86BRATMAN

There are 2 o2 sensors on this era legacy, one right before the catalytic converter and the other after. They are not interchangeable so be sure which one is bad. All you really need is a 21mm wrench, some pb blast/liquid wrench, and a set of car ramps or a jack and jack stands to give enough room to get under the car. Either sensor can be replaced with the exhaust on the car but space is tight so watch those knuckles.

Unplug the maf and see if there is a change in the running of the car, after making sure it is parked on a level surface and the oil is topped off, and let us know what happens.

I've never heard of an ej22e with a broken camshaft, it's something that they're not prone to do. Does the car have a check engine light on, if so you'll want to get that scanned to see what it says. What if any noises does the engine make when running? Was the oil level visible on the dipstick when it was checked?

What exactly is your issue with the current transmission? Delayed engagement into drive and reverse is very common in the 99/00 automatic transmissions, and it can be fixed by a mechanically competent person with a few seals from the dealership for not a lot of money.

There are 3 speed sensors on phase 2 transmissions, all on the left side of it and they are integrated into the transmission harness. Whereas there is one on phase 1, on the right side by the differential, and it plugs into the body harness.

All 99s had phase 2 transmissions, 99 Legacy Outback and GT still had phase 1 engine electronics though so you may be getting confused there. Been dealing with subarus for 18 years and I've never seen an exception to that. The wiring may plug up but it will not function correctly. The easiest way to tell what phase the transmission is would be to count the motor to transmission bolt holes, 8 is phase 2 and 4 is phase 1. There are also several cases of a phase 2 transmission not having the spin on filter, some markets go slight variations.

04 will require additional work, subaru inverted the polarity and function of the duty c solenoid. If you use an 04 you'll have to swap out the solenoid and a couple other parts to make it work with your tcu.

The trans code you posted is the same as what I took out of my 99 legacy GT, you cannot use any transmission older than the 99 model year. They are electronically incompatible. I'm not the best at deciphering the auto transmission codes, but I believe the one you have as a replacement is the wrong gear ratio, and also a phase 1 trans which won't work for you.

From what I've read, the 03 Baja does use the same springs as the 00-04 outbacks but the 04-06 Baja it's about an inch taller.

People use Baja springs to get some extra lift on the 00-04 outbacks. The reverse is also true, the suspension components are interchangeable.

97 Legacy L sedan, 3.90 fdr awd 5mt, 10.2:1 compression dohc ej22 running average of 32.4 over the last 8k miles mixed interstate and in town driving.

Nope, you can use a windshield from any 80-84 wagon, 80-89 hatch, 82-87 brat, 80-84 sedan, or 80-84 coupe.

I highly doubt anyone on here has ever used one of these. A regular half inch drive ratchet does the same job.

If that was in VA I'd spend $3500 for all of it right now.

On the steering coupler issue, the reason you encountered the issue is because the actual steering columns are different lengths between the outback and regular legacy.

I'm guessing your car is a 99 legacy or 99-01 impreza with the ej222 as these were the only ones I've ever seen with California emissions in a 2.2. So yes it is interference.

It's not uncommon for the stub to pull out of a 4eat, you'll be fine just knocking it back in place. I've done it a couple times myself changing struts.

I would run the NGK plugs over Champions, just as a matter of past experience with both brands. I would stick with the copper plugs.

Everything said above is wrong. Every bit of it. The 99 ej22 is a phase 2 engine and electronically incompatible with a phase 1 car. If you want to make a hybrid build use the ej222 heads in the ej25d shortblock. But this WILL NOT be a high compression build, phase 2 ej222 heads have 50cc combustion chambers. The 97-99 ej25d heads are ~47cc, so you will lose some compression ratio. Also bolting ej25d heads onto the phase 2 ej222 WILL NOT be a good candidate for boosting. The end compression ratio is 10.4:1. This is due to the redesigned pistons for the phase 2 shortblock.

same deal, all the same belt and reuse the bar tensioner

You can reuse the old bar style tensioner. I've done it many many times. The belt is the same for every ej22 and ej18 from 90-98.

If there are any tuners in your area just go speak with them. See what types of systems they are familiar with, and what they would recommend. I know many people have had good luck with the Greddy eManage Blue on the phase 1 cars, there is a guy on rs25.com who was making around 350hp on an ej22e/25d hybrid self tuned on the eManage.

Cobb has nothing for pre 02 ecus, and evoscan is simply a logging tool. As mentioned in the OP ej22e and ej22t rods and cranks are identical, this has been proven true for over 15 years. The only stronger oem rods are those from the ej257 or jdm ej207, but it's not worth splitting the block to replace them. The hybrid you're building has been proven tough many times over. You'll need to use cometic or stock ej22t head gaskets for the coolant ports to match the head, you can simply order them suited for the ej22t and be done with that aspect. You will need bigger injectors, and a way to tune them, if you intend on running more than 5-6psi. Usdm 04-06 yellow top STi injectors swap right into ej25d rails and flow 525cc as opposed to the ej25d red top flowing 285cc. If you or someone you know is familiar with building and tuning with MS by all means go for it, it's not something I would attempt myself. Any good piggyback ecu will do what you need for this type build. Just do your research carefully before spending money on one. Some don't play as well as others with subaru electronics. Don't jump into an ecu swap, especially not the 02+ versions. There are several electrical differences that will make them hard to get running correctly, if it's been documented on how to run a phase 1 dohc motor on a wrx ecu please link me to it. I couldn't find it 2 years ago, and still can't to this day.

The owners manual in the 04 listed 3 different plug types NGK BKR6E-11, NGK BRK5E-11 and another non ngk plug for the ej25. None of which were platinum anything plugs. I can provide pictures of said owners manual Friday if need be.

The wasted spark system on subarus will cause platinum plugs to fair very quickly. When I did the head gaskets on my mom's 04 outback last summer I didn't notice that the parts store had sold my nephew the platinum ngks instead of the standard copper v powers. Well 7k miles later she had horrible misfires and the car was barely drivable. Throwing cels for cyl misfire on all but one cyl. Fresh set of ngk v powers and all is well. Had to break out the owners manual to get the correct plugs btw, advance auto's computer did not have them listed properly.