Storm

After seeing it explained once through the good links here and a couple step-by-step emails later....I somehow missed what friggin size torx socket to use for the retaining bolts on the LSD diff I am getting ready to work with. I was able to get one side out with an 8mm socket, but the other side is wanting to round off. I don't want to bork the bolt and have to drill it out....it looks like a bugger to mess with given its size and length! Thanks in advance!

I'm going to go on the other side of the fence for moment here. For those of you knocking the ebay sleeve kits because of the spring rates....note that they are not marketing them to offroad folks. They're trying to get the guys who are lowering the car to buy the kits. The rates are stiff because of the limited travel. Ideal? Not really.... Do they work? sure....but you can't put a crappy strut such as the GR2 (and it is crappy) with these springs and expect them to work well or last long. Stock rates are somewhere in the vicinity of 110-130lbs/in. The kit springs usually range from 250-500lbs/in. Why on earth would you try to damp those rates with a damper valved for 1/2 or 1/4 of the spring rates? Properly valved struts make a world of difference......no bounce and extreme performance (backed up with divisional and national SCCA results).... Talking to the roundy round guys will (at least in my case) not get you very far unless you lie about what kind of car you're trying to work over. I couldn't get Afco or QA1 to even consider making a strut based on their rustang struts. They don't seem to see the market for US made Import parts....[roll]. If you do all of your own research and choose what springs and sleeves you want, you can end up with a decent setup on a budget but you have to match the struts with what springs you're trying to use. All of this has to match with what you want to do with the car. Just 4" of travel not enough and too stiff? Try a set of tender springs.....or change the springs out for a set of 10-12" drag springs. The sleeves work fine despite the setscrew/O-ring method of attatchment. Careful wrapping of ductape around the struts(&under the sleeves)makes for solid mounting of the sleeves and the setscrews will lock it into place. I don't like the single alu. adjuster ring....I prefer the double locking rings even though I have to use tools to set them. I don't move them very often once they're where I want them.

You may find deals on FWD trannys that already have the rear drive removed. Just thought. It sounds like a cool project!

I noticed this too. I checked and double-triple checked all the marks to make sure they were correct. I found the same thing with the LH intake cam not lining up perfectly. It's off by less than a tooth, but the motor seems to run fine regardless. That single cam pulley mark, when lined up perfectly with the beltcover mark makes the double marks line up perfect, but the mark on the belt won't line up. Fitting the belt mark closest to the single mark on the pulley pushes the double marks off by half a tooth. I think the tensioner recovers most, if not all of this slack when fully extended. Is this what you encountered? As for the clamp on the overflow tube....The mech probably dropped it and kicked it into a drain somewhere. It should have a clamp, but it shouldn't need a super tight connection like a upper/lower rad. hose.

When I did my gaskets, I removed the valvecovers and held the cams with a large Crescent wrench on the flats. I didn't want to stress the tensioner or have any other mishap while loosening or torquing the cam pulleys.

I wanna bump this up to get an update since I'm having the same problem, but with a few more variables to add to the mix. I bypassed the coolant lines running through (what appears to be) the IAC motor and the fact that the original 1.8L ECU, sensors and TB are now operating a EJ25. I'm having the codes read today and will try to contribute what I find out in my case to see if it has any relation to the original problem.

Thanks Emily! I'm definately pulling the valves and getting the rest of the carbon buildup off. I'll make sure to re-lap them and install new valve seals too. There goes another week of the car being motionless..... :0

I'd be looking at the coil ends of the plug wires. They are known to get corroded.

I have a question about the valves on a 97 DOHC EJ25. I'm currently rebuilding a 99 motor with these heads and have found that I could remove 99% of the junk that was coating the Exhaust valves. I thought it was carbon build up because it wasn't very uniform in thickness or appearance. Some of it was gone when I began cleaning the heads up. Are the valves coated with a heat control substance from the factory? If they are, I just ruined these valves by removing the stuff. Also, I began cleaning the heads by soaking them in Toluene for a few hours before bristle-brushing the gunk out of the chambers and around the valvesprings, etc.... By doing that, did I just ruin the valve seals? I wasn't planning on doing a valvejob before bolting the heads onto the block.....Now I'm not so sure I should puth the heads on until I replace the valve seals, guides and maybe even the valves if I screwed them up. Any info is helpful! Thanks!

I have a stock radio and seperate CD player out of a 98RS that you can buy together. They worked fine before removal. We decided to put in a stock WRX 6disc indash unit that some kid took out in favor of a Kenwood or something...... Make an offer on the CD player......

Yessir. Just a bore/stroke difference inside. Intake side is a little different, depending on SOHC or DOHC. The bolt patterns changed between the two.

The parts will bolt up, but the engine crossmember will be needed if he uses the stock WRX exhaust manifold. Depending on how much work he wants to do, some folks have used the WRX block with the 2.5 heads and moved to a bigger turbo for more power.

Stock EJ25 injectors should be 280cc/min. The STi injectors are (I believe) over 500cc/min. I suspect that you'll need to add a fuel controller to tame those injectors. Also, the 97's are sidefeed where the STi are topfeed (iirc) so matching fuel rails will be needed as well.

Thanks for the kind words! The brighton is becoming less and less of a slug every month. Although, a seized waterpump just took out the timingbelt and promoted my "project" motor to "get this puppy done and installed now" motor. I'm currently looking at my 97 ej25, which is down to it's most basic form at the moment. Needs bearings and a quick cleanup hone before reassembly. That brings me to my first question: I have a set of std size '99 pistons to go into this block instead of reusing the 97s. I have heard differing opinions about whether the 99 pistons will work w/the 97 rods. I don't want to have them sticking up outta the block, nor recessed well into the block @tdc. If anyone has info about this, I could really use it. I will reuse the 97 pistons w/new rings if I need to, but I'd rather use the 99s if possible. Thanks in advance!

Hi all, I just wanted to introduce myself as a new member here. I've lurked for awhile and really enjoy the interaction between the old and new generations of Subarus. Quite refreshing actually. I come from Mopar roots, so I'm familiar with using tree branches to pull motors and curbs as ramps.... I had to finally decide to find something with more traction, so I found me a nice little Impreza Brighton after remembering about Subaru longevity and build quality. I just love my Subaru and will keep on learning more and more about them. The stuff I've picked up so far have been enough to keep me out of trouble, but This place seems like the kind of place where I can learn a heck of alot more than some of the other Impreza/WRX focused forums, which are attracting more and more "static". I prefer high signal/noise ratio. So I will pass on what I've learned so far and ask questions about the stuff I need to know. Jay Storm