Project Slowbaru - Page 4

**LingLing** · 04-06-2013

Got the motor pulled last night. I couldn't believe how easy it was to get out. Once I got it unbolted from the transmission and realized there was only one bolt per lower mount I cracked the beers open and got a little sidetracked. Today will be spent getting the head clearances figured out, disassembling the brakes, putting my short shifter in and re-painting the block black.

**LingLing** · 04-13-2013

I spent most of the day hanging out in the garage. I started picking tools up, one thing led to another and I ended up pulling the n/a heads off, discovered I had headgaskets as thick as waffles, stripped the old chipped black paint off and shot it with some super high-temp silver paint.

Before

During

After

I was thinking about how well my fuel setup would handle e85 and I came to the conclusion that the best way to go would be to convert to top feed injectors. From what I hear, side feed style injectors get pretty temperamental when the size gets bigger than 850cc. By converting to top feed I'll have a more choices and will be able to run 1000cc+ with no issues.

blageo23 · 04-14-2013

Thats the OEM headgaskets straight fromt he dealer

. looking awesome man! Can you fill those damn tires up before you wreck them. LOL

**LingLing** · 04-14-2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by blageo23

Thats the OEM headgaskets straight fromt he dealer

. looking awesome man! Can you fill those damn tires up before you wreck them. LOL

Do you remember if it was for the 22T? or the 25D? The 22E gaskets I bought are MLS, but are not NEARLY as thick as the ones that came out. I never had issues with the gaskets I pulled off, and like the little extra height it provides. Even with such a thick gasket, the timing marks lined up the way they should. The .05" compressed thickness the EJ22E MLS gasket provides should be enough for the valves to clear the pistons with stock cams, but am concerned the extra lift from upgraded cams will cause issues with the thinner MLS gaskets I bought from Subaru.

Flat tires are safe tires, right?!

I filled them up a few days ago, but they keep losing air. I have to get the back end up on stands anyway to drop the transmission.

blageo23 · 04-14-2013

I dont rememeber what they were off of. I just said I want the updated gaskets and thats what they gave me. They are legos, everything fits together. And I know one of the wheels was cracked, we fixed it tho

blageo23 · 04-14-2013

Come to think of it the one that was cracked I believe I swapped out with another one from another subaru I had.

C3L1CA · 04-14-2013

Looks like you had a busy weekend. Engine looks good enough to eat off of!

**LingLing** · 04-15-2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by C3L1CA

Looks like you had a busy weekend. Engine looks good enough to eat off of!

Thanks yo! I could have spent longer on it, but it's covered by everything else so I figured as long as it's silver it'll look better.

**LingLing** · 04-17-2013

Well! What a few weeks it's been.

I've decided to pull the trigger on Ryan's '02 WRX wagon shell. This way I can swap ALL off the WRX wiring in and not have to worry about if a merged harness will work. I will also be swapping in the WRX interior, all the way down to the dash beam. I'm hoping I can go pick it up this weekend and start swapping stuff over.

I just haven't decided what I want to do with the bare shell. Racer? Back to stock DD? Give it away? Scrap? Wait, no scrap....I'll give it away before I scrap it. LS swap? (Thanks for the idea Steve!)

I should be able to get my heads done in the next few weeks, hopefully by that time I can get the WRX interior swapped over in to the Legacy.

LOTS of pictures to come.

**LingLing** · 04-21-2013

Got a new addition to the family today. Thanks again, Ryan!

The plan is to swap all the wiring and interior from the WRX to the Legacy. Once the Legacy is tuned I'll start piecing together stock parts for the wagon. Use the wagon as my DD, and sell my TSX. Ridding me of an awful car payment.

If time permits, I hope to have it swapped over by next Sunday. Progress pictures to come!

19TsiAwd90 · 04-21-2013

just thought of something, you will have to have nuke flash the ecu because its currently flashed for my setup (1000cc injectors and 20g on 25psi) unless you buy my injectors then it will start once you get it all together =)

and whatever you decide to do with the shell i want a ride/ drive it when its done =)

**LingLing** · 04-21-2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by 19TsiAwd90

just thought of something, you will have to have nuke flash the ecu because its currently flashed for my setup (1000cc injectors and 20g on 25psi) unless you buy my injectors then it will start once you get it all together =)

Good call. I now have 3 ECU's. I may just pull yours out, set it aside, and use one of the others I have.

Side note: What is that weird looking steel mesh grille off of? I couldn't figure out where the hell it goes. lol

xaisomboun · 04-21-2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by LingLing

Good call. I now have 3 ECU's. I may just pull yours out, set it aside, and use one of the others I have.

Side note: What is that weird looking steel mesh grille off of? I couldn't figure out where the hell it goes. lol

Goes on the grill area

**LingLing** · 04-21-2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by xaisomboun

Goes on the grill area

I should have known I would get some smart ass comment!

19TsiAwd90 · 04-21-2013

lol jeff's right though it goes inbetween the headlights

**LingLing** · 04-21-2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by 19TsiAwd90

lol jeff's right though it does inbetween the headlights

I must be slow or something then. I had no idea what I was doing. lol

19TsiAwd90 · 04-22-2013

=) it happens

Perkul8r · 05-04-2013

Hey man. Seeing you get some work done on this thing really made me start thinking about my old Subaru....

So I went and bought this:

99 Legacy SUS. lol. Hopefully once i get the Eclipse finished up I can start doing something to the Subaru. lol.

**LingLing** · 05-05-2013

Badass! Looks like it's in pretty good condition too. I like the extra height you get with the SUS. It'll be extra fun in the mud too. haha

**LingLing** · 05-05-2013

So I finally got some work done on the Slowbaru. I'm hoping to slowly chip away at the door wiring this week, and have the interior back in the Legacy by next Sunday. Once that's done I just have to button up the motor!

WRX before

During

After

The dash beams are nearly identical. I'll have trim the section holding the hood prop handle, but I won't need that as the Legacy's mount differently.

While I was quickly looking at the the fitment I did notice a ground or two I'll have to extend or find an alternate spot for. But the wiring from the WRX fits like a charm.

I will be using the WRX dash beam, pad, gauge cluster, steering column and pedals. I will most likely keep the Legacy door cards and just rewire the switches. It will be less work than making the WRX door cards fit.