NorthWet

That's OK. I found a Liquidator that has boxes in assorted colors: Puce, chartruese, and teal (I thought the teal was turquoise, but they assured me it was teal). Still can't figure out why these boxes are being sold so cheap...

I'm running out of pennies here, folks! LOL I have seen some of same goo in valve covers of various engines with unblown HGs. Amount/thickness probably has more relevance than just presence. As far as whether to replace or not... I think that you have spent FAR too much time agonizing over this. Obviously, a strong case could be made either way. (Flip...flip...flip...) So it comes down to what best fits your situation. Do you HAVE to put this into service as a daily driver immediately? (doesn't sound like you do.) If yes, then fix it totally. If not, no worry in seeing if existing HGs work. Does the tear down work that you have already done seem so great that you don't want to need to do it again in 2 days/weeks/months/years (pick a possible problem date)? Remember, it WILL be quicker the second (and 3rd, 4th,...) time you do this. What is your personality like? With me, I normally would rather get the hard work done now when I have the time/weather/money/whatever and be lazy for a couple years than wait and hope it doesn't cause me problems when I can't afford the time/weather/... I could live with it either way, I just like the prospect of a long period of uninterrupted laziness!!! These cars and their engines were marketed for utility uses where they had to survive tough conditions. If the HG is blown and you run it, things are probably going to be alright; just need to do a couple close-together oil/filter changes after you get it running. Can't say the same for some high-strung pansy engines. And I haven't heard of any bolt breaking/stripping problems in the EA81s. Need to be careful where bolts are exposed to coolant (thermostat, intake?), but sounds like you have already done these. Valve area and headstuds should be no prob. So, my last 2 cents (see? pockets are empty!) is do what works for you. You have heard both sides represented pretty well, and I could agree with either. In the end, it doesn't matter that much. It is just your time and your style of doing things.

Earlier Subaru MPFI was not sequential, and I doubt that the Legacy uses sequential. I have read stuff that talks about how sequential could only be a benefit at low rpm... higher rpms require the injectors to be open for longer than intake valve duration. I would bet that your injectors are gang-fired, so connection would not make a difference.

Plain water and oil at room temperature don't mix well, this is true. But we are talking about a witch's brew of water, oil, additives, detergents, and usually glycol compounds, plus elevated temperatures. The oil and water can stay emulsified for months and years. Think of the "soluble oil" that waterless handcleaners use. Also used in machining and waterpump lubricant additives. Just being contrary.

My unfortunately many experiences with blown HGs over the decades has allowed me to look at quite a bit of trashed oil. When my '82 blew its HG, I got the quart of clear water draining from oil pan followed by relatively normal oil. When our '87 twagon blew its HG and cracked its head, we got a nasty creamed-coffee emulsion. The oil I drained off of the '87 sat in a couple gallon milk jugs for approx 6 mo waiting to be disposed of. (can't recycle coolant contaminated oil.) During this wait, the "creamer" rose to the top, eventually disappearing, leaving a brown oil behind. The only time I have ever seen brown oil was when it started as creamed-coffee emulsion. I feel your pain!! did the '82 in car. As far as leaking, just be careful and don't rush it and things should be fine. Since the intake is off, you already have something to seal up again. During the month or two that I have prowled this board, I have only seen one reference to ANY sort of block failure (if you disregard people stripping bolt holes). Somebody put a rod through the top of the case. I personally doubt that the block is something that you need worry about.

Mea Culpa MAXIMA!!! (non-Latinophiles: My mistake, like totally!) I hurriedly typed a website address in an earlier post, and the address was incorrect. Well the Law of Unintended Consequences bit me in the buttocks, as the mistyped address was for a naughty site. I have edited the original post to fix this mistake. My greatest thanks to subiemech85 for catching this!!! :banana: (kinda reminds me of a few years back when I was helping my tween daughter do research for her book report on "Black Beauty"...) TTFN! Pat

Hey, I could go for getting involved in this! I work cheap! Sounds better than digging ditches...

Well, oddcomp has this "delusion of grandeur"-thing going that his TOTALLY- AWEsome UberWagon made sooo much power that it literally caused his old tranny-to-diff seals leak. Don't let him scare you off. but if your old, clapped-out auto springs a leak, don't say you weren't warned! Seriously, I want MSnEDIS, but it's like a month's pay at the moment. (I gotta find a new line of work... this "indentured servitude"-gig isn't panning out like I had hoped!) I hate black boxes and love to tinker.

You're supposed to FILL it!? Gotta go check sumthin...

Isn't this oddcomp's cue? "MegaSquirt'n'Edis", I hear him chant! Seriously, I was thinking an EJ22 and tranny, and I was thinking MSnEdis without a doubt. Not worth my time and money messing with wiring and worrying whether it is OBD1 or 2, etc. Stand alone, programmable. "Please deposit two cents for the next 1 comment..."

You should repost this in the "Newer Generation Subaru" category. You will find more help there for your Legacy. If you don't know how (I don't know how) just ask here and somebody will help. It should not be a major problem, as the fault is in part of the emissions control that handles gasoline vapors (the charcoal canister). Ohers can help you a lot more than I can. Your English is FAR superior to my Romanian, so do not feel sorry! Good luck!

The mayonnaise-looking oil is when air is whipped into the oil/water emulsion, and after sitting for some time it will lose the air and look brown. The "good news" is without the entrained air the oil/water gunk will have mostly drained down out of the engine, so change the oil before you do much more engine turning. The stuff in the filler neck COULD just be from condensation, but gunk on the dipstick is usually a different story, so go with what you saw there. Depending on how far you have it torn down already, I would go ahead and replace the headgaskets. Sitting for a couple of years without replenishment of anti-corrosion in cooling system can't have done the HGs any good. HGs don't last forever and today sounds like a good day to do them. Tomorrow you won't be worried about "What if they are bad?" Still, do as everybody will tell you and do maintenance on cooling system.

Unless a boot has suffered trauma, probably the other 3 boots are also about ready to go. So... you can tear it down to replace a boot, and next week/month tear it down to replace another boot, until you have done all 4: total cost approx 60?, and 3-4 teardown times, or replace the axles now (or when they are totally wasted) for $110-130 and 1 tear-down time. Although you WILL get faster at R&Ring axles the more you do it, it is still not one of my favorite activities. (As much as I LOVE wrenching, doing it in the rain while sitting on crushed rock and mud in the dark 'cuz it has to be done by morning is not much fun!!! ) CSK does (did?) sell split-boot repair kits, never tried one on a Subaru. The only time I used one I was preety stooopid and tried to glue the seam while sitting in place on the greasey joint (instead of on the relatively clean axle and sliding the boot over the joint!).

My Hayne's manual says 85w gear oil (others will probably recommend a good multi-visc, like 85w90), but doesn't specify capacity. Transmission, final drive and transfer are all common, uses same oil from same fill/check point. Auto transmissions are different.

The JDM importers, in my experience, don't have websites. Their marketing is a little more focused to their immediate area. If you have a "Classified Flea Market" or "Penny Saver" type paper, look in there in the auto parts section. Generally, they seem to be in port cities. Oakland/SF, Seattle/Tacoma are places that have importers that I have frequented. Stockton probably has some, maybe Sacto. Get a hold of a port city phone book or newspaper, look for ads for "Japanese Engines". There will usually be ads for several importers. Prices vary between importers, and vary day to day depending on what has come in to port. Good Luck! Pat

I have had good luck using *edit* craigslist.com *original was a baaadd site! end edit*. In fact am looking at a '90 wagon in Portland... It's an auto, but that is what I'm looking for for my kids. $500. I have found a parts car for $100 and a GL-10 turbowagon for my wife for $350 that just needed a little specialized subie attention that the prev owner couldn't do or afford to have done. Our verison of Recycler had an '88 wagon "bad engine" for $150. They are out there. As was said earlier, just look and be patient.

Math is HARD!!! I meant 7/32nds. Thanks Torxxx!!!

All of the Subarus that I have done use a roll-pin through the axle's end cup and through the tranny/diff/rear-hub stub axle. (Don't know about Legacy/impreza or pre-EA81.) This roll-pin needs to be driven past the stub axle using a long-nosed (2.5-3 inch long) punch just under 1/4inch dia (7/16ths???). The front outer CVs include the stub-axle which pases through the hub and its bearings, secured by axle nut.

Saw this yesterday about weights: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=23028&highlight=weight

Any axle/spline/size issues that need to be considered? I know there are differences MT vs AT, how about turbo vs non-turbo?

Not an expert, as I have seen only one "spider" manifold, but that looks like one to me. If I am not wrong, then you need to get input from someone that knows this not-common manifold. If you don't get a quick response, you might try changing your thread title to include "spider manifold"... ought to draw viewers like flies!

In my experience, buy-back is about 10-20% of InsCo's valuation. On old stuff like mine, it works out to be about $50-150. The insurance company has no use for it, so it is whatever they think they can get from JY minus what they think the hassle to have a JY take it. Don't borrow trouble by imagining buy-back being too high. Just worry that valuation will be too low. They offered us 45% of KBB-value!!! And no recourse except to sue... They do have fancy HQ buildings, though. Pat

No direct experience, but I have a couple penny jingling in my pocket, so... My first thought was coil, and/or possibly ignitor circuitry. My money would be on coil. Another thought is pressurized-intake hose come adrift... but seems unlikely with you.

No useful knowledge here, but a suggestion that others can refute. As far as I know (see above disclaimer of ignorance), it probably would do little or no damage to tow 2-down for a couple of blocks at residential speeds until you are feeling better about hooking up properly. Seems safer than hanging around and trying to get all four up!!! BTW, I pay cash for all of mine, so I doubt that we will meet professionally.

Friends??? Asocial (ex-)computer ubernerd... Garage??? If I am LUCKY, I get to work on crushed (1 1/2") rock. Not so lucky... well, have you ever tried to get a 6-ton floor jack to work in mud? Beer??? My wife... yes, dear, my WONDERFUL wife of 25 years is Methodist. PORN??? See above re: wife. We have every Disney (the REAL Evil Empire! ) movie ever made, but sadly... Pat