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And another from that weekend.

Here’s the new roof rack. And her new spot in the garage for the next little bit while I install and fix some more things!! I’ve been toying with the idea of a snorkel so if any of you guys have more knowledge on ones that work the best or what have you I’d love to hear it.

Evening everyone following the build. I have a few updates!! Alrighty so I have officially ordered all new suspension and that should be arriving any day now so that’ll all be fixed a friend of mine also recently wrx swapped his 93 legacy so he had an OBD1 2.2 sitting there with motor mounts, an air box and a complete wiring harness with ecu. That being said I got an amazing deal on it all and I’m officially going to start the swap process (insert super happy screaming and girly jumping up and down here). I’m no wiring guru so I’m having SJR trim my harness for me. I also bought other little things for my car too that I’ll be installing. I’m so in love with this car I can’t wait!!!

Straight water will boil at operating temp. you MUST add at least 30% coolant. Only use OEM rad cap. Get rid of the venting one. HG tests like you used are not effective in diagnosing subaru HG leaks. The fact that you keep getting air in the system is a clear sign that it is a HG leak. It DOES happen on 2.2s. Everyone always wants it to be something else, but 90% of the time an overheating subaru is a an HG failure.

sounds like a broken outer cv joint.

We don't do them in-car. It's too difficult to ensure proper surface prep and bolt torque. The biggest issue is not being able to adequately clean out and lubricate the block threads. Just makes it a pain in the a$$. GD

If anything, keep the EA81 and ditch the 3AT, such a garbage transmission!

I still miss my first gen legacy station in white.

1996 manual transmission outbacks are the only 2.2 liter outbacks ever made, original post didn't say MT so we all just assumed it was a 2.5 since it's a blown headgasket. That explains the 320,000 miles. Those routinely make high miles. "Doesn't look correct" - what does that mean? There's a leak? If there's a leak that should be fixed first. I'm not following this but it's either obviously a problem or not one at all. Those tests aren't always conclusive, they give false negatives meaning they don't show a headgasket leak even if there is one. It's pretty obvious it's a headgasket leak, the previous owner was chasing a headgasket leak, and now you bought it that way. It's been overheated enough I'm unsure I'd even want to keep the engine....but those headgaskets are super easy to replace. You can see all the headbolts just by popping the car hood and looking, they're external.

Lucky, speaking of that, is the easiest way to check the oil pressure by removing the sender and installing a temporary gauge?

if you re-work this engine, you might consider an upgrade to the oil pump. particularly if that engine has a 7mm pump, get a 9. If you have a 9mm now, maybe consider a 10 or 11. at 228K miles, I'd bet some bearing clearances have opened a little.

at 225K miles, why not a used engine? maybe JDM ?

That’s fair enough whitestorm, I’ve ditched mine for an EJ22. A wrx engine and box basically bolts into one of these. Custom tail shaft and gear linkages are needed and a cut down wiring loom. But overall it’s a pretty easy conversion. Cheers Bennie

Head gaskets, especially if it’s the EJ25. Although I’m not 100% sure the factory head gasket leak runs into the EJ253 which I believe your forester has. @GeneralDisorder - he’ll be able to give you the required head gasket part number to correct the leaks. How much oil and coolant is missing and over what time period are we talking? Cheers Bennie

Wow thanks for the great little writeup! I've been doing a lot of research on swapping a B series in but I don't think I can get the engine to spin backwards (Honda engines spin counterclockwise...) without spending a lot of money. I could do a K swap but then the engine cost is much higher (plus the adapters needed). So until I have enough money to rotary swap it I think I'll keep a Subaru engine in it lol! EG33 is my favorite subie engine and I know its been done before so I think that's what Ill end up doing. Theres certainly a little bit more work involved but I'll do it for that amazing sound. EJ would be the simplest (probably smartest too) and if your swap is anything to go by nowadays, pretty affordable too.