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Kept hearing the sound from front left, not central to transmission/gearbox. Took to Indie transmission shop for a quick look see. He drove it alone (Covid protocol) came back and said, good news... wheel bearing. Had it replaced today and that sound is gone, although now I can hear every other creak and groan from ye old clunker. Spinning the old bearing by hand off the car it feels real crunchy. Common things happen commonly. Occam's razor.

Approx $2,500 for dealer to do a 2.5 head gaskets in the vehicle. It can vary. Resurfacing (some dealers do, many don’t), timing components, valve covers, etc. and regional rates demand and staffing vary too. Call and ask they might give you a quote for an “average” headgasket job. That’s a fairly standard job locally speaking and some will give an estimate over the phone A cheap 98 legacy needing headgaskets can be questionable. If it was overheated bad enough the engine isn’t worth repairing. I’d walk cautiously around blown headgaskets EJ25s now - they’re old, not worth much and more prone to people limping them along and further compromising the lower end bearings.

Much better outcome then a trans swap and the problem would have still been there. Great news!

Brumby loving. Been a while since I’ve had her running well enough to have a drive on the open road let alone loaded and towing! Cheers Bennie

I should probably make my contribution here as well. Here's my '87 hatch, she might not be fast enough to get through emissions, but damn if she doesn't get hybrid mileage and look hella cool doing it. The photo was taken a couple of days ago in the dark for *maximum aesthetic*, and for better or for worse my phones camera lens gave the headlights this sorta neat-looking starburst effect

my old name was subarubuddy, no idea what my password was or even what email I used to sign up...so i'm going with this name now. its what I use for everything. I don't think anyone really knew me back then anyway though. I didn't post all that much, I was more of a reader. maybe offered a little advice here and there but that was about it. and yeah, I understand that completely about not wanting to send me locks and keys; I don't have any way to prove i'm not a scumbag. I figured low risk, medium reward, you know?...send a $5 junkyard lock and a $2 key and get them to match a few days later for about $35...i'm not here to rip anyone off, but unfortunately I can't prove it. I have a NYC locksmith license if that means anything ?? no problem! glad to help if anyone needs it