ShawnW

All great points but I am not asking why we like the old ones as much as I am asking why do we convert a ea81 powered car for example to be an EJ22 powered car. I am saying-sure the engine is a great upgrade but why not start with the car and its stock engine and put the items it lacks from the old school cars into it instead of the other way around. 1984 Subaru GL Wagon 1994 Subaru Impreza Wagon Same cost to insure for most drivers. Frankly almost any Subaru for liability only insurance-the newer the car the cheaper it is. Adding Airbags and the newer crash safety makes your insurance decrease. The list of things you get with the new gen car without "upgrading" it is astonishing. Rear disc brakes-quite often standard. Stereo Interior is quieter Seat comfort Rear cargo room Spare tire location could be argued but I like it under the hood. 15"+ wheels and 5x100 bolt pattern Power steering The handling! The newer cars really handle much better. Torsion bar rear suspension isn't exactly great. A/C that works and is 134A on 1994 and up cars. 60/40 Split rear fold down seat instead of 1 piece. You guys know I have built some really cool old 80's wagons over the years and sold them or upgraded them for customers. They are great and I love them but I still don't quite understand the logic of doing all these upgrades-spending the time and money to put 90's technology into an 80's car instead of starting with the 90's technology and putting a little of the 80's into it instead. We cry at the cost of a dual range trans from Australia or somewhere like that for an EJ powered car/bellhousing type but if you spent what you do on the 2.2/2.5 swap in an old car on a transmission and put it in an Impreza you would have a pretty awesome car. I totally understand the nostalgia argument. And the rust free pretty 80's body is a thing of beauty but how long does it stay that way. The 80's cars rust out so fast-much faster than a comparable 90's car. Worse yet-put all this work into it and have someone hit you and total the car. Getting an insurance settlement on the car is often quite a battle if its 30 years old.

How have the trails been in the past couple weeks with all of the snow?

Topic closed. Please refrain from bashing each other. Keep it civil and friendly or take a break from posting. Failure to abide by the forum rules will result in my giving you all a break from the forum.

So I got to thinking and I am sure some of you have had this thought before. Why do I keep tinkering with these 80's Subaru's when I can buy an Impreza, put the some new struts on it, put a dual range trans in it and have: Ej power EJ Brakes Seats--well I have a nice used set of WRX seats sitting in my lobby being used as customer waiting room chairs instead of what they were intended for. Nearly endless supply of junkyard parts Hardly ever run into an obsolete part at the Subaru dealer. Tougher axles IMO. (and keep in mind the FWE/MWE axle builder is IN my shop) Real Stereo wiring Suspension that is almost across the board anything you want Off the web/shelf skidplates Don't get me wrong I love my old cars. I really do. I called my shop RetroRoo for a reason. But to be perfectly honest a 1998 Impreza is quite a bit more car to start with than my 84 Wagon. I realize I can't get a Brat in that series and I really like my Turbo Brat.... But as far as a wagon its really tough to go out and start upgrading a 25 year old car instead of a 14 year old one. I am even starting to see 2002-2004 Impreza Sport Wagon's with blown engines for really reasonable money. Like-cheaper than most EJ swaps cost even on a junkyard budget. I own and have installed my Crossbred Performance brake kit on my 83 Wagon but I took all of the engine and trans stuff off the car a year ago to do a customer project and haven't put it back together yet. Am thinking about putting that kit on my Turbo Brat, crushing the wagon and buying an Impreza with the money left over. Thoughts???

Love it but is it still a 360 or is it 365 or 370 by now with the "new pistons" sticker on the dash I am curious.

I can do $280 for a kit for a local. If you need to trade out a piece or something because your car doesn't have this/that it doesn't matter then. 4.85% tax at my shop location. You choose what tensioner style you like better and I will provide the bracket behind it to make it work right. I personally like the older style kit and will throw in a nice used two bolt tensioner with it if you want.

Why not just let everyone comment and read the comments? Valid comments are still valid even if they aren't what you want to read or hear. I highly doubt you are going to get great response rate on guys that did re-use them and know first hand how many miles are on the car now. Additionally by MLS I assume 96-99 Ej25D head gaskets but those aren't the only ones that are that style. The STI and the Turbo models sold beyond 2005 are MLS, the WRX is a MLS, etc. These engines wouldn't necessarily be comparable since they aren't known for a high HG failure rate. I can certainly see your point but why would you delay your project for this one little mistake? I would grab a new gasket and move onto the next job and sleep better knowing that your work isn't compromised by a gamble.

Lesson learned but I wouldn't be afraid to try again. Synthetic oil is typically recommended, I recommend a factory filter at least until you are out of warranty even though its not required and many here will argue it. The truth is-if there's a warranty claim and it ends up in a dealership the failure of the engine certainly won't be blamed on your cheap filter if you use a Subaru one. Crush ring on the drain plug. Its easy to change just a photo of the bottom of the car and we can walk you thru it.

Nicely done hammer! Good thing that wasn't a HF special! Those hammers will however mess up your hand if you miss and hit the shaft on its narrow. A few roofers have lost fingers.

Looks real good! Nice work!

This sort of diagnostic isn't often accurate with just a code read. Bank 1 on your car is irrelevant since you just have a front and rear sensor. Sensor 2 means rear 02 sensor. Which code number did he give? Bank 1 on a Subaru is the passenger side bank.

Nice car! Must be a pretty good kid!

Just need used ones?

Pretty neat concept. Thanks for posting here.

Are you sure it isn't plugged?

Scary moment for sure. A nice reminder to all-inspect your tools and equipment on a regular basis! I check my service lift weekly and my engine hoist with each use for this very reason. Either would kill me and often I am in my shop alone so I wouldn't have help to get out from under it if I was in trouble. For this very reason I also don't allow any alcohol in my shop-on top of it being a business but also for safety reasons.

I suggest 2 drain and fills within 100 miles of each other.

Where are you getting your parts??!?!? A shop does charge labor to replace these items. Book time is around 3 hours for the timing belt, add 1/2 hour for the oil pump. Most shops are higher labor than me in Denver and I am at $90. So $275 labor plus $115 for the alternator, and probably at least $225 for the idlers if the shop has any mark up at all....so at least $615. If they are at 100 labor like most are, (not to mention tax) we are really getting close to $650. So before you fly off the handle and yell highway robbery please at least take a moment to think about the fact that its not Rock Auto or some internet parts supplier and a do it yourselfer here doing the belt that's him paying a shop and a pro to install the parts. And a job well worth paying a pro to do if you haven't done a 4 cam engine timing belt before on a Subaru its not the easiest belt around.

The car is pretty easy to add the factory fog light kit to with pieces from the junkyard. The last one I did I put in the switch and the two lights in the dash and all the wiring was already there. From there you could change the lights themselves but use the factory brackets or you could maybe change the bulbs themselves depending on which fog light kit you install. There is a projector one and a standard one for that model.

So no, that isn't a bolt in or direct swap. The 2.2 swap only applies to the Outback/Legacy cars from 1996-1999. The 2000 model year cars have the EJ251/3 and none of the intake manifold stuff is compatible or bolt on ready. Died due to a leaking head gasket meaning you had an external head gasket leak and enough oil leaked out to develop a rod knock or hole in the top of the engine? Many companies on the web offer rebuilt engines for these cars including mine. $3190 for a replacement engine with shipping and $500 core charge if you order one from me. Chances are good you can find a used one locally like you did but the correct one for your car that is used and from a wrecked car. Usually a good gamble and I recommend having head gaskets and timing belt replaced before installing.

I have a photo here.

Cool, how much? Willing to try it of course.

Has anybody done it? I see you can send them out to a company for $225 for a repair but I would rather put money in someone here's pocket or maybe have a tutorial/description of what to do. Running out of spare units.

I am amazed that two responses with "go to you tube" didn't include a link to the video.

The rivets suggestion above is probably the best but you rivet a piece of sheet metal to the edge. On Some Subaru bumpers the factory even does it this way in places to make it more rigid. The metal you can trace a hole onto and then rivet it under the edges where it ripped. I have done 3 so far and they look like it never happened afterward.