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They look like wave spring washers maybe? https://duckduckgo.com/?q=wave+spring+washers&iax=images&ia=images

Second this. If the previous two were composite gaskets and you're going to MLS, definitely have the heads resurfaced.

I'm no expert, but I haven't used copper spray on gaskets and had good results over the years.

The dogbone thing? They've all been the same length as far as I know, at least for EJ series.

Turbo needs a turbo capable ecu. All the turbo ecu's in your era need dohc. It's going to cost more both in money and time trying to turbo an sohc setup than dropping in a dohc longblock/ecu.

For the engine, doesn't matter much. Possibly help other mechanics not expecting a burning hot object so high up on the engine. That's where the trans dipstick is.

is the car in your posession? sounds like gaskets weren't done right from your story. you just need to confirm. no need to flush, start the car with engine cold. leave the radiator cap open and top off with plain water. idle it for 15-20mins, topping off with water until it's warm and the fans kick on. if you're seeing bubbles everytime you rev it, thats pretty much headgaskets. if not, it might be cracked radiator or leaking hose joints, because you mentioned steam. either way, if there's no bubbles, put the cap on and drive around, soon as the needle inches up, pull over and check if the reservoir is bubbling. any bubbles by now is headgaskets.

probably a good idea to install an oil gauge at this point. it's a non turbo so you probably have plenty of room to tap into the rear oil gallery plug. search for oil pressure sender gauges. i prefer the metal can looking ones with no plastic connectors that melt when placed near a turbo. don't ask how i know. it doesnt have to be routed inside. the gauge could live in the engine bay for diagnostic, taped to the hood, or unplugged if not needed.

Is the mount still not in the hole? Had something similar happen before. The bolts didnt line up with the crossmember holes. I think I removed the dogbone and put a ratchet strap on there to pull the entire engine back towards the firewall. Then slowly lower it while prying things into place scrap wood sticks. Like lower it so it barely presses the metal, then pry it until it slots in the hole. No ideas on the whining noises.

On a forester, everything is lifted an inch vs impreza chassis. If you had a forester body and put the impreza shaft in, you can put washers to lower the mount point. Not sure if anyone's done the reverse.

Haven't confirmed myself, but I believe Foresters have thicker carrier mount vs imprezas.

One area under the turbo that could leak, the drain port, gasket and tube. If you can get a good view of that, it would rule out the turbo. Here's where it is on a car with no lower heatshield.

Wastegate looks fine, clean it up and no lube if you feel like. BTW, your oil feed line looks bone dry. Don't touch it if you don't need to. At this point it's probably work hardened and probably will crack if you fiddle with it. Probably use an old cellphone and record video, tape it on a stick. Look under the turbo see if it's wet. Hopefully it's not the turbo and something else on the car.

Just pick some more up from the hardware store or online, They're M6 10mm hex head bolts, flanged is better or you can use washers with nonflanged ones. You probably don't want lock washers, these bolts heatcycle the most and like to corrode and fuse in place. It's better to have them loosen than get stuck and rounded off in the car. They just hold the heatshield in place any length is fine, probably 10-20mm is good enough.

SOHC will be the only guarantee of noninterference. With DOHC, if only one cam slips timing, it could cause the valves to collide. Thicker headgaskets and more boost is asking for headgasket failure. Only pre96 sohc heads were noninterference. Change the timing belt and idlers at the service intervals. It's usually the cogged idler that fails and takes out the belt. Very rarely does the belt fail for no reason.

It almost sounds like the clutch pedal doesn't fully release when you let off. I'd be looking at the master cylinder and pedal assembly for cracks. 02-05 tends to crack where the pedals mount onto the top of firewall. At this point might as well take apart both master and slave cylinders and clean them out. Maybe a clog or kink in the line is causing slow let off.

You don't need the exact alternator. I've thrown a '18 sti alternator in my 03 wrx. Just get the matching pigtail connector and splice it into the harness. Newer alternators have 3 wires, only two are used if it's an older model. As long as the alternator physically fits. You might have to get creative if the positive terminal is located differently between models. I'd say pull all the fuses and relays. Only leave enough in so the engine can start and run.

You mentioned it's coming off your usdm engine and not new. If the old engine had any bearing or piston issues, chances are high the cooler's already contaminated. Look more closely into reusing the cooler and decide for yourself. FWIW, I'm not running any factory oil cooler on my EJ257 swapped car. It's been at least 8 years now. No heat issues if you're worried about that.

post some pictures maybe

it's english http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/Impreza/2013/Impreza and XV Crosstrek Service Manual/

not sure on legacies, but on my imprezas, the ujoint bolts are reachable in the engine bay. if you unhook the steering column from the inside and let the wheel rest on the front seat. there's enough play to unhook the ujoint and flip the wheel around. do it with the battery unplugged because airbags

I've never used evoscan before, but it looks like the error message says the laptop can't even see your usb adapter. It looks like a problem between the laptop and adapter itself. Do you have a Windows 7 laptop to try it on? I'm looking at the evoscan web page and it doesn't say anywhere that it supports Windows 10

Yeah, the orings far away from the compressor rarely fail if left untouched. Though if you already loosened them, might as well replace them since you're there. Get an oring assortment box from wherever is convenient. The expansion valve, probably a quick glance will tell if you need a new one. If it's gunked up, looks corroded, just pick up any generic one that fits. You could try freezing it to see if it closes, it's probably not worth the effort. Oh the schrader valves could leak, though those are easily replaceable and can be done anytime.

You'll have to access it through the glovebox. Take out the entire fan/duct assembly to make life easier. Once you do that, there's a white cover with 3 or 4 screws holding it on. It's in the rearmost center console, near the floor. You'll be working around the passenger airbag, unplug the battery beforehand. There's a single nut that hangs the fan assembly way up near where the airbag is. Probably a cable bundle hanging from it. The expansion valve is sandwiched between the evap and external lines, when putting it all back together, get a helper to push on the engine side while you push from the cabin side. Try not to depend on the tiny bolts to pull everything together, it's easy to crossthread them. Other common places for leakage are the orings on the compressor and wherever there's a rubber hose to pipe coupler.

Find a local used tire center. Bring a tape roll measure or probably get by with string. Measure the circumferences of the tires. I think 1/4" difference is within specs for most cars.