NickR23

Well, I'm currently retorqing the heads down, and on the first bolt I was able to get a little more before it was back in spec. I'm going to add +10ft/lbs to each bolt just to be safe. I'm currently in town picking up some special extensions so I can do this without pulling the cam housings, but once I get it all back together I'll test it out and let you all know if it solves the problem. Hopefully it does!

I've tried searching, but there's so much info and people disagreeing on what will and won't work, I just want to get everything cleared up.

So basically, the easiest way to do this would be to use the Legacy rear diff, EA82 axles, and just swap to 6 lug?

How massive a project is the rear, if I used the Legacy rear diff? I have a rolled XT6 in the yard, and a nearly complete Legacy wagon. If I kept the stock front hubs and just did the 6 lug conversion, I would use Turbo EA82 axles for the front, and what would match up to the Legacy rear diff? I've tried searching for the 5 lug swap writeup, but the search won't let me use short words.

So it will bolt up just fine then? What would it take to convert to 5 lug to use the Legacy spindles and CV's?

What about gear ratios? I read that the Legacy rear diff won't bolt up to the Loyale, what are the chances of my current Loyale rear diff gear ratio matching the Legacy's front? If they are different, will the gears swap between the differentials?

I'll give it a shot this weekend, it's about the only thing I haven't tried so it couldn't hurt. What is it that everyone retorques to, +10ft/lbs?

No, but I used the Fel Pro gaskets that are supposed to not require a retorque.

Suba_GL_87: I used the gasket in the second picture (the Fel Pro in the package). They were the same pattern as the gaskets I took off, which appeared to be OEM. Petersubaru: I left the pressure tester on all day at 18 psi with the spark plugs removed, never dropped a bit. I put a new radiator cap on since the spring was feeling weak, so I will see if that makes a difference at all. I'm actually sitting in the car posting this right now with the engine running, and it's not smoking yet (knock on wood). I guess I'll have to see if the coolant level drops again.

I pulled the spark plugs, made an adapter with a pressure gauge inline, and held the engine with the cam at 12:00 (valves closed). Pulled the radiator cap, and at 100 psi, none of the cylinders bled off into the radiator. It doesn't seem to matter if it's under load or heat, as I can go out in the morning and start it up and it'll start smoking/burning coolant almost instantly. I'm considering pulling the plugs and pressurizing the radiator, and seeing if I can fill one of the cylinders with coolant that way, or if I can find the leak somewhere else.

No, I forgot since I was in a bit of a rush initially to get it out of the garage before I left town that weekend. But like I said, I pressure tested the cylinders and it wasn't leaking back into the radiator.

Would it be possible to block off the coolant line from the throttle body to the heater core line, and seal off the holes on the mating surface of the intake to stop coolant from flowing under the throttle body? This is the only place I can think of where coolant could enter both sides of the engine on multiple cylinders. It's also the highest point on the motor, so that once the coolant level drops a bit, coolant wouldn't flow through the throttle body and it wouldn't burn coolant until I refilled it and brought the coolant level back up. Possibility?

I checked the cylinder walls over real well when I had the engine out the first time. The motor only has 177k and it was owned by an older guy all it's life who maintained it very well, but bought a new car and didn't want to spend the money on repairing this one. The headgaskets are holding because I can pressurize every cylinder and none will bleed off into the radiator. Its definitely burning coolant since it's cleaning the plugs and smoking out the tailpipe. I just can't think of what else it might be.

Well, I got it all put back together and took it out for a test drive, it cleaned out after a few miles and wasn't putting out any smoke, and the stumble went away. I'll take it out for another test drive tomorrow morning and hopefully the problem will be fixed. If not, I don't know what's wrong with this thing.

The stumble was it is burning coolant in the combustion chamber, which means coolant is getting inside somehow. I test drove the car before I bought it, it was really burning coolant bad, and when I drove it home, I twisted the radiator cap off halfway to keep it from pressurizing and leaking coolant inside the combustion chamber. That tells me the headgasket is bad or a cylinder or head is cracked. I used all Fel-Pro gaskets, torqued everything to spec, cleaned and oiled the bolts, etc. The intake gaskets are Fel-Pro as well and definately not "cheap" gaskets. This time around I'm using another intake, new gaskets again, and putting a thin layer of high temp rtv on both sides to eliminate any leaks. I've also reinspected the intake runners on the head and found no apparent cracks either. If this thing still leaks after this new intake, I'm out of ideas.