jboymechanic

Sucks about the Brat dude. Just put new rear wheel bearings and seals and new emergency brake shoes and hardware in my '96 Legacy. 211,000 miles and counting.

Tom, how about an EJ25/22 frankenmotor in the GL? Then it would be fast! Any luck on the exhaust flanges yet?

The heads are the stock 1996 2.2 heads with 200,700 miles on them. I forget what type of lifters and rockers it had, whatever the car would have come with in 1996. Thought it had roller rockers. The computer is the stock 2.2 that was in the car. The only modifications needed were a few extra water passage holes in the head gaskets and I had to cut off one little mounting tab for the timing cover of the 2.5 block as it interfered with the timing belt. I am not running a timing belt cover as that is my preference.

Shawn, to get back to your original question, I'm currently driving exactly what you're thinking of building. 1996 Legacy with 3.9 ratio 5MT, swapped in 2.5 with 2.2 heads. Runs great on mid grade or premium only, runs like crap on regular unleaded (87 octane). I have Outback struts with 27" tires and car is still zippier than the 2.2 with the small (stock tires were about 24.5"). My typical all around mileage is 25 mpg and I get 30 mpg on highway trips when I cruise at 75 mpg. I have a little over 10,000 miles on this setup and have been very happy with it.

Yeah buddy

I've been running my EJ22s without timing covers for the last couple of years and many others do it as well.

Try pressing the button the receiver. Every once in a great while the belt in my car will not latch. If I pull the buckle out, press the button and then re-insert the buckle it works. Not sure how this happens, but it does.

Probably just a timing belt or a head gasket. Miles are too low for the motor to be shot unless the oil was never changed or he did something else neglectful.

A bearing can still be tight but be bad. I just did wheel bearings yesterday. The driver side was obvious, very sloppy, but the passenger side not as much. The bearing was tight, wasn't able to move any of the parts, but when you rotated the hub it sounded dry and spun much too easily. A good wheel bearing should be quite, smooth and actually be just a little tight to rotate (as in it shouldn't just free wheel if you give it a good spin). Wheel bearing noise can sound a lot like a noisy tire, the axles usually click. But, since you are pulling the axle to check it you will easily be able to check both the bearing and the axle.

New front wheel bearings & seals, ball joints, tie rod ends and steering rack boots on both sides of my 1996 Legacy L. New ABS wheel sensor on the front driver wheel, there was so much slop in that wheel bearing that the tone ring hit the tip of the sensor and broke it off! 210,000 on the car, 10,000 on the 2.5 frankenmotor and counting.

My wife and I just bought a 2013 Impreza Sport Premium with the CVT. Zippy little car, I love stick shift but the CVT was better in my opinion. Glad we got it, my wife is averaging just over 35 mpg commuting to work. Can't wait to take it on a highway trip and see what it will do.

I just quit my job too. But I have a new one as a Senior Project Engineer at A&E Hand Tools. http://www.aeincorporated.com/ Hopefully I can get a nice discount! I start on October 15th.

That's right Tom, there is more than one way to skin a cat. Do it the way you know as right and have had good success with yourself. For example, there are plenty of people here on this site that say you MUST use a head gasket from Subaru when many of us have used FelPro with great success. Both are fine, so just do what you're comfortable with.

ebay, partsgeek.com, rockauto

I've had excellent luck with EMPI, even on lifted vehicles.

I haven't seen something like this in a long time. A friend of mine in college (back in 2004) had a 1994 Chevy Cavalier wagon that was this rusty. One day we went to the liquor store on a Friday to buy about 20 cases of beer for a party. Hit a pot hole on the way back home and with all the weight in the car the strut came up through the wheel well just like that. What a great way to destroy your car!

Leatherique is amazing stuff, I highly recommend.

With a 3 speed auto 27" tires seem to be fine as you have to rev the piss out of the car to go highway speeds any way. That is the setup of TheLoyale's loyale and it drives just fine and gets good mileage too.

The AIC valve controls the amount of air entering the intake manifold when the throttle valve is closed (at idle). Over time, the valve can become clogged and cause rough idle. I would look for another one at a junk yard, or maybe swap one off another car that has no issues and see if the issue remains or if it follows the AIC to the other car.

I would look into your Air Idle Control valve.

Correct, do not drive around in the weather with just primer, a common mistake. Put on a coat of cheap paint to seal it up. When are we gonna do the clutch?

A lot of it has to do with advances in paint and rust proofing coating, but also the design of the body. Companies spend lots of time designing out areas that dirt, salt and water can collect and sit. The quality of the steel is also another huge factor, and there was A LOT of cheap steel in the late 70s and early 80s.

Where did you acquire these adjustable trailing arms?

[quote name= At least I am spending all this time and money' date=' on a car I am going to keep. I'm Not calling you out or anything Jon, but c'mon, you've been known to dump money into these Legacys, have the car for a few months, sell it for way under what you paid for the car and what you've put into it. Why bother if you're not gonna keep it for the long run? Just my $.02 [/quote] You're right on that, that is why I have promised myself that the legacy I have now will be my last one. Heidi and I are going to buy a new Impreza this fall and sell off her Honda. Going to make this Legacy last 2 to 3 more years and then we plan to buy a newer Outback. This Legacy is finally what I wanted; rust free from Colorado. Any way, you're doing a lot of great work and I'd hate to see it go to waste. You'd be surprised how fast the rust will come back if you put that car in the salt, even if it is sealed up and regularly washed.

And you want to do all this work and then drive it in the winter?