Leaderboard

Ignore it. If your salt exposure is bad enough for that to be problematic in 7 years then your rear quarters, exhaust and suspension are all going to be a dramatic mess. like he said that’s labor intensive to get it right and it’s going to be madly susceptible to problems. Rusting anyway, clear coat peeling, poorly done paint issues, not matching, blending... Bare minimum grind/sand each spot, clean and prep and hit it with a bottle of Subaru touch up paint more specifically if it needs to look nice, sand all the rust off, treat with POR15, clean, prep the areas for painting and prime, paint, clear coat it all while doing your best to blend each area or one large area. At which point - sand paper, POR15, primer, paint, clear and tools you don’t have - it may be easier and cheaper to just strip it all and start from scratch depending how big the area is. That’s what a shop would do. They wouldn’t typically address all those little dings. don’t get me wrong it Can be done if you’re high on time and wherewithal. but if you’re asking that probably means you’re not a paint guy and that’s something that’s as much art than science and requires a skill set that isn’t easily got from reading. I avoid it at all costs because I’m bad at it and it’s not my skill set. it’s way harder than dropping engines and trans and tearing them apart. Compared to body work and paint, that stuff is easy: “this bolt goes in this whole - wash-rinse-repeat”.Painting is not that simple and automotive prime/paint/clear finishes are more akin to chemistry than you’re average latex house paint. People too often equate painting a car with painting a house and that’s not in the same ball park. again - it can be done but start googling, you won’t learn it all in one thread. after all that Work, like lmdew said, it would be cheaper or the same cost, and take 10 hours less time to just buy a used color matched hood. there generally aren’t many short cuts to body, paint and rust work.

Sorry this update took so long. When I finally got to it I had some one hold the latch release up while I played with the hood. Had to actually pry up slightly with a screw driver but it popped up. All gunked up and just stuck. cleaned lubed now seems to be working fine.Thanks to every one that commented. if that cable had broken or come unhooked this would have been a night mare.

I kept the stock SS down pipe off turbo, and then it is going to be custom new exhaust all the way out, MagnaFlow. I had one on my 02 Wrx. It sounded awesome.

Have the engine back together. Used the anaerobic sealant on the intake too along with the gaskets provided for extra sealing protection. Appears to work very well and seems more trustworthy than RTV. Unfortunately it was just a cardboard/paper type gasket instead of the reinforced type. I did drain the oil pan the rest of the way, and was sure to lift it straight and tilt it so as to remove as much as possible. Was mainly just residual oil but I did see a small amount of coolant come out. Now just waiting on the rain to stop so I can get it back in the car. Everything should be sealed tight by the time I can do that so I will be able to add fluids immediately and test it out. By the way, I want to give an extra special thanks to DaveT for his info in a separate thread. I noticed on both heads and all 4 cylinders those little cracks between the valves. Without the info you provided on it being a normal occurence and non-issue, I would have been freaking out about finding some heads, so many thanks for that.

If you want to paint it, just do the prep work really well for the paint to last longer.