rallynutdon

I've torn down one 96 and two 93s to the bare shell and none of them have had one.

Science can be your friend. Put parts (hub) in the freezer for a couple of hours to shrink it. Works for me in many situations where things get pressed together. Not in this case, but in some, heating the opposite piece with a propane torch also helps.

While I don't use USMB (because of time constraints) much these days, this is sad news. When Ed was here on the right coast, in the early 80's he helped us lay out our Endurance TSD rally, Sunsetter, and I considered him a friend. RIP friend. BTW, in those days he drove a Datsun 510 if you know what that was.

Did you mean exhaust manifold ports in the above where you said "intake manifolds of those years were either single or dual port". Didn't think intake manifolds were any different port wise from one engine to the other.

Had 2 engines with knocking bearings. 1 bad enough to not reuse the crank (I had a spare) and 1 where the crank was just fine. Miked to spec and just polished up the journals. It will be louder than you think it should be.

That's a big difference in tires. Hope it wasn't driven too long with difference or it will ruin the center diff. Axles can be had new from Rock Auto for ~$60. We've used 2 with no problems. As was said, do the thermostat and hose first. The other stuff can wait.

Just rebuilt engine with new bearings. Cranking for approx 1 minute and the oil light doesn't go off. In the past, knowing everything was lubricated well, I've never tried this, just left it fire and if oil light didn't go off after 2 or 3 seconds (always did) I'd be prepared to shut it off. Anyone ever tried this method to make sure the pump is pumping oil? Should the light go off with just normal cranking after a minute? TIA

leave the main alone unless it seems to be gushing oil. A bit of weep, leave it.....best not to replace those unless spliting case. Why is that?

75 - 90 weight gear oil. Should take 3.25 to 3.5 quarts. Fill thru dip stick hole with funnel and use dip stick to know when full.

Nope.

$500 seems good if it has only 55k on it. Just got done tonight assembling my 96 5 speed, putting in a new input shaft seal and axle stub seals. Took 2 hours to remove trans. Around 3 hours to disassemble and clean up mating surfaces and 2 hours to re-assemble. Tomorrow I'll put it back in the car.

BTDT, no T shirt. And it was on the rally car STI gear set which got destroyed. BTW, Inwood, that's the exit I take to get to Summit Point.

IMHO, if you're mechanically inclined and careful, taking the trans apart and splitting the case to replace the input shaft and seal is not a big deal. Just be sure to not disturb the gears/shafts any more than necessary. When splitting the case, remove the passengers side (big rubber mallet on bell housing to knock it off after all bolts removed, look for hidden ones) leaving the drivers side lying on the workbench with all the inards in place. When putting the the halfs of the case back together, just be sure to place the top half on carefully that the front output shaft goes thru the seal straight and doesn't knock off the spring inside the lip causing another leak. I will be doing this job myself, again, this weekend. BTW, Gloyale writeup referenced earlier is pretty good. He covered most of the gottchas. Just don't use too much sealant on the case or pieces can break off eventually and clog oil passages and cause problems (ask me how I know).

Same thing happened to me. Couldn't find the leak quickly. Looked like it was leaking out of the timing belt cover. Turns out it was the top radiator hose was leaking at the engine end and dripping down behind the rear timing belt cover so unless you looked real hard, all you saw was it dripping out the bottom. This was a 2003 Legacy 2.5 FWIW.

Whatever you say, boss. Obviously this isn't the place for a variety of people to express their views and experiences for the OP to make a decision for themselves. Only for experts to state facts. And for what its worth, those were just 2 of my examples. Me and my kids have owned about 30 different Subarus over the last 20 years or more. Most of them not new either. Signing off.