Fairtax4me

First glance at that I thought it was a Corolla! I gotta go to bed! Congrats on the great buy.

Ok, I was thinking along the lines of the buzz. Not sure, that might have something to do with the weight of the flywheel + clutch assembly. The 2.0 clutch assembly has a "pull type" pressure plate, while the 2.5 (non turbo at least) are "push type". Of course I can't find any flywheel weight specs for either. Mileage sounds good for easy mixed driving. I'd expect approx ~30 mpg at 55-60mph. Might do better if driven right. 2900rpm seems fast at that speed. You got 4.44 FDR?

Yeah, you're better off to pick the engine than to drop the trans unless the trans needs work. You can R&R the trans by yourself, but it's 100 times easier with a helper. Get a set of exhaust manifold gaskets. Replace the release lever. It's cheap (like $25) and they tend to crack with age which will prevent the clutch from disengaging when you push the pedal down. And if the separator plate hasn't been done before, definitely change it. edit: Steer clear of lightweight flywheels for road use.

Is it a shaky feeling like a misfire, or more like a buzz type of vibration? Didn't knock a heat shield loose by accident did you? There are some rubber dampeners that go between the transmission mount brace and the cross member, are they in good shape?

Yep, it's just not your day. New transmission time, unfortunately. :-\

Well first lets make sure you're pouring fluid into the fill tube on the left (drivers) side of the transmission? The fill tube on the right side with the short dipstick is for the front differential. It's a good thing it won't move because the front diff would chew itself to pieces in no time being full of ATF. If that be the case. If not then... split cooler hose?

Cavitation is pretty normal in the differential. Nothing to worry about as long as the fluid looks clean. Has it ever been changed though? The rear diff is under practically no load at all during normal driving so the fluid doesn't get hot and deteriorate. But if it's been in there for 100k miles, it should be changed just because it's old. Growling with speed sounds like a wheel bearing. Is this on an 01 Forester?

What transmission mount did you use? Checked everything under the car for proper body clearance? Is the pitch mount installed properly?

Did the 22 ever come with DOHC heads?

Looks like dirty/greasy aluminum to me. Of course none of us know or sure since we can't put hands on it. What's the plan for this beast?

An Ej22 with blown head gaskets? I'd certainly have the heads milled. I'm pretty sure you have to disassemble the head to have it milled.

I saw one of those in the junkyard not too long ago. The vultures had already got to it though. :-\

I see these Delta cams mentioned all over this board. Nobody ever says what a set costs though. I think it would be sweet to slap a set of cams in the legacy if it would get this slug to move up-hill.

Yeah it can depending on the level of charge in the system. But it will act like the charge is low because the pressure is different due to the colder temp.

Piston damage from a valve crash is minimal. Plenty of people have rebuilt the heads, put it back together, and have 0 problems from the small nicks that the top of the pistons get from the valves. Rebuild the heads and put it back together. Too much work to make dohc heads fit. If you have a whole DOHC engine you might be able to drop that in with some changes. But I'm not familiar with the differences between those engines other than the heads, so I have no idea what would need to be done.

Great minds think alike!

How many friends did you have to buy 12 packs for to get that thing moved?! Free 10/3 Free copper is never a bad thing.

If you get oil ON the belt yes, it could be detrimental, but other than that, motor oil has nothing to do with accessory belt life. Oil is inside the engine, belts are outside, no interaction or relation between the two. Poor quality motor oil plays a major part in sludge and varnish buildup inside the engine though. Can lead to clogged oil passages, low oil pressure, stuck rings, lots of highly destructive conditions.

Black wheels FTL IMO, but whatever floats your boat. I think black spokes w/silver or polished lip would look good on that. Nice find on the rear spoiler! Don't see many of those.

I see cars with windshields that look like spider webs and wonder how the hell the driver can see through the cracks to drive. That would drive me nuts! One crack is whatever, but the whole reason they make people replace cracked windshields to pass safety inspection is because of the ones who would drive with a straight up broken one if it didn't fail. Catch the glare of the sun in a broken windshield and you can understand why it's not safe. One crack isn't going to blind you, but if that one crack multiplies to 6 or 8 or 10 cracks going in all directions. If you wan't a good windshield, ask the installer to order the brand that the factory installs. Windshields have a label in the corner with the maker and all the certifications. Or you can order one from a dealer. $$$

That would be my luck too! The good, the bad, and the ugly. Actually this thing wasn't that bad. Much cleaner than he made it sound on the phone. White with the gold Outback trim, black leather interior that was surprising nice. Dirty, but nice. Not all scratched/marred like you expect to see leather that has been ravaged by claws. The carpets weren't covered in fur. A bit of odor, but it was more like a "just needs to be vacuumed and shampooed once" kinda smell. The dog chew mark was on the passenger rear door handle, and it looked pretty easily repairable. Body was straight. The only dents were a very shallow crease in the passenger door which was from the parking lot incident. No rust, the dog legs were clean. Typical rust on bolt heads underneath, but I didn't crawl around underneath it I just kneeled down and took a peak. Paint on the bumpers was chipped/flaking off, which is typical of a cheap bumper repair. Wheels actually weren't peeling, which I think is a miracle around here. Tires were pretty well shot actually. I must have misheard him on the phone or something. Both fronts were worn down to almost no tread on the inside edges. Rears looked good, even tread, and not much more tread left than the fronts so the uneven wear might have been a more recent thing. Worn tie rod ends or something of that nature. Brakes looked good rotors were not grooved, and although rusty, did not appear to be all that old. Trans fluid was ok. Old, but not burnt. Engine, I asked if it would start at all, he said it would not even crank, so I didn't even try. Whole thing was pretty well covered in grease and oil, especially the bottom. Like that's a surprise. I offered $750, which he politely refused. He seemed adamant that he could get $1000 for it from someone else who apparently hasn't seen the car yet. Just told him to call me if it didn't work out, so I'll see what happens. I'm not entirely sure I want to get into a project right now (too damn cold out), so I'm not in any rush to buy right away. If someone else snatches it up, so be it. There's plenty more where it came from.

Dunno. I've always had good luck with Gatorback belts. I prefer Gates since they aren't quite as expensive as the GBs and work better than the Daycos I've used. One thing that can cause belts to get "slippy" is the pulleys themselves. Especially in the case of modern serpentine style multi-rib pulleys. With time the ribs on the pulleys will wear down and eventually they get so small that they don't grip the ribs of the belt correctly. (granted the difference is probably un-noticable to the naked eye without a new pulley to compare to) The contact area between the belt and the pulley gets so small that the drag on the belt quickly overcomes the friction against the pulley and burns or glazes the surface of the belt.

Sears sells a nice big set of Craftsman box end wrenches for like $65. I think it was 11 or 12 double ended box wrenches. From 6 or 7mm up to 30mm. I know they had another huge set too that had like 30 wrenches in both standard and metric sizes. IIRC that one was around $180 though.

THAT is why I posted this here. I had not thought about that. I know to check the ATF, but overheated fluid yet hadn't crossed my mind. ATF that is overheated by just 10°F deteriorates at almost double the normal rate. Engine and transmission replacement, probably not gonna happen unless I can get it real cheap. Come to think of it, that might be why it's still in the guys driveway. NO WAY I'd repair the engine. Just too much risk IMO. And it's not really worth a rebuild unless it was something I really wanted to use it for, like a franken-motor, or some other project for my own personal use. This would be a 2.2 swap, unless I found a known good 2.5 (like out of a wrecked car) to drop in it. Dogs in the car is one of my biggest pet peeves. (no pun intended) I just can't stand it. The smell, the fur, the dirt, all gets thoroughly ground into every surface. There is no way to get all the fur out. I swear it's just simply not possible. The interior will probably be the make or break for me. The more I think about it the less I think I wanna dig into this honestly. I'll give it a chance, but I'm with you guys thinking 5-700 maybe 8 tops if it turns out to be in better shape body/interior-wise than I'm picturing it. Thanks for the thoughts and advice guys!

Check the belt for wear. Probably just needs to be tightened. If it has been a long time since it was replaced go ahead and do that.