GeneralDisorder

I think he's in Canada - Vancouver British Columbia I think..... so probably closer to you. LOL. I have a left-hand set from Harbor-Freight - they are fine for $15 or so. Not the best quality but HSS and they are easily sharpened on a wheel or a belt sander... they have worked for me anyway . McMasters will certainly sell them - generally high quality stuff from them. GD

The SUS wasn't sold on the NW that I know of - it was an east-coast only model. The few out here have migrated. And yeah - that automatic only thing kinda sucks. GD

You don't need a knuckle - they aren't a wear item. Just replace the bearings and seals. GD

Might take longer to heat the start of your cut but once you hit the critical temp of oxidation then the O2 stream takes over and as noted you could just shut off the fuel. So in principle at least the lower temp of the Propane should not matter for thin material. The thicker the work is the longer it will take to heat up and possibly cause issues by heating too much of the surrounding area. But for rusty bolts, exhaust, the occasional need to heat something, etc - propane is far easier and safer for what you are looking for I think. Plus it's way cheaper to get into. GD

There's a number of factors - mostly it's flow rate. And as mentioned previously since the fuel flow rate can only be about 5 psi from any given cylinder of Acetylene you are limited in how thick you can cut by the size of the cylinder ..... strange as that sounds. Propane might not have that restriction.... but 1/2" should be no problem at all for just about any size cylinder and hose you are likely to get. Then it's tip size - a #0 tip will easily cut 1/2" plate. My torch (Victor) is a baby - the smallest combination torch they make. And I think it's still rated at something silly like 2.5" thick steel with the right size tip, hose, and flow rate. Totally rediculous for me but as I noted - smallest size they make :-\ I haven't had a need for Acetylene pressure over 5 psi. That's where I have mine set and it works great for everything I've used it for. I've cut through 3/4" plate like butter. GD

Any turbo is a LOT more work. Stick with an NA if you are on a budget. GD

When the valve gets hot it can damage the stem seal and of course the guide had failed causing increased oil flow into the area beneath the valve face.... thus increased oil consumption. GD

You need a battery positive to the + side of the coil. The black/white is + The Yellow is - In a typical installation you will have two black/white wires to the +: Distributor and ignition switched battery supply. The negative will have the yellow wire from the distributor and another yellow wire that is the tach signal wire going to the tach/FPCU/ECU etc. Important to note that the distributor body is grounded to the engine block so is battery negative for a bench test.... GD

For a frankenmotor you want a '96 to '99 EJ25 short block - doesn't matter what year. Even the '96 will work fine but newer is better as there were a couple generations of pistons used - they were trying to control the "piston slap" issue (benign but nice to have the newer pistons). Avoid the '99 Forester and Impreza as those are actually EJ253's (phase-II). The frankenmotor has been done with the EJ251/EJ253 but the compression increase isn't as great because they don't have pop-up pistons that crest above the block. You can change out the pistons for the EJ25D units but that's more work for little gain..... EJ25D block + head gasket + '90-'95 EJ22E heads + '97/'98 Roller rockers = That's the best combo IMO. GD

The block alone is not heavy at all - maybe 75 lbs? You and your dad could easily lift the engine block out with a bit of chain on a 4x4, etc. Should be no problem at all. GD

As long as mileage and performance aren't suffering - I just go right to the spacer. Less time and frustration involved that way. Once you do that all you have to typically worry about is the front sensor for mixture control. GD

I just pulled the manifold from an EJ25D (your engine), and the knock sensor connector is a single wire unit. For whatever reason they switched the connector in like '97 to a 2-wire plug with one of the wire holes plugged off with a rubber plug on the sensor side . So even though it has a 2-wire connector - it's still a one-wire sensor. What *I* would do is go to the junk yard and cut the actual correct body-side connector from a wrecked car and solder that to the harness. Any of the '97 and up EJ25's should have the correct 2-wire plug. Then you can install a new knock sensor - your's may be cracked. It's pretty common. Or you can just grab both plugs and fix your knock sensor's plug as well. GD

EJ22 is the better match - the only phase-I EJ25 is a DOHC beast of an engine with a lot of problems. They also don't fit in the engine bay of the EA's very well. The later EJ25's (EJ253/EJ251) is wider than the EJ22 and the wireing is more complex. Best of both worlds is the EJ25 "Frankenmotor" (as we call it) where you are basically doing a phase-I EJ22 swap but you sub in an EJ25D bottom end. That gives you a high-compression EJ25 pushing about 180 HP. It's a monster engine - more power than a stock EJ25 but fits in the same space as the EJ22 (no difference in size actually). This is the swap of choice IMO for the EA cars. GD

By state I meant "condition". Sorry. LOL. I would definitely think hard about putting in new valve cover gaskets (easy), and a new oil pan gasket (less easy but not bad at all) and then running synthetic in it. I am a believer in the stuff just from the differences in the engines I've torn down with/without synth. It's AMAZING how much cleaner they are and they stay that way. Synthetic's PRIMARY benefit in my opinion is it's higher temperature handing and longevity. It's great stuff and it's worth having to reseal an older engine to be able to use it. And with the low miles on your's I wouldn't go any other route. For ATF - not a concern. Use the cheapest stuff on the shelf. Regardless of brand you NEED to change it every 15k miles. That will lengthen the life of the 3AT considerably. Use Valvoline synthetic gear oil for the front diff. GD

Yeah - the beam style are definitely more reliable (and easily calibrated). But the click-type are more accurate. The best of both worlds is the dial indicator style or the new digital units. Those aren't cheap though. GD

Could be a bad wrench - I've seen it. Had a Snap-On torque wrench fail at my last job and it cost the company $20,000..... You can get a new bolt from the dealer or any junk yard - that's no problem. You will likely have to pull the engine to get the old bolt out. Carefully center punch it (and I mean CAREFULY) and hit it with a left-hand drill bit. Might get lucky and spin it right out. You'll need another head gasket for that side. GD

Heh - yeah people are always surprised what Subaru's can do even with little wheels and tires. They are very light for the amount of traction they have. Thier light weight is their biggest advantage. Do you have any pictures of your car? It is always interesting to see Subaru's from other countries. I often wonder why we don't see more people posting from europe? GD

Yes - and to check the ball joints remember to put a pry bar on between the knuckle and control arm and try to pry them apart - otherwise it will seem like they are tight due to the sway bar holding the control arm tight against the ball joint/knuckle. A large flat-blade screwdriver or pry-bar will tell the real story though. GD

I had those come loose on my lifted EA81 wagon once - made a nasty clunking noise when you were on/off the gas pedal. That's all it did though. It was only one side in my case and perhaps any steering effect was dampened by the big tires, etc. GD

What tranny? 4 speed? 5 speed? GD

Really need more info - what state is it in? Miles? Condition? GD

Yep - that's the ugly mother right there. I've also seen some other wacky failures on the 5MT's - you might rememember my post about the '96 Legacy where 2nd gear stripped out completely, and then I've also seen the center diff/VC eat itself (but that was a '99 tranny with a different design for the VC I guess)...... would want you to let it go too far and end up with a secondary failure like a chewed gear set, etc. Gear oil is real good at suspending particulate I've noticed - even after draining silver gear oil out with large chunks in it - an ATF flush later and it's good to go. That stuff doesn't usually seem to cause any big issues. GD

Depends on the size of the tires you put on those wheels, but yes it will get along alright in the Mud. I run a 28" tire on my '84 wagon with only 74 HP and it's driveable. You'll be fine if you keep the size "reasonable". GD

Both of the sensors are going to use sheilded wire back just a few inches into the harness. Where the wires emerge from the harness that sheild is typically folded back and taped, etc. The sheild IS a ground. You can ground it on the engine somewhere if you choose but it's already grounded back in the harness near the ECU, etc. As for the two-wire vs. one-wire deal..... that I'm not sure of. Most of the earlier knock sensors were single wire and grounded through the engine block. Later they went to a 2-wire unit. I *think* your '98 should be a one-wire still because I'm pretty sure it stayed single-wire till they changed to the phase-II engine in '99. You definitely have a phase-II DOHC EJ25D correct? If you have a SOHC engine then you probably have the phase-II (unless the EJ25D was swapped for an EJ22 ).... confused yet? GD