I have a 91' loyale with a ej18 in it. I want to put a ej22 in there and am looking for an engine to rebuild. Is this a worthy candidate?

http://vi.raptor.ebaydesc.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemDescV4&item=273759940181&category=33615&pm=1&ds=0&t=1578590348143&cspheader=1

In my opinion no.

Just get the EJ22 and call it a day,

If you want the experience, rebuild the one you pull.

.P

Right after I posted this I found a ej22 at my local junk yard. It was pulled from a 95 legacy that was rear ended and totaled. It has 268,000 on it but was checked out before being pulled and was labeled "a good runner". They couldn't find any compression numbers for it though. I'm just gonna replace head gaskets, timing belt assembly, cam seals and main seals. Anything else I should replace?

The HG on the 2.2 are not much of a problem.  I would not do them unless you know they are bad.

Check out www.car-part.com

I'm sure you will find one with lower miles.

1 hour ago, lmdew said:

The HG on the 2.2 are not much of a problem.  I would not do them unless you know they are bad.

Check out www.car-part.com

I'm sure you will find one with lower miles.

Alright. I'd like to check the condition of the cylinders at the same time. It's pretty oily on the underside, I can't see any sign of coolant and the oil doesn't show signs of contamination. 

Car-part may have one with lower miles but I only paid $200 and it's already on the stand in my garage.

It’ll look like every other subaru’s cylinders - visible crosshatching... what more do you want to look at? 

If the HGs are not blown, don’t touch them. I got five years from my junk yard HG’d EJ22 before they started leaking. They didn’t have an easy life in my hands either - boiled the coolant on a soft beach crossing, froze the block up in our high country (used the wrong coolant - rookie mistake!). Two years after the freezing they let go when I gassed the AC for the first time in having this engine. 

New HGs and she’s still going. Wish I did the rings at the same time but didn’t know about this practice back then. 

I’d do the cam belt kit and water pump, all coolant pipes, front and rear engine oil seals then shove it in. If you’re removing the intake manifold for whatever reason, I’d replace the coolant crossover pipe O rings too. 

Cheers 

Bennie

Reseal , freshen timing parts , the usual stuff and run it to 350k

Odds are it’ll give you that much more miles with little to no trouble. 

odds are that the oiliness is from the cam cover seals being shot, not the headgaskets.

make sure you reseal the oil separator plate on the back of the engine.. if it has a plastic cover, get the metal replacement & the screws to go with it (the screws for the plastic cover are too long to use with the metal one).

 

Indeed , be prepared with a bullnose Phillips screwdriver and you might find tapping on it as you turn helps break them free. They can be bears. 

4 hours ago, moosens said:

Indeed , be prepared with a bullnose Phillips screwdriver and you might find tapping on it as you turn helps break them free. They can be bears. 

I’ve got one of those hammer drivers for that job. Makes those oil seperator plate screws child’s play  

Cheers 

Bennie

If it's got over 200k then you SHOULD do the HG's on that motor. The EJ22's will eventually blow. Usually between 250k and 300k. One of my loaners has 330k and it blew the HG's at 285k. Was never abused. One owner with meticulous maintenance and mobile 1 synthetic it's whole life. 

GD

He’s right again. Just that I would take that chance. Adds to the budget and only you know what your finances dictate. Roll dice , don’t roll dice. But the engine is a solid performer and odds are you’d at least get a year out of it. For all we know maybe that’s all you expect or want from it. I’ve been there. Grab a winter beater so I can work sidejobs and make many thousands of dollars from a $500 car.... done that. Worth it. 

Actually at the same point now with my 2003. I’ll do the headgaskets because I really want to keep this car. That’s my expectancy. Not a favor to my budget but we hope times plays out well and the job becomes even more worthwhile. 

The gaskets are only $100 retail from Subaru and if you buy them online it's probably about $80 or less. You can resurface the heads yourself with sandpaper and glass. On the EJ22E you can do the HG's without even pulling off the valve covers. I would absolutely do them prior to installation. 

GD

EJ22s are really easy to do.  External head bolts, small heads.  Knock that cake walk out.  

Thanks for all the info and input guys.

I'm going to do the head gaskets along with all the other stuff mentioned. It would be my luck that they blow as soon as I put it in the car.

Right now I'm working on figuring a way to do a compression check while it's on an engine stand (cold obviously). Also, what numbers am I looking for?

 

1 hour ago, nvu said:

 

Ok, so I need a starter. What are good/bad compression numbers for this engine? I've seen numbers ranging all over the place.

15% rule still apply ? 

Doesn’t answer your question but good rule of thumb. 

I’m surprised those numbers aren’t readily available. But then again I don’t search like I should either. Lol

A normal good-running NA engine will throw about 190 compression in the car. After sitting I would expect it to be lower. As long as they are even the number doesn't matter. If I pulled a cold compression from an engine that had sat on a shelf I wouldn't be surprised to see all of them around 100. 

GD

When I do the head gaskets, do I need new head bolts? I've seen people say yes and no.

4 hours ago, Zip Tie said:

When I do the head gaskets, do I need new head bolts? I've seen people say yes and no.

No.  Reuse them. Subaru says so in the FSM.  Subaru gaskets and reuse the bolts.

head prep, cleaning and lubricating threads and proper torque is where you want to pay attention.

If you don’t want to clean the old ones or they’re pitted and damaged, get new ones.  I’ve never replaced head bolts, I did like once 10 years ago on some outlier engine 

If they are pitted from rust, etc. then replace them. If they aren't just clean them in some mineral spirits. DO NOT wire wheel them. You will remove the anti-friction coating they have. Use Amsoil assembly lube (a LOT of it) for head bolt lube after chasing the block threads and making sure they are brain-surgery clean. 

GD

Alright. Thanks again.