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Congratulations on your New (to you) Subaru! In my opinion it is a very good choice for starting out. My story is very much like yours. I was young and didn't have a car or a lot of money. I figured out early on that the only way I was going to own a car at that point in my life was to start with something that didn't run. I started doing simple things in my driveway. I got a phone call one day from the owner of a Service Station where I had dropped off a job application, I had totally forgotten about it. I went in to interview for the job and the station owner asked me what I wanted to do going forward with my career. I told him that I was looking for a part time job so that I could afford to buy some tools and go to school to learn how to work on my own car. His response changed the rest of my life. He said "just give me 2 years and I'll turn you in to a certified tech"! I was so stoked! 40 years later and I have the knowledge and all of the tools I'll ever need to repair and build my own cars. I am still in the industry today, and I am currently employed as the Senior Advanced Level Master Technician in a busy 9 bay shop. I mainly do general repair and drive-ability diagnosis. The need to learn new things and acquire new and different tools never ends lol. Apologies for the long winded post, I have been stuck inside for a week fighting Covid.

lol, we all had to start somewhere, none of us was born knowing this stuff.. even if it does seem like a few might have been.

I'm not sure about the 95 but my 96 ej22 has a single port exhaust? Not sure how else to identify phase 1 form phase 2 but I've been told that 96 was a transition year so it hit or miss on the single port or dual port heads. I'm not entirely sure how accurate that is though? If someone could expand on that it would be appreciated? All I know is that it's an ej22e non interference and I love it. It's my daily and for what I'm doing with it, it has enough power.

After much time off neglect and procrastination she's on the road and smogged. Survey says?! Passed! She's still running too lean, but I have a new fuel filter to install and checking the vacuum secondaries for operation before major mechanical repairs like the axles and turning her into a daily driver. I've been absorbing all the knowledge I can from the experienced Subaru vets as I can and I appreciate that you've shared it on here. Check out her smog sheet. My lambda calculation has her over 1.2 which is insane and near 20:1 AFR on both the 15 and 25mph. I don't want to burn out the cat so I'm going to find fuel somewhere if it kills me before putting too many miles on her. She's a dog on acceleration, but runs like a champ and is smooth as can be even without higher end power. And no, I am not considering a weber conversion as I live in California, but I'm willing to tune the crap out of the shitachi carb. Hope everybody else is having success with their projects.

It's lucky that you have a '95 with an Ej22. They are extremely reliable as long as you don't overheat them; and easier to work on than the Ej25D of the same era. The spark plugs are especially easy to get to compared to the EJ25d. Not that any Imprezas got the ej25 until the 2.5RS in the late 90's. Some people seem to think the EJ22 is short on power but in my experience with my '95 Legacy L is that with the lighter base model Legacys and the Imprezas being lighter than the outbacks that the EJ22 is plenty of motor except maybe if you try to pass someone on the highway going uphill or you're trying to haul half the stuff you own in the back.

They should be the same. '95 and '96 had the EJ22 with EGR and dual port exhaust, and non-interference. Almost the same engine as in my '95 except that I swapped out my original engine for a '94 without EGR (that's a whole other fun story) I believe in '97 the changed to the single exhaust port phase 2 EJ22.

thats pretty much how i hope things turn out for me! i'd really love to be a mechanic because cars have always been a central part of my life, especially this car. it's all i really want to think about me doing in the future. thank you for this story and i hope you have a speedy recovery!!

I have a 96 legacy 5spd with a ej22e. Not sure if it's the same exact engine but it's gotta be very similar. I bought it with about 150k on it and it started abit rough. With unknown maintenance record I decided to go rite threw the easy stuff and it made a world of a difference. I did the air filter, fuel filter, oil change and filter, spark plugs and wires and new drive belts along with the tensioner assembly. All pretty cheap and easy stuff just a YouTube video away and only basic tools and knowledge needed. I think in total it costed me like $250 and I literally haven't had any issues with it after doing those easy things. Also I used the NGK plugs and wires, simply because I've used them on several other vehicles and trust them. It's also a good idea to look for any fluid leaking anywhere it can possibly leak from, transmission, differential, engine ext. And it's worth taking a peak at the sway bar links, ball joints, and cv shaft boots just to know the current condition. After sitting that long it could cause the rubber boots to dry out and before long crack and fail...

Hi all, sorry for just letting this topic drift into nothing. I tracked down some bad light harnesses in the rear hatch and tail lights. I will be cleaning/replacing a bunch back there, and probably moving to LEDs to reduce global load as well. Thanks for all of your help! Greg

The Laurelwood Public House in PDX is great! You by the Workhorse IPA and I'll do the work/subaru training, when the weather warms up.

I'm considering a trip out west for parts, though it's a big commitment. I've been offered a 1300, a 1400, and even a whole parts car, all in Washington state. It might just come to that, but that's over 60 hours of driving for me... It really is, but at least glass doesn't rust, there has to be a rear window out there waiting to be found. Thanks for the encouragement!