brentstrecker

Thanks for the advice guys. I was wondering how the compression would change with the newer heads. I'm more after good gas millage and regular gas than increasing performance. The motor only has around 60K miles on it so the bottom end should be good. But I don't know how long the head gasket has been blown or if the engine has over heated causing damage. It's fairly quiet running and the oil looks good and has been changed every 3K miles. Is it best to just of make sure the original HLA heads look good and but new gaskets in? What about finding a newer model engine? Also the engine seems to have power but accelerates very poorly at times. It falls on it's face if pressing on the throttle to hard. Is there a list of the different cylinder head specifications somewhere? Thanks again!

I'm about to tear into a 97 Outback with a EJ25 and automatic transmission. It's burping out radiator fluid sporadically. It's has a 96 engine in it with the DOHC and hydraulic valves. Should I get the 97 - 99 heads? From what I understand they increase power 10hp and don't recommend High octane gas. Also the Trany has 260K miles on it and shifts hard from 1 to 2nd. The other gear shifts are smooth. The oil in it appears to clean and new looking. Does it need rebuilding? I was thinking of doing a compression check. Any other things I should look at post op?