RumblyXT

Don’t mean to thread jack, but I figured I’d post this since you’re a chemistry guy and you’re refreshing your motor, not sure if you need to refresh your headlights too.. I wonder if this acetone vapor method would last, might need some clear coat spray afterwards to seal it. Seems super easy and cheap, I might try it since the headlights on our Outback look like chit.

Hehe that was my first thought too.. Regardless I’ve never taken muddy roads that bad, I gotta try it down here once the rainy season comes to the Everglades. But dang! BC has such beautiful scenery!

Inspiration!

How about just running 5 Qts of cheap thinner oil a few times, maybe 0W-20 with the oil pan plug off and filtering the oil with a white old rag or T-shirt on a clean orange/clear bucket every time you reintroduce the oil into the motor to help it rinse/rid any unwanted bits. The color contrast should make it easy to spot little pieces with the old white T-shirt and the fresh thin oil if any at all come out the motor. I actually thought about doing this when I put things back together. Edit: Actually not 0W-20. I’d be concerned if some of that thiner oil stays in certain areas. Best to use cheap 5W-30.

Looking good, moving right along! EL header?, what brand? And is that an analog oil pressure sensor/sender?

Haha This wrench was very useful around those bolts you mentioned by the turbo.

Sounds great. And I'm sure is much cheaper than an expensive ultrasonic machine, plus you can also do much bigger parts.

I had no idea that existed, all I knew was sand blasting, but it seems a lot better than blasting sand which can wear out mating surfaces much faster if not careful. That has to be so satisfying seeing how good those greasy old parts look almost new again. Great work!

I'm sure that was a typo.. Good progress!

Oh hey.. I almost forgot! Did you remove all the banjo bolt filter mesh? I think there's 4 in total in the whole engine. Now's the time to do it before you have the rest of the components and Cam Gears on. The one behind the Left head under the Turbo, another one on top, the oil pipe by the front of the RH, one in front of the Left Intake Cam and the last one I think it's on top of the Left head in the other end of the other oil pipe. Also, will you be doing the 4th Cylinder cooling mod? Might as well too. I have a brand new JDM fitting from eBay is you need it. It connects on the back of the Left Head.

Engine is gone.

I have one mounted on the Outback as well.. lol Better than the OE we buy here.

Is that a Mazda filter I see? Sacrilege!

I know.. I've been looking for a manual myself for some time now, but they're just hard to find in good condition with a turbo, most previous owners tend to abuse these cars. There's plenty of WRXs, but I'm convinced the versatility the wagons offers, especially with kids and space in the trunk for bikes and cargo, etc. is just awesome, best of both worlds: Grocery getter, people mover, and even a bit of off road and go fast capability.

Look what this guys is selling down here, but I can't reach him.. He has his contact info removed! Argh! Check out the mileage, that car looks mint! I want to jump in into another OBXT project lol.. https://offerup.com/item/detail/b91a7c42-ef5e-37f8-8bce-8d1ae6d94129?q=subaru+outback+&cid=5.1

Oh perfect! You're set with this combo then. Sure thing brother. I'm no expert by any means, just sharing the bit of knowledge I've gained in these 4 years. FSM calls for replacing the T/B gasket after removing it, but you may get away with reusing it if treated carefully.

Nice! A lot of detailed work, but all well worth it. You mentioned you’ll be replacing the vacuum lines, will that include the PVC valve too? Might as well.. I cleaned the injectors with cleaner using a 9V battery and alligator clips, maybe you don’t need to do this though.. but worth flushing them a few times just in case. And the last thing which imo, is very important, are you keeping the OE oil pickup tube? They tend to crack and starve the motor of oil. Why not upgrade it? Other than that, I think you have all bases covered. Maybe someone else can give their input? ps: definitely clean the T/B.. Open the blade slowly, and once cleaned with T/B cleaner, close it back up slowly.. (don’t let the blade slam shut).

That’s how it is with these things.. you plan for a simple overhaul, you end up doing a lot more. You’d feel bad later on saying, damn it should have done that, “while I was there”.. lol Progress!

Hmm.. 3 of them leaking eh? Pretty sure by now you've made sure that head is not cracked and it's just the valve seals not seating completely. Yeah, those Hondas K20A2/3 from the Integra Type S and and K20Z1 from the Civic Si are absolutely awesome platforms, revving all the way to 8-9K sometimes, so much fun and reliable. If they had been AWD drivetrains, I'd have probably never switched over to Subaru.

Good progress. Nowadays makes no sense to me why some people heavily modify their engines for these “crazy power gains”, only to later probably have to fix the entire work they did because the motor couldn’t take the added boost/pressure. Keep it stock, maybe a few subtle power mods here and there, set it for reliability and that engine should last long and still offer plenty of fun. Maybe I’m getting old, but to me 300-320hp range seems more than adequate power for these cars.

Thread revive: So who’s watching the upcoming solar eclipse? Several IG posts have suggested to prepare with food and water hehe.. sounds like fear monger.. I’m going on a conspiracy tangent now: CERN says they’ll be testing their Hadron Collider that day.. coincidence?

Will the VF52 be for this motor? Post some pics.. while you’re there

Dude, I love Ultrasonic cleaners, they leave parts so clean! A 15L one is great, I can't imagine a 20L one. I have seen people create one from one of those Costco big plastic animal cookies containers and attaching the cap with Velcro to a cheap buffer machine from Walmart, leaving it hanging while it vibrates lol They actually work really well. I know those machines are not cheap at all. Definitely replace the valves seals while you're here. And make sure you blow a lot of compressed air through all the holes/ports of the heads. You will be surprised how much junk/metal shaving probably fell in there while they were being machined. At least this is what happened to me.

Actually, you don't have to split the block to remove the pistons. But yeah, I'd definitely not split the block unless absolutely necessary, unless it had been through some bigger damage like a spun bearing, which then would require a lot more work. Best to leave it that way then. Just reassure yourself with a compression test before mounting in on the car, it's much easier off the car than on it. I hear you on working in the cold.. the warm temps down here definitely help a lot in that sense. But you hate FL anyways haha

Oh wow, that much eh? I thought they'd remove something like 2-3 thousands.. hmm In that case, I'd think a thicker MLS H/Gs would be better to compensate for the material removed. I swear by the SixStar MLS I used, they were great. Hope you don't mind me photo bombing your thread, but a pic is worth a thousand words lol