GeneralDisorder

It's a drive by wire throttle body. You are just hearing the electric motor, transmission, and airflow. That's normal. GD

If the 85 is a hatchback (EA81) or Brat, then yes. Otherwise no. GD

251 and 253 use the same piston (or so close it doesn't matter in practice). Some years (2005 primarily) use different rings and so of course have different part numbers. Otherwise they are functionally the same. GD

Nope. That's garbage. Just get a used block. Plenty out there. GD

There doesn't *have* to be anything. You can run the fuel pump during cranking with the ignition switch and then transition to fuel pump power based on oil pressure. Many designs used this method - heck my 86 Trans Am had a backup fuel pump power fed by an oil pressure switch. Primary power was from a relay controlled by the fuel injection management. Which could be thought of as a very advanced form of integrated rev sensor for fuel pump control - but the engine would start without that if you cranked it sufficiently to build oil pressure and activate the backup fuel pump power circuit. Looking back into the dim recesses of my Subaru diagnostic memory banks...... I recall that most of the first gen's had a fuel pump power that was supplied by the voltage regulator. Such that the pump runs when cranking and when the engine starts the voltage regulator supplies fuel pump power as long as the alternator is charging. When the alternator stops charging (or malfunctions), you lose the fuel pump power. Which makes for fun diagnostics because everyone assumes they have a fuel pump problem because it gets power while cranking...... you can see where this goes down the troubleshooting rabbit hole. Ultimately it's usually a failed alt or VR. Many ways to skin that cat. Don't assume it has to be a solid state FPCU just because that's the only solution to the problem you have encountered. You (and probably me too!) would be amazed at the $hit I've forgotten over the years about those cars. I honestly have no interest in wrenching on them anymore though. GD

Call Subaru.

On the gen 2 body they were mounted to the hood release bracket by the driver's left knee. GD

If the 03 is non-turbo then it's the same engine. GD

You may be activating the alarm. Find the micro-switch to put it into programming mode and hold it down while you turn on the key. This will cycle the locks and turn off the alarm. GD

Gen 1 probably has less room if anything. Smaller chassis overall. GD

Sometimes parts will be re-ordered from Japan and if they exist Subaru might get more. It's possible. I'll have to have my guy check the stock in the US. GD

LOL. Words of the ignorant. You should be. I give these warnings for good reasons. I train tech's on short block assembly. Without that hands on training the early stage success rate is extremely poor. There are hard won lessons to be learned. Do you have the proper measuring tools? You WILL need a bore gauge and the skill to read it down to at least a couple tenths. Success depends on proper machine work as well. Ensure that someone in your area is equipped to do a main line hone on the block and is capable of hitting 0.001" on every main. GD

The choice is to get a good used one or a reman short block from Subaru. Your chances of success at putting it back together is very low and the machine work required makes it generally a wash vs. a used block. GD

Not likely to fit under the hood. The "tall" 3" Weber filters won't clear the hood without a lift kit to lower the cradle. With the airbox on top of that..... it's doubtful. Also looks like the flow through that would be awful. And why would you want to deal with the Subaru filter box? Weber filters are easy to source and maintain. GD

I would suggest you not split the block. Especially on a the NA engines - that's a learning curve you really don't want to go through. GD

What do you need torque specs for? About the only thing that needs to be torqued is the head bolts. That's just a single page. If you need to pull out a torque wrench for basic fasteners then you need to get a better feel for torque values. All those values are chosen by thread diameter and pitch. It's just an engineering chart. Something you can easily master by feel. GD

Hhhmmm - if this is stressing you out that much - you might want to consider a newer car with a warranty. Or just walking. It's just a machine. And it's still running - just has a code. Check the fluids and continue driving till you come to a resolution. It's not worth going to the hospital over a little code. Electronics do that sort of thing when they are old - remember this is a 27 year old car we're talking about here. If you are going to drive old junk, then follow the rules of the game - buy a backup junker and get a AAA membership. Hospital bills are more expensive than a spare vehicle and some towing insurance. GD

The struts are NLA from Subaru. GD

It's really not that difficult. Try it. The radiator is just a matter of some hoses. The exhaust is just some welding. Any exhaust shop can handle this. Electrical.... that's usually the component that separates the men from the boys. The flywheel re-drill is simple and not at all "dodgy" as you suggest. Have done plenty of them. Very simple with a mill. Adapter plate is available from a variety of sources. And the reward for all this is nearly double the HP. Worth it. GD

I am truly sorry that you are so incredibly misguided as to own anything from SAAB. That is really unfortunate. Don't bother with anything from the GL/DL series. They are dead platforms with no parts availability. If you want old school, reliable, and cheap to maintain, move over to the Small Block Chevy world. GD

Many of those early ECM's will develop code salad and there's nothing you can do about it. You can clean all the grounds - especially on the manifold and between the engine/heads and the chassis/battery, etc. But it may not help. One of my loaner vehicles - a nicely maintained 1990 Legacy - developed about 6 codes after 250k on the chassis. Ran completely fine and got excellent gas mileage. Tried a few different things but eventually just told the owner to live with it. Fast foward to 320k miles - I acquired the car for a loaner vehicle and as a test platform. We replaced the ECM with a LINK standalone PnP unit. Absolutely NO other changes the harness, etc. The LINK is perfectly happy with the vehicle and all it's sensors and wiring. But of course the LINK and installation and tuning will run somewhere in the neighborhood of $2500 so that's probably not the solution you are looking for. Again - check and clean the grounds. Ensure the voltage supply is good..... beyond that you can try another ECU but they are all old as dirt at this point and many suffer from erroneous code salad..... possibly due to cracked solder joints, etc but it's anyone's guess. For me - I just rip it out and install a LINK like we do on the Vanagon swaps, etc. So much more capability. You might try baking the ECM circuit board in the oven after replacing any obviously bad caps, etc. Reflow the solder like the original Xbox boards. You would be surprised how often that fixes stuff. And definitely replace any electrolytic caps that are suspect. The seat belt warning is odd. That makes me think you have a power or ground problem. Not related to the ECM in any way. GD

Many things are possible. Especially if you have access to a machine shop. But unless you want to fabricate some custom struts or coil-overs, you are limited to finding good used ones. GD

You buy them from the dealer parts department. GD

It's a first gen thing. I have a customer with a '79 that I work on occasionally. I had to re-wire a lot of that crap into a waterproof fuse panel due to windshield leakage. GD

The fuse is likely in a special fuse holder behind the tray under the glove box. GD