idosubaru

In old Gen and H6 JDM I’ve never had issues buying US gaskets. Ive only seen the generic pvc type hoses be different.

Your best bet is to buy a Subaru that’s closer to what you want (Manual or bigger engine or turbo or whatever you want). What do you want? Go buy that. Then learn by learning how to maintain brakes, do preventative maintenance, do upgrades, and ask specific questions about which turbo or how to rebuild a turbo or upgrade Intercooler, etc. If you absolutely insist on jumping into a big project then buy one that needs work - buy a blown turbo with manual trans and repair it or one with a wrecked bumper and swap bumpers… I think that’s about all I can help on this conversation, so I’llbe checking out. Good luck and enjoy the soob. OBS are great, reliable transportation. They’re about the easiest and inexpensive 200,000 miles you can get.

You could also price it all out and see for yourself - are you okay with $5k-$10k in costs even if you’re doing all the labor? If so then maybe paying superior to do it is a much better option. Not because you can’t but because theyre that good. If cost does have a lid then look at your list and ask questions about how to pare that down or cull or have a plan that works.

There’s so many different ways to do this - it’s almost infinite. It’s hard to say much with confusing general questions. Whatever you do - Get a new Subaru turbo only. Or equivalent OEM supplier. The choice of block and internals and transmission depends how much power you’re aiming for, how much you’re willing to spend, and *how long you want the engine to last* - which everyone says they want but actually spend no time considering. First you wanted a 97 DOHC which isn’t turbo, nor ideal. Then you wanted forged internals which isn’t necessary or beneficial on a non turbo. Then later you say turbo. You also said “little modification” but now you’re mentioning turbos with forged internals that you’ll be installing yourself - which will require rewiring and controllers with extensive cross member and exhaust overhaul and/or cutting/welding. Then you mentioned upgraded transmission. That’s the opposite of “little modification” price tag of your implied goals has ranged from $500 to $15,000 depending how we interpret it. Id work on narrowing down your goals here to something chewable and manageable. One of the best subaru builders is in your state, Superior Soobie in Oregon could do it for you. You’ll get top notch work and more importantly it’ll last.

"Put better internals" - Are you doing all the work? If labor is free (which it won't be): It'll cost $5k for engine, $1k+ for turbo/downpipe, $1k for controller, plus supporting gaskets, fluids. The questions being asked here don't sound like they're coming from somone with the experience or technical understanding to do this kind of work. If paying someone else: $10k+. In that case you need to ask them questions as they'll have they're own preferred methods/sources/pricing. Crawford sells built turbo blocks and parts. https://crawfordperformance.com/collections/crawford-built-subaru-short-blocks Or you can try to ghetto build it with rising rate fuel pressure regulators and an SPFI and blow up a few blocks to learn the ropes.

There's no computer control - just a very basic on/off logic circuit. You could find a factory service manual A/C page (or you may already have it?) and see all the components to the system, it's not much.

can you remove another shim? Good job checking the clutch. Sounds like the clutch is shot or the AC is fine but you have blend door issues like the controls aren’t fully and nominally moving the blend door mix. I don’t think this is your issue but I don’t want to assume too much via the limitations of online diagnosis! Well done removing a shim, slick move. I’m not we’ll versed in the AC clutches since they fail so rarely on Subarus and I can usually easily install another compressor with little testing, but I’d assume the improvement means clutch engagement issues that are only partially resolved via the shims. Have you already replaced the compressor? I’d assume the compressor or clutch needs replaced. WAG: Maybe the compressor or bearings are tight and requires greater than normal exertion to rotate. This would explain premature clutch wear, why removing shims helped, but didn’t totally solve it, and weak overall compressor performance.

I like to buy from Scott, i've bought two kits and he assembled a "custom" mix and match kit for what I needed easily: https://www.sjrlift.com/

Yes. Dex III or the newer Dex Vi. That’s practically all that’s available.

Standard Dexron (used to be frequently labeled as Dexron/Mercon) used in Subarus for about 50 years. It is confusing - some labels downplay the 50 year standard Dex/Merc labeling standardized by the entire industry and owners manuals. I see “Asian Fluid”, “Foreign Vehicle”, “Compatible with…” and trademarked brands where you have to read the small print to find out it’s just the same old Dexron. Lame sauce. Subaru has good fluid too and it can be cross referenced to Idimetsu

They do have great purchase value. 80% of good priced subarus I see are manual trans. In my searches MT Subarus 15-20 years ago weren’t so differently priced. Extra annoying when they needed a new clutch shortly after purchase which wasn’t hard to have happen. Good point ! You’ve convinced me to teach some folks. what’s the easiest Subaru to do a clutch on? Might be fun to teach a bunch of folks on the same vehicle!

Any 4EAT transmission is beast. 99-00 are arguably worth avoiding for minor issues. A 2002-2006 Forester has the 4EAT Manual trans plain suck anyway. They offer no net advantage to ownership except popping the clutch on a dead battery, secruity, and often they can be bought cheap since no one wants (to deal with) one. Support is waning, parts and replacements getting hard and $$$$$ to get. older ones need a clutch or synchros warn, torque bind has no easy solutions, it was driven hard or the new clutch sucks or wasn’t done with TO or pilot bearing or cheap components and input shaft bearings…and just the time to replace a clutch is a waste. The better question is about engines, not transmissions.

The widely accepted norm from people that have done *many* Subaru headgaskets (and not just 1 or 3) is no spray and to do the following: Subaru gaskets or possible MLS equivalent Resurface the heads (it's pointless to "test them" and you can resurface yourself - it's insanely easy) Clean the head bolts and receiving holes in the block Lubricate the head bolts None of that really costs anything to do it the same way the most prolific and highly rated Subaru speciialists have been doing this for many years. So there's almost zero reason to not follow that protocol except laziness, lack of planning, anecdotal types who just like to think they're finding some new trick to solve a well known quarter century old question. I only do that so I can't comment on trying to deviate or follow some other method except that it just doesn't make sense to do so.

Itll be like getting a new refrigerator by buying each part one at a time and assembling it at home. It's much easier to get a complete engine. There's an incredibly amount of plumbing to make a turbo work to try and assemble it from scratch. Find a BLOWN complete turbo engine or vehicle so you can just swap blocks with it. You'll need all the up front exhaust, down pipe, intake, turbo crossmember or cut/modify yours, and stand alone ECU.

Too far and no time but man I was tempted to call my shop owner friend who's got a frame puller he deals with, that's such a sharp ride, too bad it's hit so bad.

What do you mean "the dealer"? If a Subaru dealer - who did you talk to? They various staff at dealers have a hard time keeping track of 10+ year old Subaru's and options availabilities/changes. So I'd be more inclined to think the person you talked to was guessing if the picture shows buttons. Did you type your VIN into google and check cars101.com to see what they list as equipment? It's not perfect or offical Subaru info, but he's a Subaru employee and has a lot of good information posted here about trim/options, etc: https://cars101.com/ Do you know if this could have been a dealer or owner add on? Years ago I fished lake Talmadge many times a few miles north of Hampton.

Well done! Don't know about the VSS. What issue are you having with it? Did you swap into an auto or manual vehicle?

The only RHD Subaru's i've ever seen are 1990's legacy's. So the simplest guess would be a 1990-1994 and 1995-1999 difference. Only 1990's legacy rack difference Im aware of is the gear ratio, maybe that's the difference here - are the number of teeth/splines on the shafts that would change steering ratio different? Maybe the quicker rack has beefier gland or something to support quicker steering ratio? CARDONE has a rebuild service listed on rockauto.com - for $218 you mail them your rack and they rebuild it and return it to you. This link may not work - but just drill down to your vehicle on rockauto.com and under rack and pinion is a rebuild option: https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/subaru,1996,legacy,2.2l+h4,1269873,steering,rack+and+pinion,7388 I assume it would be unavailable if you ordered it but here's Subaru's RHD rack: https://www.subarupartsdeal.com/parts/subaru-rack-assembly-gear-box~34116fa000.html This place appears to have sold rebuilt ones before: https://www.detroitaxle.com/shop/steering/rack-pinion/complete-power-steering-rack-pinion-assembly-right-hand-drive/?vyr=1996&vmk=Subaru&vmd=Legacy&vsmd=Postal

Wow I thought tearing one down would take longer. Good to hear in case I ever tear into one of these XT6 racks I've always meant to try. I don't know - but RHD being largely JDM - keep in mind their years/generations/models don't line up with ours if you end up comparing years here to years on JDM equipment.

This says “Right Hand Drive” but not sure how accurate it is and it says 1994-1996 legacy https://www.ebay.com/itm/353792747490?fits=Make%3ASubaru&hash=item525fb0e7e2:g:zNIAAOSwVJVhqAh1

I wonder if you can call these JDM importers and ask if they can get 90s legacy racks? Probably take two months to ship. Lol Heres a 2000 legacy rack. That’s as close as you can get to 95-99 generation legacy. But it’s a turbo and that valve looks huge. Not sure how to tell if it would be adaptable. Id also wonder if rack reseal kits are available for it? https://www.ebay.com/itm/175162166896?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&campid=5338722076&customid=&toolid=10050 Im wondering - What vehicle are they being purchased for in the US?

Well that’s bad news. How long did it take to take it apart? I’d probably look into getting a newer model JDM RHD EJ rack and retrofit it. It may not be clean and easy though. The angle of the valve where it passes by the cross member is often an issue. And from what I’ve seen (which isn’t much) WRX STi dominate the supply over legacy so they may have a propensity to vary more than normal. Can you swap the entire rod and valve assembly into the LHD rack? I see the two rods are different but can you swap the entire rod itself? I imagine the entire LHD housing length, ID and OD are probably incapable of accepting the RHD guts? Bearing suppliers can take dimensions and find bearings to fit an application. I wonder if there is a similar supplier for seals? Call them and give them some dimensions?

Yep good thinking to try it. Most of the parts look symmetric such that left or right doesn’t matter. I guess the seals are available? It’s usually not recommended to use seals once they’ve been installed.

That's a good idea for acquiring less warn parts. Can the rack housing get scored and need finished as well? Here's the only two Subaru rebuilds I'm aware of that exist - the first one is your exact steering rack. I have it saved because XT6 steering racks are also NLA although we do have non-XT6 options that will work which you don't have: https://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=45717 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nlnYUjx_TvJvtbzorMoIWHBv24T7WUMi/view

If you're trying to do this as cheap as possible: $200-$300 for any of the various cheapest 2000-2004 short blocks on www.car-part.com, or look locally on craigslist/facebook for a wrecked car, ebay, etc. $150 for Subaru head gaskets $100 for a new Subaru timing belt and lower cogged idler. Resurface the ej22 heads (you can even do it yourself it's really easy). No need for a full valve job. Install your ej22 heads onto the EJ25 block properly (clean cams, heads, head bolts, and head bolt holes, lubricate head bolts, torque properly) You have an EJ25 for about $500 in parts that's way better than any EJ25D option. It drops in and plugs and plays without any electronics or other work. It's super simple. Some notes: You have to keep searching for a good block - just keep calling all the listings until you find a good block. Also use car-parts.com to search for 2001 auto and manual and 2003 outback - they're all the same eventhough they list them separately. Or instead of getting a used one buy a brand new block with a warranty from Subaru for $2,000 or these guys for $1,200: https://sunwestautoinc.com/product/subaru-ej25-short-block-2-5l-sohc-1996-2011/ You should also install new subaru timing belt and all new pulleys. $150-$250 for 2 pulleys, belt, tensioner. But the timing belt and lower toothed/cogged idler is the bare minimum as they're by far the most likely to fail and are a non negotiable to replace in a new expensive enngine/repair. But I'd do all the pulleys.