I recently did heads on a 2.5 DOCH, and thought I'd share some things to go with the accumulated advice in the archives.

 

 

First, to get the cam pulleys off, I used wood shims wedged between the pulleys to hold them in place to remove the bolts. This worked okay on the left side, but I broke the exh. pulley on the right side...so, don't do this. The replacement part is not easy to find either.

 

 

Also, as far as head gaskets go, it seems that Stone and Ishino are the same line. I got a package with a label that said Stone, but Ishino in small print on the cardboard backing.

So you didn't use Subaru gaskets? Let us know how you make out with that.

All the advice here is to use only soob gaskets on that motor.

use subaru OEM or have to replace the aftermarket ones in bout 5k miles...

Update:

 

35k miles on Stone/Ishino head gaskets. No problems yet.

Update:

 

35k miles on Stone/Ishino head gaskets. No problems yet.

 

congrats, i hope they last for the life of the car plus 1 day.

do you remember what you paid for them??

You know, I can't remember the price...not the cheapest and not the priceist. As I recall the set was special order from Carquest.