Bserk

Hey all. Ive been reading the forums tonight, just found this site and I'm learning a LOT! Forgive me if I havent searched deeply enough yet, but I had to jump in somewhere. Im a long time Nissan tech (nasty word here?) and was looking for a new 'winter rat' to replace my very tired Sentra. Since Nissan abandoned the small 4x4 wagon market long ago, I was looking for a Outback. I found a 'deal' I couldnt refuse as a trade-in at the dealership I work for. 96 Legacy Outback, clean, no rust, 120k mi, its the 2.5L dohc. A deal because it was diagnosed with a blown head gasket at another shop before it was traded. I paid 850 bucks for this, so I dont think I can get hurt too bad.....Ive repaired about anything that Nissan has thrown my way for almost 30 years, so Im confident i can handle this. A little weird dealing with cylinders that go sideways..LOL! Most of the rest of the car is very typical of Japanese/Nissan, so I feel comfortable working on this. Is there anything 'typical' of a head gasket failure on this car? Will I likely need to have the heads resurfaced? Is it common for the heads to crack? (I seem to have read that elsewhere once) Most importantly, and Ive seen different opinions of this, will I be removing the engine or can I pull the heads in the car? Ive already got a CD service manual for the car and it tells me I do not have to pull the engine... as i said, I have not searched the site completely so forgive me if this is all covered somewhere. Great site and Im glad I found it!! I will be diving into this project in the next couple days and any comments will be greatly appreciated. Ive driven a lot of front and four wheel drive rigs, from Suzukis to Mitsubishi, and a lot of Nissans...even a Jeep or 2....(aghhh!!) but this is my first Subie, although Ive been a fan for decades.