GeneralDisorder

It's likely the thermo-switch that turns on the fan. So yeah it's pretty important. GD

Can't use em. The pistons will hit the HEAD and you will cause severe and irreparable damage . They crest above the deck of the block. What you have are the 251 gaskets. You need 25D gaskets or Cometic's. As I have said the pistons are NOT any shorter on the 99. They are the same piston as 97/98. They crest above the block and are dished with a squarish pattern in the center. The raised portion around the dish is just exactly as high as the '96 pistons. The gasket thickness is to prevent piston/head chamber interference. And yeah - Fel-Pro or any aftermarket non-performance head gasket with the 25D block is a super bad idea. It will not end well. GD

Auto tranny cooler. Just pull off the hoses and leave the nipples open. GD

sube101 and I worked closely on the design of dual-to-single adapters which he can produce for anyone here at a cost of about $80. You simply cut off the dual port sections right after they merge together and either weld or clamp the adapters to the remaining "stubs". They work very well and are easy to install. A hack saw or die grinder is all that's needed and you can use generic exhaust clamps from the parts store if you don't want to do any welding. GD

It certainly appears that way from your photo's. What does that gook smell like? If it smells like gear oil then that's pretty much the only place it can come from. GD

No it's the same stroke. Different piston height. And yes they crest above the block. But the 25D pistons are dished like a turbo piston in the center to lower the compression. 251's don't crest above the block but they have flat-top pistons AND use a much thinner HG resulting in higher CR. You can always get a Cometic gasket to lower it back down some. The '96 25D has flat-top pistons AND they crest above the block so even with a thick HG (required) they are still over 12:1. GD

You can't check the input shaft seal on the transmission. The only way to access it is to split the transmission case in half. At which point it's much easier to just replace it. GD

There's no ECU in those cars. There's a fuel pump control unit that runs the fuel pump for 1.5 second when the key is turned to run and then waits for a tach signal before turning on the pump again. They don't fail often - unless they get wet and corrode inside. I suspect you really need to clean out the carb - probably something floating around in the bowl and intermittently clogging a jet. GD

Order the hose from the dealer - it's only about $12. Nothing beats new, supple rubber. GD

Heh. Thanks for the kind words from all my USMB friends! :-p By all means you are welcome to bring it by my shop. I'll give you some pointers on getting your fuel mileage up and finding the source of what ails your Loyale. Give me (Rick) a call - 503-880-4084. GD

99 block will be an 8 bolt bell-housing. It's the only 8 bolt dual cam N/A out there.... Well till you get into the H6's and newer FB/FA engines, etc. It's really a 251 case/crank/rods with 25D pistons. A little trick on Subaru's part. GD

http://www.get-primitive.com/ I fully endorse their offerings. Have one on my 91 SS. Best Subaru skid plates hands down. They are a local business to me and the guy that makes the actual skid plates and does a lot of their office work is a friend of mine. Very high quality products. GD

Bad ball joints are the usual cause of accelerator/brake steering effects. GD

Cast iron hubs would be a DISASTER waiting to happen. Too brittle. They are high tensile steel and welding them with standard .035 MIG wire has not been a problem for filling the holes. I fill the holes, grind the welds down a bit then turn off the last bit of excess in my lathe. For the studs I just fusion weld the edges of the stud to the hub with TIG. This works very well and when you need to replace a stud it's not that difficult to grind through and pop them loose. GD

Yeah it does. It was an experiment. Now it's going to need E85 and a standalone to take advantage of the crazy high compression. GD

All 2.5 bottom ends when coupled with 2.2 heads are interference. The 96 is MORE interference due to its flat top pistons. It's also a very bad candidate for a FM - the compression is over 12:1 and the ECU will totally freak out. The best FM is made with the '99 25D. Comp. ratio is 10.6:1 and they have 52mm rods. 97/98 are same comp. and 251/253 bottoms will yield about 11.5:1 GD

Might not be the pump. Check for power to the pump while cranking, check for fuel flow out the fuel line at the carb, check fuel filter, etc. Don't troubleshoot with Visa - you should have learned that in my shop. GD

Heads can be rebuilt. If you really want to insure long gasket life you need to resurface the block as well. GD

Full depth. Factory cam seals on a '00 will be Viton (brown) and should never require replacement. Leave them be. GD

Yeah I would just fix it with a new pinion bearing. GD

Don't recall on the older ones but in newer models the combo switches are seperate so you could move the wiper stalk with its controls to a plain L model headlight switch.... without replacing the entire assembly. GD

Fork could be broken as well. GD

My experience has been that the crack will just come back even if you peen them, stitch them, etc. Since it's a non issue I go with Subaru's engineering advice - ignore them completely. Never had a failure related to between-valve cracks on a non-turbo. GD

It's just not an issue in the real world. I'm sure they are pretty but your fears are unfounded. There's a Brat in my garage that ran three rally-x seasons on poorly drilled and badly welded (not my work) 6 lug hubs - last season it was AWD and is sporting a high comp. 2.5 pushing about 180 HP. Not a single failure ever occurred. The whole design is overbuilt and cracked hubs just don't happen. Also - when I do them I just weld the stud in place. That pretty much makes the seating against the back of the hub a non-issue. I've done it without before but over time they will work loose and spin since the splines were not broached but just formed from pressing in the studs. GD

Kit is listed as fitting both EA81's and EA82's. Can't happen. You need to get a proper Exedy Japanese kit not that O'Reilly's garbage. GD