhere. 3. Try a different referee and try and talk some sense into them. The referees are there to approve engine swaps/upgrades etc. so at some point customization would have to be allowed for I would think given the number of Subaru powered VWs that exist in California. 4. light the car on fire and buy a brand new prius or tesla since that's what California wants us to do.

Yeah. The referee guys openly acknowledged that the car is better as it sits than what they are asking for/requiring of the car to get a sticker. At least they understand that their jobs are worthless.

You are correct on the older motors thing. As far as California is concerned, it's a 99 motor to avoid that snag since visually there's not really any difference among the EJ22s. Basically, in order to pass as a swapped motor it has to match EVERYTHING as a 99 Legacy with a 2.2 instead of a 99 Outback with a 2.5. So since a 99 with a 2.2 and manual trans were non EGR and 2 cats this one has to also be non egr and 2 cats. I believe the trans is factory. I'll work on persuading him to just let California be ignorant to the fact that it was swapped. But if not I don't mind hunting down some parts if there's any chance of an EGR delete without throwing a code. The mystery is somewhere in the wiring between engine and ECU of an EGR car. Basically if the difference can be spotted between EGR and non EGR as to what would tip the ECU to be looking for EGR, I should find my solution?

I guess the other question is if the VIN specifies automatic vs. manual trans. We could always pretend that the engine is stock and the trans was swapped to manual in the VIN doesn't betray it.

Sounds like a great trip! Glad it made it safely and glad it's in good hands. So cool that this thread now spans 3 owners.

Everything is supposed to match OEM specifications. Since a 99 legacy with a manual and a 2.2 was non EGR (Or so says the info these referees have) this has to also be non-EGR. It's California. No one said it had to make sense. I think this will pass just fine at a normal smog check that doesn't know any better. But with a referee approval, there's no chance anyone can flag it. If it were me, I'd just pass it along as if nothing had ever changed, but since my buddy would prefer to get the sticker, I'm willing to help as best I can. Did that non-EGR intake manifold get the engine wiring swapped over as well? Any chance you remember the color of those EGR wires you cut? Maybe I can follow them on a non EGR car in a junkyard and see where they go.

I'm in the process of selling the 99 Outback to a work buddy of mine. We're of course, hitting snags with CA laws. the 99 was a 2.5 that has been swapped to a 1996 2.2 with matching EGR so as not to throw a code. The engine is performing beautifully but since CA requires that a referee give a sticker to approve any car that has had an engine swap, it had to go in for approval. The cost is only $8.25 and this means no more questions on the car ever for smog tests so it's worth pursuing. The car was denied for the following reasons - 99 manual cars were non-EGR and this has EGR. The exhaust on this car has 3 cats and the 99 2.2 would have had only 2 cats. Never mind the fact that California has all these asinine rules in place to improve air quality and both EGR and a third cat make the car run cleaner - it absolutely has to match stock 99. (Even more infuriating was that they hooked it up and it passes emissions standards) So the exhaust should be no problem. A 96 legacy exhaust should have 2 cats and bolt right in correct? Can we do a successful EGR delete by the following? Plug the EGR pipe in the drivers side head. Swap non-EGR intake manifold and such. Swap non-EGR Engine computer Will that work to avoid check engine light? Anything else to do?

It's all coming. We had to move this summer and stayed in some temporary housing for the last month. We'll be situated in a few weeks and work has slowed so the car should be getting some attention then. There are a few upcoming trips that I would like to have this lifted for. I did find a hitch receiver in the local PNP so I can tow the trailer. Gotta get the wiring in. Let me know if you come up this way. Would love to see the Impreza in person. Maybe even take the cars for a romp somewhere.

Part one of the journey was completed just over a week ago. My brother and I took the car to it's "drop point" where it will be picked up by the new owner soon enough. I hadn't seen the car in just over a year. Needs some polish as mentioned but started right up and drove on and off the trailer no prob. It was a great relief that this car is staying in the Subaru community and can be appreciated for years to come. A little more love on the body and some fresh decals and this car will be near completion.

It's pretty darn easy. Read up and get some inspiration there in the offroad section with all the info and pictures.

You'll want to check that the final drive ratio is a match between the new trans and your rear differential. Gotta be a match. You'll also need- clutch components flywheel pedal assembly You will want to double check because you may need to swap in a TCU from a manual car. Ditto to trans crossmember and driveshaft. They may be different between the two. I can't speak to the wiring. Not sure how far back you'd have to go to swap it over. It's a rather involved job that will cost a good bit of $$$ in parts and plenty of wrenching time. Hasn't stopped many from doing it though. The easy and more common suggestion is to get a different car with the trans that you want. But if you're dedicated to your car and not afraid of a lot of wrench time, you've got a good resource here that can help you through the swap. Is your automatic trans dying? Or whats making you want to swap in a 5 speed?

Nice score! You can easily get spoiled by working on a rust free car. So much faster and simpler when the bolts aren't rusted and snapping off,

Nice looking forester! Great ride for exploring.

It should bolt in but may have different final drive ratios. If the final drives are a match you're good to go. If not, you can make the trans work by swapping the rear differential from the impreza as well.

Wasn't there a phase1 and phase 2 transmission between 99 and earlier and 2000 and up? Or was that just automatics? I was under the impression that only 99 and earlier would work for pre 99 legacy outback etc.

Welcome! What are you driving? Great wealth of knowledge and friendly people here. Lots of laughs along the way too.

Any 2000-2004 Legacy or Outback motor should fit fine as a donor. Ditto to the foresters of same years and I think the 02-04 Impreza with the 2.5. There were small part number changes from year to year so not as many options return in searches as would match your car. I use ROW52.com and car-part.com as a good source to find parts. Always check craigslist as well.

Tried the FWD fuse in the engine bay on the passenger side firewall? I think this was an option on those early legacies. Solves some torque bind issues by running the car in FWD. If that doesn't work/isn't an option, pull the driveshaft and drive it FWD. Worth a look before replacing the trans. You can keep it FWD or just keep a good running vehicle until you're good and ready to replace either the duty C or the trans.

x2 on bypassing the core. It's summer and it can buy you some time to get it done. You can save some money by shopping for the part for yourself on Rockauto, Ebay etc. It's not a terrible job, just involved since theres a lot of tight spaces and parts removed to get to it. Would take about half a day to someone with some subaru skills. Longer if it's your first time. If you shop around, you should be able to find a place that will do it affordably. Orbachs Automotive in Denver PA are Subaru specific. They are wizards who aren't above doing cheaper fixes with used parts if thats what serves a customer best. And they do superior work to the dealers at a much lower cost. It's about an hour from you, but they may be a good option to save you some $$$.