Bushwick

If one sensor is out, the ABS light comes on. I have an issue with a sensor I can't deal with at the moment, and any time roads got really wet, ABS light would go out, but the ABS pump would pulsate the hell out of the brake pedal when coming to a stop, almost to the point of being dangerous as the car was taking longer to stop. I pulled the ABS fuse and that at least stopped it from acting up. If you pulled the fuse and pulled the ABS bulb, brakes should work like normal, but be warned they can now lock-up the tires on hard braking, causing skidding. I know if you disable an air bag, and someone is injured or killed in the vehicle due the bag being disconnected, a good lawyer could sue you over it. Dunno if brakes are the same way or not, especially when non ABS was still an option. So just FYI in case you go skidding into a school bus or cop car, etc.

If you can mount the cat BEFORE the turbo, like a really small and short high-flow, you won't have the back-pressure in the turbo housing, but turbo needs to be as close to the cat as possible as the hotter gases offer more velocity. Other option is a 3" down pipe with 3" to 4" high-flow cat, as that'll lower the back-pressure as well, allowing the turbine to spin easier. Straight-pipe (no cat) on a smaller exhaust housing turbo, offers basically instantaneous boost. When I was still running a GT2554 in my Saab, and had a straight pipe briefly, it went from complete vacuum to 15 psi in under a second. It's hit around 12 psi instantly. That was with a hollowed cat carcass. A 2.5" mandrel downpipe probably would have increased velocity, improving response further. If you have the money, modern ball-bearing turbos are the way to go. Garrett has their GTX line of ball-bearing turbos that are very responsive and offer improved blade designs, which improve spool-up, but you still need a high-flowing down pipe and muffler to compliment them. Steeper final gearing (4.10's, 4.44's, etc.) gets you moving quicker, and higher stall converters on auto trans can get you moving quicker as well. Biggest mistake people make with turbos is overly large exhaust housings and turbines wheels, with larger compressor wheels. They'll see little boost until almost 3500 rpms, and if they ever show a dyno graph, you'll see the engine barely makes NA power from off-idle until 3500 rpm, then all of a sudden it jumps to what the turbo can do, but in some cases it's intentional as they are in FWD with weak trans, shafts, etc. and the set up tolerates the power later in the revs better.

Ford cats won't tolerate running rich or lean too long. Gas additives seem to be the no.1 preventable cat-killing issue, even if they marketed as "cat safe". I lost a cat in a 92' SHO and 86' Cougar years ago, and the Cougar had gas additives, SHO was apparently in need of a sensor the earlier ECM diagnostics didn't alert to. Be sure to identify the cause before slapping another cat in there, as it'll likely do the same thing again if it's running funny. I remember dumping money into a new cat for the SHO, only to have the entire casing glow as bright as 12v cigar lighter element. If Y pipe has a cat at each side, and one where both sections connect (Ford usually ran quad cats pre/post for factory dual exhausts, so I'm guessing you have 3 total with Y pipe), figure on replacing the entire Y section or cut old cats out and weld in a universal(s) as Y sections can get expensive even for the crimped corner piping that won't last long, but factory piping with aftermarket cats can last longer and will cost less. Also, if one of the cats melted but didn't dislodge, and other is breathing freely, it'll have excessive back-pressure on one side, and possibly excessively high EGT which is bad. Removing the cats might cause it to run rich constantly, which is also bad, so you'd be better off not putting it off longer than needed.

When I had my 96' Lincoln Mark VIII, at one time I installed a class II hitch and was pulling a 750 pound U-Haul dolly pretty regularly, and towed roughly 20 cars/trucks/vans over the course of a summer. Car went over plenty of scales, so I knew the weight of the car, dolly, and everything towed. Car weighed 4100 pounds with me in it, full tank of gas, 150 pounds of heavy sub box + audio gear, and another 100+ in tools. Pulling that dolly, put me in pick up truck territory. Then, I pulled everything from 5400 pound long bed ext. cab F150's to Chevy full-size vans to AWD Mazda vans, to 3400 pound Luminas, etc. And this was in western PA where they have decent grades, twisty roads, etc. So most weight ever was the 5400 pound F150, + 4100 for the car, + 750 for dolly = 10,250 I pulled over 100 miles distance, and other vehicles sometimes even further, plus all the regular driving of just the car. Wanna take a stab at the high-end brand name rotors, calipers, and pads I was running? Stock..... with $25 Chinese rotors, $12 pads, and factory calipers. I drove the car another 3 years on that same set of pads/rotors and they still had meat left when I sold the car and it didn't pull, make noise, etc. I spent roughly 9 years driving semis, and one thing you realize with all that mind-numbing emptiness of driving 24-7, is there's a rather bizarre psychology surrounding people when they drive in packs (reminds me of a disorganized flock of birds), whether they are on the highway, going to work in the AM, or dead-locked trying to get home after their work day. They almost ALWAYS rush, then tailgate, then hit their brakes every 10 seconds because the car in front of them is doing 79mph and they are in some unconscious panic to get passed, only to slow down once they do. Or people accelerate as fast as possible only ride the bumper of the 100-car-line ahead of them (which they clearly see, but tailgate anyways) and are constantly on their brakes. People on cell phones are even worse. People don't understand part of the brain that needs to focus on driving isn't, and car after car will hit brakes, almost rhythmically every 5-15 seconds w/o fail despite being only car, and they are completely oblivious. Point of rant wasn't to attack, just to point out that people that go through their brakes quickly, are often doing one or more of the above w/o realizing. One of my ex girlfriends was that way. Was riding with her and noticed she hit that brake pedal something like 27 times in 60 seconds and there wasn't a need for it. She didn't seem to understand that if you let off the gas pedal and maintained an average speed, the car would slow on it's own. Was funny as she never realized she was doing it.

When I got my 95', I knew absolutely nothing about Subaru. Just wanted an AWD winter vehicle to pull my other car out of winter duty. Being somewhat paranoid due to the mileage (177k IIRC at the time), I pulled the oil pump apart and inspected it when putting a new timing belt on. And as Fairtax mentioned about the really low psi threshold of the dummy light sensor (ironically, I think he mentioned it in my thread as well when 1st doing all this), I opted to to remove that sensor and install a mechanical oil gauge instead. Big part of doing this, is you can keep a closer eye on what's going on with the oil. In my case, was also concerned that if I screwed up the oil pump tear down, hopefully I'd catch any issues before point of no return. Also, this is a great way to get accustomed to what's normal for the engine and what's not. With 10w 30 synthetic, it's usually 75-80 psi cold idle, then 8-10 psi warm idle. Usually 35-40 psi cruising at lower rpm. So if any of those figure drop significantly, I'll hopefully catch it. Safest oil gauges are the ones with the electronic sender that threads into the engine, as you just need to run the wiring into the car, but those are more expensive. More affordable gauges you need to run a tiny hose into the cabin, and it needs to then thread into the gauge, making it more cumbersome to physically mount the gauge, and any leaks will be rapid and messy. I opted for copper tubing (never use nylon as that hardens and cracks with age) and bought an equal length of rubber vacuum hose, roughly 5/16" ID and fed the copper through that to act as insulation, and to minimize and possible ruptures to limit where that oil can physically go. Plus, it prevents kinking the hose with sharp bends. Removed the ash tray and installed gauge there. While saving $40 might not be worth it to some to risk running a mechanical gauge, the copper tubing is safer, plus you get a true reading at the gauge. Definitely worth the piece of mind knowing oil pressure is OK by just glancing down at it. You could try running a straight 30 or even 40 weight like the big semi truck diesels run, and it might buy you some time, but you REALLY need to baby the engine and keep rpms as low as possible at all times to maximize life. That can hopefully get you to work for a short while. When you install the donor, run synthetic oil, and I suggest running a 10w 30. Synthetic is just better than conventional and well worth the few dollars expense. 10w can be a tad thick in cold temps, and some swear by 5w in other cars, but every time someone is on here saying they are getting a loud knocking noise, it's their hydraulic timing belt tensioner and they just switched to a 5w. 10 (winter) is tolerable enough, and it'll thicken to 30 once warm. 10w 40 is a little much, and more suited to desert temps or track racing.

+2 on covering the tail pipe. A foil ball jammed in works and wrap some around the opening then zip-tie or rubber band it, to make it that much harder, as they won't chew on that. I've run into 2 instances where *something* found it's way into an exhaust pipe, and smoked for good 25 minutes after 1st starting. Suppose the stupid things are gassed by the carbon monoxide in under a minute or are knocked out from the velocity of the gases, then get smoked. They can't get any further than the cat substrate (doubt they'll chew much on ceramic as that has to be really abrasive on the teeth), but if they are up in the cat casing, chances are they'll get lodged into the muffler baffling. Last time the smoking was so vile, my female neighbor decided it warranted complaining to me how her asthmatic kids were convulsing on the floor... well, the way she was griping they might as well have been Jackstands can make it harder for mice to get on or in the car, assuming it's high enough of the ground and they can't scale any section of the stands or reach a tire. Condensation can and will build up in the gas tank. I think it's typically frowned on to fill tank all the way before parking. Usually I'll leave 1/4 to 1/2 tank, then when time comes, put a gallon of fresh gas in and then run to gas station and fill with premium. Dunno if that's "right" by internet standards, I just do it. No point in having a full tank go bad. Additives can remove the water, but be diligent with directions. I strongly suggest driving up to one those high pressure washer places and putting like $5 worth of quarters in, pop the hood, then spray exterior down really good, spray under side of hood, spray the upper fenders where they bolt the body, trying to get in between the fender and body while avoiding the engine, wiring, and intake + air filter opening, and also spray your rims, the inner fender wells including the struts, then spray as much of the underside of the car as you can reach from each side, and hit the exhaust as well as the rear crossmember area. That way any salt (dunno if you have gotten snow there or not) that's just sitting now, won't have a chance to eat your car over the next 5 months. Do NOT set the e-brake as those will almost certainly be locked up. Moisture on the rotors will rust, seizing the pads or possibly shoes. I've debated spritzing WD-40 on the rotors then using brake cleaner to get that off, as my 9-3 for instance, now needs 4 new rotors from sitting, as they either need turned or replaced now. That occurred in 4 month span being parked in a driveway over last summer. So be proactive if the car will be outside.

If they ever get noisy, or are constantly "deflating" after sitting overnight, causing a ton unwanted harmonics after starting up the engine, go ahead and prime all the gunk out of them. Some people suggest oil additives vs. manually cleaning, but inspecting each lifter and thoroughly cleaning all the gunk out, including any tarnish in the oil feeds on the rockers, will give you a better idea if the lifters are indeed OK, weak, or have failed. I've seen a lot of ej engines on you tube (seems rampant in ej-swapped VW's) where everything is chrome, or they put money into dressing the engine up, only for it to clack away like rocks in a barrel rolling down a hill. Even worse, some people think that's the way Subaru engines are supposed to sound.

Yeah, if brakes are glazed, then someone has been riding the brakes causing them to get too hot. Anytime you see front rims caked in brake dust, that's from someone that doesn't understand how to brake properly. You accelerate, and ONLY hit brakes when you need to STOP. No other time should foot be on that pedal. Brakes are not designed to regulate speed.

It would have behooved you to clean out all the lifters when you had the rocker assembly out. My 95' ej22 engine after getting the car, had quite a few dead lifters that would not, under any circumstance pump up, so I got lower mileage replacements, and had primed them in clean oil, poured into a large cap. A TON of gunk came out that was darker than the oil, suggesting the oil that enters them sometimes remains in them too long. Every lifter from both engines was nasty with dark gunk, with varying degrees of "pump" before cleaning them, and completely solid after (replacements). After priming and cleaning, and bleeding air out, you drop them in fresh oil (an old bottle works great) and do the next one. Once ALL are done, I inspected the oil lifter hole in the rocker and cleaned out the oil feed, so it was bare metal and not dark with tarnish. Then, you should pour a small amount of oil in that rocker hole and reinsert the lifter. It'll force that oil OUT the oil hole and lifter will almost be at a suction. I removed and repeated several times just to be sure the oil feed holes were clean. This also assures plenty of oil around the lifter when the engine is 1st run, and as oil the actual rocker on the shaft while at it. Basically anything that moves on metal, needs some oil. I think I also dabbed a small amount of oil on each lifter tip as well as the valve tip inside the spring retainer, to minimize ANY metal on metal. Been around 2 years now and still have quiet lifters. You must replace the the rockers and their spring metal spacers exactly as they were removed, or you'll have issues.

I've had similar issues with my Saab. In my 9-3, it constantly monitors how long it takes the engine to reach the desired, pre-programmed temp. If it spends too much time BELOW the temp it's "supposed" to be at, it'll throw a code. In my case, I switched to one of those "fail open" thermostats. And in under a year, it failed open, causing the engine to never get more than a 1/4 of the way off the bottom of the temp range. Replaced that with another fail open, and same thing occurred, almost exactly 11 months later (the things are not reliable). Back when carb'd V8's were still king, I ran a restrictor (looked like a giant washer) in place of the thermostat in one of my early Fox Mustangs. That iron-headed 302 loved it and it ran better. But modern cars either need their ECM flashed to accommodate the lower temps, or you need to somehow fool the sensor into thinking it's warmer than it really is. Reset the ecm by pulling neg. battery terminal when car is cold, then go drive it for 20-30 minutes, until it should be at normal operating temps, and constantly monitor the temp gauge. If the gauge is slow to get to the middle-range of the temp, you might have low coolant, air pockets in coolant system from improper coolant filling techniques, or maybe both radiator fans are running constantly from start up. Could also have a faulty temp sensor, though the other things mentioned are more likely. If you are familiar with how HOT the heater's heat is, turn the heater to vent on full heat setting on high, and see if it's blowing really hot heat, or luke-warm air. If the temp sensor is malfunctioning, the heater should still be blowing HOT air once engine is fully warmed up. If it's blowing cold to luke-warm air, you probably have air in the system or the thermostat is faulty. A thermostat stuck open, the engine might reach middle-temp range on gauge from idling, but will drop when car is moving. Heat from the heater will also drop as engine is getting cooled, if stuck open. Also, you stated you installed a genuine Subaru thermostat? Did you replace with the correct temp? If an engine is supposed to be 185 degree and you install a 160 degree (just for example), on a car that's constantly checking the temps, it'll throw a code as it's expecting the hotter opening thermostat.

Belts are $15-25. I suggest a Goodyear Gatorback (pretty sure that's what I have) as they have cross-cut sections on the grooves, allowing for better grip on pulley surface. I installed a 130 amp alt from an ez36 Tribecca on my 95' Legacy with ej22, and rather than convert the entire assembly over to the wider Tribecca pulleys or even try and retrofit the thinner stock pulley onto the more powerful alternator, I left everything alone as the extra exposed groove on the pulley is just ignored. The overall offset of the Tribecca alt pulley was identical to the stock setup, just with an exposed ribbing in the pulley being unused. As you can imagine, running a slightly thinner belt on an accessory that really needs the larger belt can cause slippage. I didn't get any squeaking until pushing my audio system hard at night, which started exceeding the belt's ability to hold firmly, even with a new stock belt. I switched to the Goodyear with the cross-cut sections and surprisingly it's been holding up very nicely. Well worth a few extra dollars. Also, as I've discovered with mine, belt being "tight" means absolutely nothing on these, especially if you have the thinner belts. My guess is your AC compressor and alternator are overpowering your stock belt's ability to not slip. If the belt is dry, has cracking when bending, or signs of glazing, it needs replaced. With mine, I've had to ignore the recommended slack amount, and instead I turn everything ON (lights, heater, heated seat, defrost, A/C, and in my case turn radio up so all 3 amplifiers are making the alt work) then grab the the throttle cable bracket and slowly rev to around 3k for a couple seconds or whatever it takes to NOT allow the A/C to cut out, until no slippage occurs, then lock that adjustment in. With yours, I suspect a brand new good quality belt will solve the issue. When you are pressing the clutch in or going into neutral, your alt, A/C compressor, power steering pump, etc. are not placing the same strain on the belt, hence the slipping stops.

Carbon getting burnt out (from spirited acceleration at wide open throttle) kinda stinks. Oil getting burnt definitely stinks. Burning oil + diesel is disgusting. Coolant getting burnt produces thick, white clouds that do not disperse immediately and tend to linger a 5-10 seconds, vs. carbon that disappears almost right away. I had a Taurus SHO that belched out a dark gray smoke almost any time I tried pulling away in 2nd gear, at full throttle, and seemed to be a little excessive, but never figured out what was causing it (could have been the clutch, but never was able to detect the smell). You might have two different issues that are appearing at the same time. Could have a minor coolant leak (pin hole in radiator hose, loose clamp, etc.) that's causing the level to drop, and the pu-f-f of smoke could be carbon build up getting burnt off. I'd try and see if you can get the car to repeat the smoking every time or not. If need be, get someone else to accelerate quickly from a stop, to say 50kph then stop, while you are standing outside the car and try and run up and see if you can smell it and describe the scent better. Also, does your car have a manual transmission? A slipping clutch, a leaky rear main or even leaky valve covers can sometimes drip enough oil to get the clutch wet, and it'll slip slightly, and THAT smell is noxious. Dragging brakes stink just about as bad.

If someone inserted an incorrect bulb or forced an incorrect bulb in, it can cause the wrong filament to light i.e. turn running lights on and it lights the brake filament, or both filaments act like a single bulb due to a shorting across the bulb's lead contact points. I've seen that often where someone might have 2 physical bulbs per side, 4 will light like running/parking lights, and outer most bulbs will be dual filament and also light as brake lights, and while they just have running lights on, one of their brake lights will be illuminated as well. Over hours and hours of constant use, that can melt plastic or even deform the housing on some cars. In some cases I've seen single filament forced into a dual filament holder, so any time I buy a car and a rear bulb is out, I'll pull all bulb connectors out and inspect/replace everything in pairs, making sure to adhere to what the car calls for. When I got my Legacy, it had 2 lights out and one of the bulbs was incorrect for the car. Worth ruling that out. Also, does the fuse blow when lights are on? Or is it blowing once the brakes are applied? I've seen the actual switch that's connected the brake pedal fail on a handful of cars over the years. Normally they fail in the ON position, causing the brake lights to remain lit even after car is shut off. Suppose it's possible the switch could break/crack, and might short out to the actual pedal or whatever the switch is attached to. If that happened at the switch, I imagine it'd be hard on the fuse. Worth a check.

^ Like he said. Plugs and even valve cover removal is easy and plenty of room.

If it's not coming from the engine area, it could be cold cats. Catalytic converters, when engine is 1st started, do not convert the raw gas going unburnt through exhaust, until proper cat temps are achieved. So for the 1st couple minutes of only idling, it'll almost smell like raw gas is being dumped. Once cats get hot enough to function correctly, they convert the gases. Also, another issue is engines tend to run really rich when cold, to improve cold-start idle, then gradually lean out to correct ratio. When engine is running rich, and cats are cold due to cold ambient temps, you'll get that old car, straight pipe smell briefly.

I've got the 95' 2.2L in my 95' wagon and other than replacing the timing belt when I 1st got it, and installing lower mileage lifters (factory lifters were shot and making a large ruckus, and would not hold a pump even after cleaning them out of the engine; replacements were free but new are roughly $5 each) that I still cleaned and bled the dark gunk from within (hydraulic lifters), it's as quiet as it was after the replacing them going on 2 years now. And VERY easy to get at assuming they need any attention. Other than synthetic oil changes, plugs/wires, fuel filter, air filter, and fresh vacuum lines, it's seemingly been a good engine thus far w/o CEL appearing (ABS light is another story). Power is decent enough for what it is (you won't outrun a modern 275 hp minivan) and I have roughly 250 pounds of stuff in the car at all times and it pulls good enough regardless. It had I think 177k miles when I got (I think) and I'm nearing 189k miles now. Runs as good as an engine with 1/4 of the mileage. No smoking, passed e-check twice; running an external oil pressure gauge (I did pull oil pump apart and cleaned everything to bare metal, and resealed with anaerobic sealant due to too many unknowns) and it's roughly 75-80 psi cold, and roughly 8-10 psi hot. This things are like the Chevy 350 of the 80's. Very cheap to maintain them. And being 95', IF timing belt were to fail, valves shouldn't hit anything. Like others said, they ARE getting harder to find. I have a ton of 97-99' cars being sold locally for $800-1000, but 95-96 are getting scarce.

I gotta agree with Gary. You most likely have a pinhole on a rusted section, somewhere else on the car, and it's slowly undoing what you've bled. I have a 95' Legacy Wagon I've had for roughly 2 years now, or Oct of the year I joined here. I bought the car with a completely rotted rear crossmember (car would move in driveway, but rear was just free-floating AND a rear brake line was shot). I replaced rear crossmember, and that brake line section. I pumped the brakes, then wedged a long snow scraper onto the still-pressed brake pedal and wedged other end off seat track. Got out, and starting with the furthest away bleeder, cracked it loose until air escaped, then closed. Went back and pumped brakes again, rinse/repeat for all bleeders until air stopped exiting and only fluid exited, then topped of reservoir in between as needed. Last year, I had an idiot plow truck back right out in front of me from a driveway, forcing me to stand on the brakes, which caused another leak, up near the passenger-front caliper, where the metal line bends hard to feed into the body hole of engine compartment, and snakes up to the ABS pump. Was able to limp car to DR. appt., then drove it (barely) to a local AZ where I swapped the line in the parking lot, and got enough pedal to get me home. Once again, bled brakes same as before, and they've held since. If your fluid level is dropping AFTER you've "bled" the system, you still have a leak somewhere. I suggest pulling up on DRY pavement (hopefully underside of car is dry too as water can mask leaks) and try pumping it more, then look under car, above rear crossmember, in engine compartment where lines feed out of ABS pump, etc. Also, while not overly powerful, brake fluid DOES have an odor. It's not as strong as coolant leaking, but if you are close to the leak, you'll smell it. Keep it OFF painted surfaces as it'll remove paint like chemical stripper does.

Can anyone confirm if 96' sedan doors will fit a 95' wagon? I remember something about the rear glass is supposedly different between the 2. Is glass swappable between the two frames?

You might be getting someone else's tired engine at that price. If you get the crank turned, new pistons + rings, block honed, etc. and just get the heads checked for warping or buy reman heads, it should be well under $2k. I don't even think a basic pushrod V8 runs that much. Don't forget that "JDM" will most definitely need a new belt, idlers, etc. Could also get a reman engine with a warranty. They'd probably take your old engine as a core. Remans are basically new and should be trouble free. It's be a straight swap and you'd be good. I'm fairly certain Auto Zone and Advanced have reman options, so worth calling and just getting a price. I imagine the reman will have a new or respec'd dampener as I doubt you want to reuse yours if it's wobbling. Trying to think of what would be better for you in the long run with reliability. Buying used you just never know and might be back at square one again.

When I was still running my 96' Lincoln Mark VIII (It had minor mods to reduce intake and exhaust restrictions including a 50 pound reduction in aftermarket high-flow mufflers and K&N, intake resonator screen removed and larger opening filter box, lowered 1.5" via bracket modding to lower the bags, full synthetics bumper to bumper, spark plugs custom filed +5 hp on V8's, etc.) and when those SHO originally came out, hadn't realized what it was and an old guy was driving an all black SHO and raced me from a 35 MPH cruising speed and couldn't over take no matter how hard he tried. Wasn't until the next light when he passed me that I saw it was a SHO. From a dig, it probably would have passed me, but all that extra weight it has was killing it's top-end. Think they weigh 4600 pounds w/o driver (Mark VIII was 3700 but closer to 3865 with me in it) I suggest getting an ECM flash/chip to up your power levels before seeking out an STi or even a Mazda 3, etc. as they'll probably be quicker, especially if they have upgrades. My Mark VIII was roughly a low 14 second car and was even quicker than the V6 Nissans with their 270hp and those are 14 second cars as well. It still had the factory 3.08's and auto.

Is there a reason why you won't rebuild? Unless you are willing to take a large HP/TQ hit, leave it turbo'd. A wobbling crank pulley sounds rather strange though. If it were me, I'd just rebuild the engine and stuff forged parts into it and maybe get the heads and valves professionally re-worked. You run a risk with overseas engines as once it ends up on your door step, if it's trashed you have little recourse.

I sent a PM, but just realized you have sedan doors so don't think they'll work. Thanks for mentioning them though. Mine are still there, but the paint is peeling off and they've gotten pretty gross. Probably gonna wait until roads stop getting salted before messing with them.

That's factory? I know it was tight on mine (older engine obviously) but it looks like straight boots could clear the tops of that cable. Oh well. Something new every day

With the stalk assembly detached from the column, I should be able to find out what's clicking. I'll try and tear into it and see if it's fixable or not and update with results. If something is actually broken, I'll try and find a OB stalk and see if that's direct plug and play or not.

If dealing with an immobilizer car and only running the engine stock, you should be able to swap everything over and have it work just as it would in the car it came with. At Sir Junk, there are more people that have done LS based builds into the WRX than Legacy, and not many of them seem to post here, so if you go a GM V8 route, consider a checking a forum with more diehard WRX owners. If you were willing to do a NA V8 build with a carb (like a small block Ford~450hp with aluminum heads, intake, smaller carb, etc.), that'd be pretty different and much easier to pull off. Regardless, if you ever get into it, be sure to run a parallel thread in this forum as we don't seem to get many 6 or 8 cylinder build threads.