Numbchux

You're actually a bit low for MSRP on OEM brake parts. They're about $85 for a set of pads, and for each rotor. Still, that's only $510 in parts. I bet book rate is 1.5 hours or so per axle, even at a dealer labor rate, that's probably $900 or so with tax and shop supplies. Now, due to the number of times I've been on the other side of this situation, I will never condemn a shops estimate/work as a 3rd party. But something definitely doesn't add up. OE rotors are considerably better than aftermarket. $20 spent resurfacing a 6 year old rotor is much better than $20 spent on a cheap new rotor.

Anything is possible. But the transmission is not designed to not send power to the front wheels. It would take considerable custom machining and manufacturing to change that and keep the basic layout. Plenty of people have put a conventional truck (Nissan, usually) transfer case behind the stock transmission, and then an extra rear diff mounted under the transmission as a front diff. This requires a considerable lift and a lot of fabrication.

Yep, 2 vacuum solenoids by the LH strut tower in the engine bay. They're very simple solenoids that block vacuum normally, and open to allow vacuum past when power is put to them. I would start there, with a multimeter you can identify if power is making it there (I've seen switches and wiring fail). Then, make a visual inspection of the vacuum lines from those solenoids to the engine, and also from them down to the actuator on the side of the transmission. You can even pull these off and feel for vacuum with the engine running. Yes, there should be an indicator light on the dash for the diff lock. This is an entirely separate circuit with a switch on the transmission, and somewhat prone to failure, so don't take that as gospel. And yea, if your front diff and axles are intact, it would be fine to drive with the diff locked with a missing axle. Don't run it in gear with it unlocked, as your center and rear spider gears will be spinning like crazy (which they are not designed to do).

I bought an aftermarket, application-specific kit for our '04 Outback when I repaired it from crash damage. Almost nothing fit. Even though they're probably a couple dollars each, I'd just order them individually from the dealer and not worry about it. Not worth the risk of loosing $30 in refrigerant to save $5-10 on Orings, IMO.

Junkyard. Welcome to the life of EA Subaru ownership

As I think about it, I might have it backwards. I think we were trying to use COP heads on a non-COP car, and the tubes on the COP heads were shorter, as the regular plug wires didn't reach the plugs, and the older valve covers didn't seal on the newer tubes (I don't remember what was different that required the use of the older valve covers...). So unless you can find a longer boot for the stock plugs. But since the valve covers are different, you'll probably be making custom mounts anyway, so a different coil might be a better option anyway. The Audi R8 Coils (used on many other things, but that's the easy way to look them up) are powerful and reasonably priced, I see those being used a lot on 1UZ COP conversions. Otherwise it might make more sense to use 4 standalone coils (Chevy LS style), with a short plug wire. Lots of options.

The crucial question (which I do not know the answer to), is whether the EJ205 ECU can read the EJ251 cam sensor. If you have them, take a look at that sprocket and compare the tone wheels. The spark plug tubes in the later EJ253s (which had COP) are deeper than the older 251/253s. So no, those coils are not a direct fit. But the extra length on the boot could probably be dealt with with some sort of spacer/adapter/mounting bracket.

Yep, '05-'09 Leg/OBK wagons were somewhat prone to the hatch wires breaking where they are bent every time the hatch is opened and closed. When I worked at the dealership, we stocked all the versions of the hatch harness (there were like 4 different part numbers. IIRC about $80, which is waaaayyy cheaper than paying hourly to fix each individual break, only to have other wires still brittle).

I suspect genuine OE '90-'94 Legacy FWD axles are the shortest, but by a pretty small amount. And the aftermarket ones have been replaced with a single part number that splits the difference. Mine was an automatic. I suspect the only time that makes any difference is with '93-'94 Imprezas, where the MT got 23 spline inners and AT got 25.

That's fine, so buy an SVX. Don't pay a premium to import a pristine one just to drag it through the midwest winter road grime. I don't think the enthusiasm is fading, in general, but it's like many auto forums and shifting to Facebook. This is the only exception of the forums I frequent (because the Venn diagram of users of USMB and people who don't have Facebook has quite a bit of overlap) that hasn't seen a major reduction in activity. Anyway, there are lots of people that own them, but most swap for 4.444 transmissions, or manual. The '96-'97 transmissions hold up better, but they're pretty rare by then. Still can't get a new TPS for them. WTB: TPS posts on the SVX Facebook groups are almost weekly. Center and front diffs on Subarus are built into the transmission. Most 4EATs just have clutch packs, not a true differential. But MTs and VTDs do actually have a differential. The VTD is similar in function to the STi DCCD center diff, where it's mechanically an open diff, with an electronically-actuated LSD.

Have you tried a new bulb? Or just switch the bulbs from one side to the other? Generally speaking, a dim light is usually in the ground side of the circuit (far more likely to have resistance without a break on that side of the circuit). But if you ran a ground wire to the low-beam wire and it was still dim, that's not your issue. After the bulb, the thing to do is to put a Multimeter between the bulb power wire and battery negative, and check your voltage. That will confirm which side of the circuit is the problem.

Nope. As I mentioned, I've been running stock '92 FWD Legacy front axles/knuckles on 3 of my cars without issues. Now, this is not the first time we've heard of axles bottoming out, and I haven't seen a pattern on what definitely does work and what doesn't.

The cars are about 35 years old...I'm sure everything you can think of has been done (and probably more). The only one I can think of was a Brat on a Toyota frame, with the Toyota drivetrain, but if you open that can of worms, there have been V8s, V6s, and more.... Anything is possible (a close friend of mine has a turbo LS V8 in a '98 Legacy GT, and he's not even close to the first), but there are a million variables based on the details of different engines, different budgets, different skills, and different goals. Generally speaking, the stock engine crossmember is very intrusive into the engine bay for anything other than a horizontally-opposed engine. A good fabricator could make a tube crossmember that is less intrusive, but you're limited on steering rack placement without getting into steering geometry. With a lift, you could move that all down away from the body, and get quite a bit more space. The next challenge, is a boxer 4 is a very short (lengthwise) engine, which is what allows it to be pushed forward enough to put the front diff behind it. If you ditch the front drive, and are just going RWD, you can push the engine way further back. Then you have to consider rear diff strength.

Might be worth it to someone. But I can't imagine spending $10k for an SVX. Yes, VTD is awesome (I have an Outback VDC with it. Completely transforms the winter performance) but it's just a really nice SVX that you can't go through the drive-thru with. Give me something we didn't get here. An ST205 GT4, or a Eunos Cosmo...

I've been using the same pair of axles/knuckles on my Loyale (with XT6 arms) and both XT6s. Came from a '92 FWD Legacy. They work just like stock. According to RockAuto, the TrakMotiv axles for the '02 Outback are only 1/8" longer than the '92 Legacy, so that shouldn't be a bit difference. The '02+ Impreza Sedan axles are definitely longer. You definitely have to avoid those.

You have much better options available to you. Plumbing oil and coolant lines isn't difficult. You could pay a machine shop to modify heads to add the ports for a tiny fraction of the cost of the shipping from here (not to mention it can be DIY'd with half decent tools). Yea, they can perform, I've probably seen a hundred builds like that, even helped hands-on on one about 15 years ago which had a Link standalone and almost every supporting mod solely to see the limits of the SOHC heads. He swapped to EJ25D DOHC heads (still with N/A Cams) and performed so much better in every way.

That is a seriously strange symptom....I can't even speculate what that would be without an inspection. The question is if it's a VDC or LL Bean. The LL Bean transmission is the same as the 4 Cylinder ones. The VDCs have a different AWD/center diff, so they are a unique transmission, but still available. I own 2 Outback VDCs, both with over 200k miles on them. I love them. We took our '04 on a 3600 mile round trip from here in northern MN to my inlaws' house in SC. Loaded down (we had our 1 year old daughter with us), A/C cranked, and cruise at ~75mph+, fantastic car. I covet no other car in terms of inexpensive, reliable, versatile, comfortable transportation. The bearings in the serpentine belt idler and tensioner have a tendency to fail with very little warning on the 6-cylinders. So it's a good idea to pull the belt and check those periodically. The bearing itself can be replaced fairly easily and inexpensively. There are also a pair of steel coolant tubes on the bottom of the engine (one across the front of the oil pan for the oil cooler, and another under the drivers head that goes back to the heater core) that tend to rust here in the rust belt.

'96 EJ22 is going to be single exhaust port. Everything '90-'95 will have dual ports. So your exhaust manifold will have to change to match. 22t heads would be the same, but the cams will be cut different for the turbo application. You'd want to get N/A cams from the same year (I don't know the details on this, but when I had Delta grind some cams for me years ago, there were at least a couple different versions in those years). No you don't....Those heads and ECU are good for nothing more than stock power (and stock EJ22t power is nothing to brag about).

Yep. oxy-acetylene is way hotter, but cumbersome and expensive. MAPP torch is just like a handheld propane torch, but hotter (MAPP tank is yellow, vs blue for Propane). Find them in the plumbing section almost anywhere.

Yea, my MAPP torch is always nearby. I've probably had it for 15 years, and only had to buy 3 or 4 new bottles, but it's gotten me out of many sticky situations. Penetrating oil helps, but nothing works like heat. An air hammer is extremely useful, but that will destroy whatever it touches, but with some careful use, you can spin off a rounded/rusted nut without damaging the stud.

Yep. It was almost 15 years ago, so a lot has changed, but mostly still relevant.

Anything that connects to the body harness. Power wires. Temperature and oil pressure.

Basically. I find and identify every wire in the diagrams before I decide what to do with it. If it's not needed, I cut as much of it out as I can (I usually leave about 3", just in case I made a mistake). If it will be needed but not the connector, I leave as much as possible, and coil it up and mark it with masking tape. Yes, the EA81 harness is extremely simple by comparison, so just leave it as-is and splice in where you need to. There will be a half a dozen wires or so that are made redundant, but no big deal. Easiest to leave it all there to control body circuits (lights, dash, etc.).

2003 Got larger caliper pistons on the Outbacks, even though the rotor was the same as the previous few years. I assume the same change was made on the Forester, but I don't know what year off the top of my head. It's a small change, just something to watch for to make sure you get a matched pair. Pads changed 2002-2003 depending on exact model/build date, but surface area stayed the same. Yes, still 10mm banjo fittings. The only thing that changed on the lines is how they mount to the strut.

Switching to a 16" wheel probably went to a larger (wider, at least) tire. The extra weight reduces braking, and if they're any taller OD, that reduces braking leverage. Relatively small change, but still worth considering. This is why the otherwise-identical cars with wider (LGT) or taller (Outback) tires got larger brakes. Your observation of the rear brakes heating up at different rates tells me that they're not working correctly. Here's what I like to do when servicing brake systems. It is very effective, and requires no disassembly other than removing a wheel. I open the bleeder and compress the caliper with it still bolted to the car. This is more effective at removing the worst brake fluid (much moreso than a conventional flush). And once the piston is compressed, you can slide the caliper back and forth and make sure the slides work (crucially, that they work together, I've seen slides that move individually that bind when bolted to the caliper).