bhazard

Well, I've located an engine from an 02 Impreza, a few hours away in Cleveland. Im told it ran well when it was pulled, but knocked when cold. 95,000ish miles. $450 obo, I think I'll try to offer $300. Question is, should I just drop it in and go with it, or should I tear it down and try to fix the knock (new bearings, etc)... I've never tore down a Subie engine before, so it'll probably be very time consuming for me, as well as costing a large chunk more change to get it back together. The EJ22 in my OBS knocks when its cold, but shows no other signs of blowing up, runs great. Im thinking drop it in and run it. It'll at least buy me time to find a better one, or find the components to build a frankenmotor, which is what I really wanna throw in it.

I dont think Im gonna get the easy break here. If I rock it back and forth in gear I can hear a bit of a clank coming from the bottom end, as if theres a broken rod flopping around in there. There was also an empty jug of oil in the back. A one gallon jug. The crankcase is overfilled, way overfilled. So who has a spare EJ251 longblock collecting dust?

Yeah I'll definitely check out the important things like timing first, though I have a feeling "they" tried to crank it... what would you do if your car just died on the highway? I also have a feeling this was a female's car, judging by the bumper stickers on the back.

I think the odo said around 204,000. You cant tell at all just looking at it. I would be surprised if it was the belt, it seems like the car was maintained.

NW Ohio about half an hour west of Toledo.

Yup I'll be popping the belt cover off first thing, then maybe taking a wrench to the crank pulley. Just see if theres interference first.

01 Forester, 5sp, non-runner http://toledo.craigslist.org/cto/2817141100.html Got lucky, on a whim I checked craigslist for "Subaru" and it was right there, listed yesterday, its a dealer here in town where I live. I was there 15 minutes after I saw it, and made the deal pretty much right away. The guy pretty much let me name my price, and I said 700. I guess an 11 year old non-running car is worth nothing to a dealership lol... So this is an EJ251 then right? Any ideas what could be wrong? Everything on this car looked STRAIGHT. The body is near perfect, the interior was a little dirty but nice, under the hood looked decent too. I saw nothing wrong. When I hit the starter it just clicked like the battery didnt have enough juice to crank. Im hoping worst case is a broken timing belt, bent valves, I can just throw the heads from my OBS on an have a frankenmotor... I really dont feel like digging into a full engine swap in the middle of the winter. The dealership had no idea what was wrong other than they were told the engine is "bad". They said it was just hauled in off the turnpike. EDIT: They already took the posting down. I saved the pics though...

I used the supertech semi-synthetic from walmart. I think it was 75w-90. I think 2 quarts took care of the front and rear, but mines an auto.

Anyone that has built a fox body ford knows about chassis flex and how important it is to strengthen the chassis when adding power.

Im running 98 Forester struts/springs on mine. I was running 205/75-15 all season passenger tires but have since switched to bridgestone blizzaks in stock 205/60. I have my rear sway hooked up still, no problems there but both my front endlinks broke so no front bar... Im using stock sway bar brackets but trailing arms and brackets from a 96 leggy outback.

I got my drive shaft on eBay for about $70 shipped.

Nice. I'm super jealous. If mine wasn't such a $400 car I'd consider some nicer wheels and maybe a frankenmotor and maybe a 5 speed swap...though I kinda dig the auto. Let me know what's up with your cruise. Mine doesn't work either. Though my right rear ABS cable is cut and I have a CEL for rear o2 that could be causing an issue with cruise.

Sell it to some ricer kid for like $20.

Nope, the whole seam around the tank leaks

Yeah I have that rust on both sides, and my gas tank only holds 7 or 8 gallons However it runs great and drives pretty good too, for $400 plus a few hundred in parts I cant really complain too much.

You stole my car! nevermind...yours is way nicer

http://www.amazon.com/Kats-13080-Aluminum-Circulating-Heater/dp/B000I8VKOY/ref=pd_sim_sbs_auto_9 Thats the one I have, except mine is 1000 watts. More than enough for any subie engine. The freeze plug heaters are better than nothing but they dont work nearly as well as a circulating heater. The circulating heater heats the whole cooling system, which is especially useful since the heater core is the first thing getting heated. No frost on my windshield in the morning.

I have a 1000 watt Kats tank heater in my OBS. Tee'd off the lower radiator hose (not too easy since theres not much lower hose there) and then into the heater core inlet hose. Heats the heater core first, then the engine. Keeps frost off the windshield, and if you let it go long enough I get up to around 150f at the temp sensor. Only side effect is it stumbles for a second when you first start it, because the temp sensor is warm, and theres a bit of an inrush of cold coolant on startup. So the ECU thinks everythings warmer than it really is. Ends up cooling down to around 110f, but then is back up to 140 or so after maybe 30 seconds. Still way way way better than 0 degree engine. The instant heat is so worth it too.

Cut the roof off... make a roadster/pickup out of it. Glad you were ok. A passenger might not have been!

My first car was an '88 tbird turbo coupe. Still have the car but it hasnt been driven in a year and is ready to be parted/scrapped/sold. As said, the 2.3 turbo is solid as a rock, and stock for stock has a stronger bottom end than a 5.0. The Merkur got a nifty independent rear, but with a lame 7.5" diff and drums. My bird has a solid 8.8 with discs. Easiest upgrade for you is to run an intercooler, and update your engine to 87-88 tbird spec. Not positive what you have, but the 87-88 has a 3" air meter, 36lb injectors, tmic, and an la2 or la3 code ecu. The SVO got a very similar setup. Basically the difference is 30-40hp or so. After you swap out to the later stuff, you can turn the boost up, open the exhaust, etc. Very easy to get up to the 250hp range with mostly stock stuff. Also beware, the XR4 used a T9 instead of T5 trans, which is known for its weakness. A T5 is easy to swap in though I guess.

They are available in 175/70-13 as well. Just not listed on Tirerack. Either call them up and see if they can get them or go somewhere else. Though for all you know a 155 might actually be better. Narrower tires supposedly cut through snow better. I had Winterforce's on my Festiva last winter. Car was unstoppable. I just picked up some Blizzak WS50's for my impreza. Barely used. Cant wait for snow now.

My 97 is missing both stock fog lights. I put some hella driving lights on the bumper but I'd like to get some fog beams down the the stock location. What have you guys used? Are stock fogs any good or more decorative than anything like most stock fogs?

Will the center console out of the 96 legacy outback work in my obs? Besides the heater switches it also has a nice armrest/storage.

Well its either heated cloth in excellent shape or unheated leather in excellent shape besides normal wear on the drivers seat. I guess I could always add aftermarket heat to the leather.

What am I looking at here? Is my car gonna be wired for heated seats?