Febreze Mee

Costs/Budget $3000-$4000 is a tight budget. Depending on how firm you are, you may have to forgo some items on the list. I picked up a "dressed" long block for my car from Sunwest Automotive for $3000. Sunwest has a "dressed" long block for you at about $4000. With reliability being my goal, and my car being a year-round, all conditions, all-terrain vehicle I had for similar performance goals. To be transparent, it costs me $5100 in parts alone (I did all the labor) for a brand new engine, Fluid Dampr, Killer B P/U & baffle, Defi Gauges (Water temp, Oil temp, Oil pressure), a complete oil cooler set up, new OCVs, new hoses, spark plugs/wires, and thermostat. Everything that's listed and isn't aftermarket, is OEM sourced from a very friendly Subaru dealer, or the wholesale Subaru sites. That $5100 does NOT include tax, fluids, gasket/o-ring kit, motor mounts, oil catch can(s) or the $10's of dollars I rounded down just to output a guaranteed minimum that I paid. I reused my injectors and throttle body. You have a turbo, and two extra cams, so add another $1000 for the long block. You also are rebuilding the turbo, add another $1000 (or whatever @JmP6889928 charges) for a rebuild and associated parts. Parts I'm not sure how the stock fuel pump holds to a factory engine with factory horsepower goals. If when cleaning up the factory map in tuning stresses the pump, I also ship the idea of the AVO drop-in @BoozeRS05 mentioned. ARP studs are a nice and proven drop-in unit. The factory oil pan (if 2006MY+) does the job you need it to. 2006MY+ have the STi pans with better baffling. Also as @BoozeRS05 said, it could be beneficial to throw a fuel pressure gauge, in line between the filter and rails. I'd recommend having a way to read out oil temp and oil pressure. If the Cobb AP doesn't output that info, plumb it so it does, or add your own gauge(s). It doesn't have to be a Defi single DIN triple gauge cluster, I'm just picky —and picky can add up. I'm excited for you!

Priced appropriately, and very informative. Wonderful FS thread. GLWS!!!

All those colors under there, you could make a color-coded display on "Components of a Car."

I haven't said anything yet, bc it's too early, but I'm actually going to be putting your old transmission in when I get back from vacation, in May. If this is still available then, I may take the opportunity to just throw it in your old trans at the same time. I guess I'm just letting you know that I'm watching, even after all these years.

I'll have to get back to you with a better answer. From memory, it held its own through its properties against some of the other leading full synthetics, and was available off the shelf, albeit, I seem to only find them at Advanced Autos locally. It was between this or an Amsoil subscription, but the PUP checks the boxes for me. For now, I have had about 5 samples of PUP taken by Blackstone Labs with roughly 1750mi on each sample. All samples were taken before the oil cooler was installed, and all samples have one AutoX per sample, and lots of spirited driving per sample. I'll post up the previous sample info after New Years. Unfortunately, since I have the oil cooler installed now, I feel as though I need to baseline the data again. I'll have just over 2500mi on the next sample, having used an oil cooler over all of those miles. I will post that data when I receive it.

I hope you enjoy the TS solid shifter linkage. It's been awhile since I've looked at the OG members build thread, but I don't think too many ppl on here have that linkage installed. I can tell you it will increase NVH, adding noise to the cabin due to harmonics under certain RPM. I think the trade-off was worth it. Please report your thoughts on the piece after some seat time with it.

Sick!

Oh no! Sorry to see the damage that's been done. Perhaps a blessing will come from this.

Did someone say NA Outback??

PM'd.

Ooh wee Rick! Those look super clean.

I love the attention to detail!

For $70 more, on the same site, I can have an objectively superior tire with a higher tread wear. https://simpletire.com/brands/michelin-tires/pilot-sport-4s#curationPos=none&curationSeq=none&curationSource=none&itemId=190452&mpn=38754&pageSource=PLP&productPos=none&region=r10&tireSize=235-40zrr18&userRegion=10&userZip=98499&zip=98499

I mounted my emblem to my block-off plate, since I cannot make up my mind about which of my grilles I want to put in, and how I want to put it in. For the winter, I think I'll run it without a grille. I also think I'm going to push the emblem outward with a bracket, to give a floating-like appearance, keeping within the dimensions it would be if it were mounted to a grille. I also put in new axle seals up front.

Durex also recommends against 15 year old rubbers.

Time for some negative camber!

I do not. I've only ever driven extensively on the PS4s. And now I have a Autocross season on some Falken 615K+ s. Fair point. Your decision should definitely consider the style of driving you take up, and the amount of that driving type. I'm out for a spirited drive 370/365 days a year, and am dependent upon all the performance I can get from my tires. The PS4s make sense for the pleasure I derive for my daily drives. If it was only a get-to-and-from-work car, I would loosen up a ton on my tire choice.

Wonderful choice in modifications. The car cleans up well!

If you have a screen grab for how all of the info is put out, will you text it to me? I may entertain getting the cable and saving myself some time. I've thought about getting one for some time now anyway. I recognize, from the volume of reading I've done the last several months, that 175F° might not be the oil temp the engine operates most efficiently at (I also don't know what that number is), so I put the time in to make a block off plate, and will retain it until ambient temps warrant its removal. Thank you @Enlight for providing more info.

Thanks for sharing this! I, too, enjoy nerding out. Looking forward to seeing your oil cooler set up, once complete.

Correct, N/A motors do not come equipped with the OEM oil-coolant heat exchangers (none of my 2006 N/As have anyway). In the 30mi I had the oil cooler without a block-off plate (immediately after installation of the unit), under minimal load in 35F° ambient temps, at 65-85mph at 3000-4000rpm —I was seeing consistent oil temperatures between 170-176F°. Attempting to stress the cooler, I saw temps as high as the mid 180s. With 120mi more on a cardboard setup covering 2/3 of the fins (not the end tanks), I saw oil temps hover at 180-184F° in very similar conditions. I didn't try to stress the cooler with the cardboard. I'm going to start documenting all conditions and driving styles to put together a rudimentary spread sheet for my exact set up —oil temperatures in a low-mileage EJ253 with x-amount of miles on the oil under [blank] conditions, with a CSF cooler in [blank] dimensions. I'll furnish after I have enough seat time and entries into my log. I wish I could better gauge what you could expect to see with your HKS cooler, but I just don't know. A friend of mine who's meticulous about his STi build, has a Setrab unit of similar dimensions to your HKS cooler, and has had no issues with his built EJ257. He also doesn't drive his car as hard as I would. I can't give you any empirical data from his setup, bc I just don't have any.

I made a winter block-off plate yesterday for the oil cooler. I'm trying to avoid giving anecdotal experiences, but I can't imagine it will change much from here on through the rest of the winter. I will consolidate average through the winter, and update. And then again in the summer of 2024. Again, my oil sandwich plate opens up at 185F°. With the block off plate covering the entire width of the front and leaving a 4mm gap between itself and the cooler, my temps consistently stayed between 194-200F° While traveling between 65-85mph at 3000-4000rpm in 45F° ambient temps.

That is such a beautiful set up! Reminds me of your 275 slicks. Ugh! I have been working on another project, and it is in the fitment realm. Hoping to have that together come early January. Thank you! Ultimately, I am glad I mounted it up front, rather than where the hood scoop is. I am using Raceflux viton lined hose. The max operating temperature value you gave is good to know, although this specific hose is rated for a little more at 302F°, accordingly to anhosefittings.com. I don't know the specific temperature at which Pennzoil Ultra Platinum breaks down, but I'm guessing it's about the same temperature. I'll begin a cooldown if I ever see oil temps reaching 250+.

Recent modifications include @BridNasty's old Prodrive mufflers (I polished them), and a CSF oil cooler set up. More on that below. At last, the well deserved, much needed modification this car needed for the Tail of the Dragon, and everything afterwards —an oil cooler! The set up includes: - CSF 8066 oil cooler - Chase Bays thermostatic oil sandwich plate (thanks for the rec @08Spec_B) - 26" of Nylon braided fuel lines (AN-10 lines) wrapped in a silicone fiberglass sleeve The sandwich plate is clocked 90° from the front, to where the inlet and outlet ports are facing towards the passenger side. The cooler itself is enormous, and does its job too well (a problem I can deal with). I'll be fabricating some block off plates for winter driving tomorrow afternoon. For now, I'm just using cardboard like a peasant. Pre-cooler experiences: Oil temps were a minimum of 230F° (110C°) at 60mph in all ambient temperatures ranging from 32F° to 85F°. Of note, oil temps remained at 230F° only when the engine had little load on it (on level ground) and at sea level. Temps would easily reach 240F°, and without much more effort reach 250F° (120C°) at 75mph in the same ambient temperature ranges while climbing unsubstantial hills, and certainly in mountain passes. Rain had little effect on the oil temps in all situations. I will expand on experience after installing when I get some more seat time with it.

That IS a nice shot! Also, I meed to refinish my grill to, as it has seen better days.