YASC : Yet another Subie Conversion, She's off and, uh, stalled... Options

[jsteele22]

Two weeks ago I drove up to Denver to look at an engine. An EJ25 SOHC in a wrecked 2000 Legacy w/ 70k miles. Listed as a "parts engine" b/c the front end was smushed and the T-belt broken. Price was $400. Not fantastic, but pretty good, IMHO.

(I paid $500 + $300 shipping for a DOHC EJ25 with only 30k mi last fall, but that turned out to be an EBay scam. I ended up getting $175 back through Ebay.)

Anyway, when I looked at the engine, I bumped my head on the hood. The wheels were off the car, and the hood rumpled in some, so it wasn't where it was "supposed" to be. I checked out a few other engines, then asked to look at this one again. Once again, I bashed my head, only this time I caught a sharp edge. Man, head wounds do some serious bleeding ! This one was a pumper. Didn't get a drop of blood on me, but everything a few feet in front of me got squirted. Righteous, as Hammer would have said.

Fast forward a week. I bought a pair of SOHC heads w/ low miles off Ebay for $150. Scored a batch of goodies (Water pump, t-belt, tensioner, gasket set) for $185 off NASIOC. So obviously, I've cast the die. Borrowed a friends truck, drove up to Denver, and picked up the engine. Got back to the Springs, and went straight to the tool store to pick up an engine stand. I ask the guy if there's one of the cheapest ones set up on display somewhere. Not real clear what he replied. Then I kind of remember the EMT asking me what kind of car i drive. Then the ER nurse is unhooking the EKG electrodes from my chest. Holy Crap ! No, it wasn't a heart attack. Some kind of seizure, but I won't know how/why it happened for at least a month and a half, if at all. Right now, all I know is that after asking about the engine stand, my face went blank, I turned to jello, fell to the floor, started twitching, and turned sorta blue.

So, in its own peculiar way, the project has begun. I've got a builder engine and parts, I've picked out an engine stand. And doctors orders : no driving ! I'm still pretty swamped w/ my day job + consulting job, so I really won't be able to start work until April or so anyways. But I can still ruminate (kind of like barfing up grass, but not really) about what I'm gonna do :

* Replace "questionable" heads w/ good ones.
* Maybe/probably get cams reground by Delta.
* All new gaskets, timing belt, pump, tensioner
* Brew up my own MegaSquirt-II + EDIS system.
* All the other stuff that goes along with an engine swap !

All this should put me on track to have my teener torn apart and undriveable in time for summer. Stay tuned.

[jsteele22]

Made a leetle bit of progress. After a week or two of advice-seeking and frettin, I decided that the pistons have got to go. I'm not gonna do anything crazy like high compression or forged or anything - stock will be just fine, thanks. My hope is that at 70k mi, the cylinders are still good, and won't need to be bored over. Anyways, new pistons means new rings, which means (at least) a hone, which means splitting the case, which means new bearings. Which means I had to poke around and find a bigger vein. This is no longer a CSOB conversion ! I just want it to run, someday....


Anyway, I pulled more stuff off the block, so now its light enough for me to pick it up and move it around, groaning optional. I almost got the case apart, but I need a 12 point socket, and the only FLAPS that sell those close early on Sunday (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

Subie engines have a new (to me) trick for removing the pistons. There's a little access port beside each cylinder that lets you reach in and remove the retaining clip for the wrist pin. Then, from the other side, you push the srist pin out the side of the block. Supposedly, it's possible to get the pistons out w/o splitting the case, but I didn't spend a lot of time trying. Here's a pic of the "access port". To the right is the end of the crankshaft. Inside the port, you can see the ends of the spring clip, and the orangish ring behind it is the end of the wrist pin.


Here's the oil pickup tube reaching for the bottom of the (absent) oil pan. That thing really sticks out ! Gotta start thinking how to make it (and the pan!) shorter.




And here's how she'll sit until I get the 12-point socket, and a lil' time to use it. Sharp eyes will notice something a little funny about the piston positions.