DOHCEJ22E1

I'd later sold the bottom end to a friend who had later confirmed the rings were on their way out, too. Needless to say, I beat the piss out of that thing without remorse.

The new EJ22D wasn't as upgraded in the oiling area as it should have been for the touge runs I was doing at East Rock, so it began to go through it's valve guides and it's rings in a short amount of time and when it was run on the dyno, it was a smoke bomb that produced 136awhp/126awft-lbs. On a trip to Northwest CT to pick up some parts, a valve in Cyl#4 melted. Engine was still able to bring me back home despite being in the worst shape it could possibly be. There was a high compression EJ25D installed but it failed due to the oil pump gerotor housing bolts backing out at 140mph, chewing up the camshafts and the bottom end completely. That engine was then replaced with an EJ22E, which remained reliable no matter what I did to it.

With a good amount of painkillers at the time, I'd finally gotten around to disassembling the EJ25D. It had one burnt valve and one bent valve in Cyl#4. I'd ended up getting some good valves from heads in the junkyard and I'd lapped them into the 25D heads, later putting them on an EJ222 block and installing that EJ22D combo into my GT. The engine ran damned good for a while. The bottom end had an EJ257 oil pump, Moroso oil pickup, and STi pan and baffle. The car was also fitted with coilovers later that afternoon.

This is a 1998 Subaru Legacy GT that me a friend had completed. Built to be a true grand touring Legacy, we had restored pretty much all of it after he'd bought it with numerous issues. Among the repairs were mods as follows: Auto to manual conversion. Coilovers and bushing upgrade. Aftermarket exhaust. High output EJ25D (EJ25D heads/EJ251 block/EJ257 head gaskets). JDM taillights. SUS grille. I enjoyed this car but all good things eventually come to an end, right? This car left this world far too soon.

Being that this was the time shortly after my accident and half of me was heavily injured from my accident I'd had about a week ago, I got some help relocating my car to where I was living at the time. Here is how she looked, all original...

Welcome to my project. This time, I present my 1999 Subaru Legacy GT estate, which I call "Grandma Gloria Regina", named after two grandmotherly figures I had in my youth. I don't think I've ever posted my wagon in this forum (I have posted my 1996 LSi before, as well as my 1998 Legacy GT Limited, both of them former EJ22D projects). I picked her up about 2yrs ago from a guy selling her in Milford, CT. His mother had owned the car but she'd passed away and he inherited it through her will. When I first started her, the EJ25D shook violently and right then, I knew that the valves needed to be replaced. Didn't matter. I absolutely had to have this car and after my car accident with the last LGT, I'd have been a fool not to jump on this deal for $700. She started her days out as a factory 4eat, but that would change over time as the 4eat crumbles later on.

This project came to a quiet end. At the end of this car's life, it received quite a few mods that made it fun, but it was replaced by a new wagon of mine and then it was gutted for it's parts, and junked. It will be remembered for being fun and keeping me afloat in the worst of times. Definitely one for the memories.

Ohhh. I am a huge fan of the Street Fighter series of fighting games, and the name on the hood translates into "Shinkuu Hadouken."

? The car?

My car with my friend's 88k mile '97 Legacy GT. Pics at the mall, far away from other cars.

Timing belt tensioner failed in winter time and took out the entire engine.

You're welcome. During the past month, I have ordered two coilovers sets of the same brand (MaxSpeedingRods), but different types to utilize the result of combining them into one. I have to say that I am pleased with the results. I paid less than the cost of at least Raceland's best set to have made a set that far exceeds it by at least twice over. The combination has no name, but consists of GD top hats, springs, and spring perches, along with GC 24 way struts and lower knuckle base for damper adjustment. So far, the ride is civil enough to be soft on the interior, and responsive enough to still feel surefooted. The dampening is still at 0 but so far, no complaints. I'll adjust the setting when I get more suspension mods in. Custom coilovers: Combination complete: On car (only two shown, but all 4 are on: The car after height adjustment:

The car still runs well, although it developed 2 oil leaks that I have to combat soon. As for my synopsis on the EJ20D, I will explain it in pros and cons. Pros: High revs from high lift cams. Okay power with bolt-ons. Can still get over 30mpg. Cons: Low end torque is too small (2L can only do so much in N/A, even with bolt-ons and 10:1 CR spike). Block/liner alloy are dense (holds onto heat for too long and is heavy). All and all, if you drive up hilly roads or long roads like I do, a 2.2 or 2.5 will be much better to drive with the cams that come in the EJ20D.

My friend and I meet up before WBM2018. WBM2018! 2nd Generation WBM2018!

Back to the present...

I love this interior. For those of you who do not know, the SUS and Outback came with the "Safari" package in late 97/early 98. This package included actual wood trim, which was laminated and glued onto the existing bezels. Cheap, but I love it. Massive time skip to the present, when I got coilovers and installed them. The ride is much, much better. ^- Regrowth of sticker wall. Bonus: My friend's Outback w/11.5:1 EJ25D (1999 EJ25D heads, the same EJ20D cams that were in the previous EJ22D, 2004 EJ251 block, and 0.5mm head gaskets). This Outback, WITHOUT bolt-ons, is more powerful and responsive than the 22D ever was. I expected a change, but not on this level. Bolt-ons will be done to see just how much power the car will gain.

1996 DOHC/NA intake manifold vs the 1997-1999 DOHC/NA intake manifold. Both the runners and the plenum to the 1996 intake manifold are much larger. Some color is always good.

Being that I skipped some important time to document with pics, the EJ20D has a new timing kit, valves (8/16 were bent), STi oil pan, dipstick, and pickup tube, and has all of the bolt-ons there were on the previous EJ22D. ^-Cometic EJ205 head gaskets 1mm thick (To boost compression from 9.5:1 to 10:1). Time for the good part; Innards of the dead EJ22D. Fun, right? After the EJ20D was swapped in, there were a few things to work out before it would finally run right. For 1, it wouldn't idle for crap. Changed IACV and it began to idle right after adjustment. Also, various things began to happen. ^- Got 4.44 LSD, which I haven't installed yet. ^- Rotated JDM fuel injectors so that plugs are easier to access. ^- All taken while I was situating the EJ20D swap.

High compression pistons. Wasn't expecting these types. Even some Subaru EJ veterans had never seen them before. ^-No EGR port. ^-Pistons come up like, 0.3mm over the deck like all other Phase 1 pistons.

Continued: Now we get to the fun part. EJ22D is dead. EJ20D examination. ^-Shim over bucket like the 97-99 25D heads.

Okay, so beginning from my last point, after the engine failure, me and my friends rode out to New Jersey to get this EJ20D for $300. I'd assumed that it had the same big port heads like the last pair I had on the EJ22D. These are pics of the EJ20D. Lobes are still pretty fat (8.5mm lift on both intake and exhaust side).

Update: I constructed an intake for smoother flow and that brought the LTFT down to it's regular numbers. It drove normally and nothing nearly as rich as what the ECU was commanding, but was clearly more powerful than when the car ran on the dyno. However, the 22D failed in December of 2017 when the timing belt tensioner lost hydraulic pressure, taking the valves with it. This coming Thursday, I pick up an EJ20D from New Jersey and after which, I will build the final draft EJ22D that will be installed. I will also include detailed pictures from the rebuild. I have taken pictures of the car before the 22D failed, and when I can, I will post pictures of that and the rebuild of the final draft high compression 22D.

All tires are new and matching. AWD works like a peach. Also removed MAF screen to increase airflow. The 22D ran more harmonious than ever recorded on any ECU graph I have had before. She might have run lean, but the MPG rose to about 31mpg at 71mph and torque was EVERYWHERE on the low end of the rpm where the ECU usually runs rich. I am running a stock MAF sensor now, but will descreen my next one for sure. The drivebility in the city was too much for me to let go. Fuel trims: ECU graph: Needless to say, removing the MAF screen was probably one of the better things I have done before resetting the ECU. The Legacy in it's growing glory.

The rear end began to pull, and so I performed the "dime" test, which yielded the rear tires being low in depth and tread. To prevent center differential damage, a 10a fuse was put into the FWD fuse slot and now, I am driving around in FWD mode until I can get new rear tires with my check this Friday. However, though the strain was greatly lessened, I still felt a smidge of pull and inspected the rear diff to find that it is slowly leaking at the drain plug. I will inspect further in the morning to see what the issue is. There is no wheel bearing damage or play, but the right side wheel provides significant resistance compared to the left. I will also note that in FWD mode, the power delivery is exceptional, and I have even lesser difficulty at all getting up to high speed. 90mph comes up surprisingly and fuel economy is better +3mpg city and +2mpg hwy. I will likely convert the FWD fuse into a toggle switch as I have done so many others to have that extra modicum of control. The plan next is to create an advanced intake of some kind to bring even more air in on the low after I solve the rear differential issue, and following that will be as many fuel mods as I can pull off to get this engine at it's maximum on the stock ECU before I eventually get a good piggyback for tuning.

Accel coil continued to do well. For the money, it seems to be an even better bargain than the MSD 8239, but there is a catch and I will find it. Overall feel of the car is balanced and I am certain that I would give any stock 3rd gen Legacy with an EZ30D a great challenge above 3500rpm. I took down two stock WRX at WOT, though. That was surprising. The project shall continue, as my next move will be to update the intake into something a hell of a lot better. I have reached the limit of the intake pipe when it comes to turbulence. I will also beef up the fuel system a bit to bring in fuel where it is needed so I won't run that lean on the top.