Senseless1's 1998 Subaru Legacy GT 2.2 NA-T Build

[Senseless1]

Side note: I'll be running this autocross on super bowl sunday at summit pointe raceway in WV if anybody else would like to join me and my friend Paolo.

http://myautoevents.com/pls/mae/frmEventDetail.Show?psevent_id=16101

Edited January 20, 2017 by Senseless1

[doublechaz]

That would be neat to see, but you're about 2000 miles away from me so....

[Brighton96]

As long as my car doesn't grenade itself by then I may come down that way, I woulda signed up to autocross if it weren't so close to a motor build haha.

[Senseless1]

Alright guys. I had a blast at Summit Point Motorsports Park for the autocross last Sunday. I ended up changing the oil+filter, transmission fluid, and rear diff fluid (Yes had to break out the propane torch again for the diff).

 

Everything seemed to be going really well save for a lack of fender clearance on long sweepers and breaking my Ralco RZ Short shifter towards the end... Luckily I was able to zip tie it back together and make it home.

 

Check out the youtube link for videos of the first half of the day: https://youtu.be/_B23aKDmZkI

I'm going to work on my PM runs tomorrow.

 

Now to see if I can JB weld the shifter back together and just anticipate upgrading to the newer style linkage when I upgrade the transmission and get back to work building the car!

 

[Edit] Check the video description for a link to the posted results. Yes the Turdwagon beat an M3, 911 carrerra S, Fiat 500 Abarth, M4, miata's, a mazdaspeed 3, and a 2.2l rally imprezza (lighter chassis same engine, spanked!!!)

Please also note that I lost to a 2014ish Mustang GT 5.0 by .001 seconds!

Edited February 8, 2017 by Senseless1

[DOHCEJ22E1]

Well I have another update for you guys. I stopped by Andrewtech Automotive and picked up some pistons today. The guy tried to tell me they were from a jdm engine afterwards, but they sure look like plain old usdm ej22t pistons to me:http://i.imgur.com/Q1Cn0bm.jpg

 

These are indeed 22T pistons. You can also have 0.3mm taken off the top of each piston so that they are completely flush with the block instead of over, and it'll raise your compression ratio as well. Just something to consider. Also, if you're worried about the loss of ringland thickness, don't be. They will still be plenty fat.

[Senseless1]

These are indeed 22T pistons. You can also have 0.3mm taken off the top of each piston so that they are completely flush with the block instead of over, and it'll raise your compression ratio as well. Just something to consider. Also, if you're worried about the loss of ringland thickness, don't be. They will still be plenty fat.

 

 

Thanks for the tip! I have been scheming for a way to get forged pistons recently, and remembered I have a BNIB carbon fiber rear diffuser cover for my BRZ compliments of getting rear ended. I got the diffuser cover on sale for $650 and forged pistons are about $600... not sure if I can find a buyer right away, but it would sure be nice to save that money and have the forged pistons. The deeper I get into this car world the less I care about spending gobs of money and being fearful of driving the car just to have perfect paint. Tax time would be the best bet for making the sale though. I'm going to withhold making a decision and come back to it later.

[Senseless1]

I finished editing part 2 of my Sunday autocross. Unfortunately I only got one decent run in before disaster struck lol check it out if your bored. Warning strong language though: https://youtu.be/dyi7Aa9mDEI Edited February 12, 2017 by Senseless1

[twisty]

wouldnt flattening the top of the piston lower compression? you arent raising the stroke at all, just giving a bigger chamber overall, the way im seeing it.

[doublechaz]

That's right. I was thinking mis-spoke?

[Senseless1]

Here is Part 1 from the autocross: https://youtu.be/_B23aKDmZkI

 

Really had a blast running the car and getting a pre-turbo baseline.

[Senseless1]

Finally got the garage set up to start moving again. I began disassembling the vf39 to port/rebuild/upgrade it and could not get the turbine housing to separate LOL i need a real work bench with a vice. I'll drop it off at Andrewtech tomorrow to have them fuss with it.

http://i.imgur.com/V46yUG1.jpg

 

I then took the opportunity to pull the intake manifold off the 2.5 liter engine I have. Looks like the egr is getting deleted due to the nut securing the egr tube at the cylinder head being all but destroyed...That's fine though.

 

Hopefully I can get a good system down for filming and working in the small space I have without too many procedural interruptions to give me more time to learn and address issues as they come up.

[Brighton96]

Those stupid tube EGR nuts always round off. I've had to crush a set of vice grips on them to get them off on more than one occasion.

[choover1101]

I was just thinking about an egr delete yesterday. Have you researched how to get around any CEL?

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

[Brighton96]

I tapped into the IACV hose and ran it that way, so far no CEL. It just has to have some sort of airflow. But I don't think you can straight up delete it without a cel.

[Senseless1]

Pretty Sure Brighton96 has the only way to prevent a CEL. You could probably rig it up by just adding in a T to one of the IACV vacuum lines and hacksawing (and deburring with a small round file) the EGR tube to allow a hose to slide over the tube. Just going off memory here because I actually have yet to receive an emissions inspection notice in the mail since buying the roller. I am currently running a non egr motor in an egr chassis so the light's already there on mine LOL I'll be registering this guy with historic tags 1/1/18 if they won't let me use the build month/year (Sooner) to register my car historic, so I won't need to pass emissions. Worst case I take the car off the road for a couple months or paying the $15/month late fee, but I plan on the car being down more often then not this year as soon as the weather warms up. I have so many to-do's for this car I have separate lists for certain things so I don't freak out and get overwhelmed...again... lol

 

[edit] I also ended up cheating on day one of the turbo rebuild lol I haven't built a real work bench yet, and my flimsy sheet metal HF work bench won't handle a vice, so I had to take the turbo over to Andrewtech down the street to have them separate the exhaust housing from the CHRA

 

I might need to go ahead and buy some carpentry tools and just build the bench. Idk I could really use that time for the project though because time kind of got away from me over winter.

Edited February 22, 2017 by Senseless1

[Brighton96]

Yeah I just took the vent hose that normally goes to the intake and I put in a T so that I could attach the other end to the EGR tube which I had cut, the hose clamped down nicely only the old EGR tube and it looks OE to the untrained eye. But the best way to do a full delete is just run non EGR heads and an non EGR intake which you get from manual cars if my memory is right.

[Senseless1]

Weekend update:

VF39 has been rebuilt and shipped off to Socal Porting. Reuben informed me of something I had already discovered when upgrading to the billet 18g compressor wheel: the compressor cover aaand backing plate need to be machined...So not sure what the total bill is going to be to have Ruben work his magic ($50.00 including return shipping) with machining and balancing, but no turning back now.

 

I successfully ported the VF39 exhaust housing and wastegate.

 

Pulled and stripped the ej25d intake manifold and test fitted the ej22t IACV. I set this aside until I can get the aluminum carbide bit set I ordered, then I'll be gasket matching the IM, knife edging the throttle body, and plugging the holes from the EGR delete. I plan to tap one of the holes and just run a bolt in it, cut a flat aluminum block off plate, and capping any unused vacuum ports. I'll then be finding a bolt to plug both holes from the EGR tube that connects the EGR valve to the cylinder head and taking a sharpie to the CEL light on the dash, lol

I had no brake cleaner so everything is disgusting right now. I might shave the IM, but I'm going to at least clean and paint it with some paint I have sitting in boxes.

 

I then pulled timing covers, crank pulley, and timing belt off the lower mileage ej25d donor engine. My company23 camshaft tool was not delivered on Saturday as expected, so I stopped there and turned my attention to the second set of DOHC heads I have.

 

I used my nut extractor sockets to remove the exhaust manifold bolts or what was left of them and began disassembling the heads to see if I can get them stripped down enough to do a little mild polish/gasket match on the exhaust/intake ports and maybe get into the heads to clean up casting marks. It's really taking a lot of restraint to not spend my wedding payment money on sending the cams off to Delta for a regrind, when I'm literally holding them in hand

 

Oh well. I stopped there to pick up some supplies to be better about cleaning parts as I disassemble.

 

I am working slow, filming, being cautious, referencing the FSM, labeling and organizing parts and hardware.

 

I'm not sure if the porting will do any more than a couple horsepower, but I want to do as much as I can afford to make sure I hit the 300whp # with the STI yellow side feed injectors and upgraded VF39 turbo.

 

I do have two sets of cylinder see heads so I'm going to port the older set and send them to the machine shop for cleaning, decking and refreshing. Then continue the ej25d teardown to remove the cylinder heads to be set aside for later.

 

Then I'll start teardown on the ej222, and should be past the first wedding payment to see if I can sell parts and squeeze some forged piston money to move forward.

 

Still a little hesitant to start the emanage ultimate wiring job. I really wish Iwire would've just taken my money and sent me a spreadsheet with wiring instructions, but I'll just have to make it work. More progress when I get the camshaft sprocket tool and aluminum carbide bit in the mail next week.

Edited March 7, 2017 by Senseless1
typing on my cell phone was horrendous

[Senseless1]

Well I did it lol after watching several too many YouTube videos of porting cylinder heads and watching the company 23 YouTube videos I ordered the Subaru valve spring compressor tool...

 

Looks like I will be doing some very mild port and polish on the cylinder heads now that I can completely disassemble them and get the valves out of the way.

Still plan on sending them to the machine shop to be cleaned, inspected, and milled. I'm definitely going to resist the temptation to have the cams reground. I'm blocking that thought from memory

[doublechaz]

I found it to be worth the PnP. Have fun.

[Senseless1]

http://i.imgur.com/boymUzm.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/vxq8eEX.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/rf6vQGn.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/FQrcMfW.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/a4ctNJT.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/jtDICaZ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/4Xr0PwT.jpg

Pic of the finished turbo from Socal Porting:

http://i.imgur.com/nakTiyh.jpg

[Senseless1]

I decided to just stick with the used pistons I have from the ej22t and use the money saved from buying forged pistons to pay for machine shop labor and run water meth. I may also send the pistons out to be WPC treated. Between the extra power boost from the ej20k cams being shipped from AUS tomorrow, along with the anti detonation measures of water meth, wpc treatment, and polishing the combustion chambers I should be able to easily make 300 whp with the setup and not have to buy forged pistons and pay for boring out the cylinders. I think I'm going to go ahead and assemble the engine myself, but send the heads out for a valve job and have them checked to see if they're in spec with the different cams and have the short block blueprinted to see what bearings sizes I need and make sure the STI rods, stock crankshaft, ej22t pistons all stay in spec with a cylinder hone. I'm thinking I may be in danger of having too large of a piston to wall clearance, but having the pistons treated should help a little. I'm currently porting and polishing the ej25d heads. All the valves are cleaned up and I got started with polishing the combustion chambers.

Starting to get really excited with all of this progress.

Bonus: I found a set of ej20k heads for 225$ shipped from AUS! Such a windfall at a time when I'm starting to get dizzy from all this grinding and polishing...

Edited March 7, 2017 by Senseless1
Autocorrect really kills my spelling

[Senseless1]

stock vs rough cut gasket match ej25d intake manifold

http://i.imgur.com/MCD7hCV.jpg

bottom is oem ej22e intake manifold top is ported ej25d intake manifold. I also gasket matched and removed the step from the opening where the throttle body connects:

http://i.imgur.com/xUMTqEs.jpg

DOHC heads getting torn down:

http://i.imgur.com/zGxNKnk.jpg

Valves polished and the bottom picture is polished combustion chamber. Top is scrubbed with plastic bristle brush + brake cleaner and rag + brake cleaner. This is only taken down to 400 grit. I also have a polishing kit to go all the way to mirror finish.

http://i.imgur.com/oYIQV85.jpg

 

 

 

And did I mention that I bought a set of EJ20k cylinder heads today?!?!?!?!

 

 

From our very own DOHCEJ22E1:

"EJ25D Cam Specs:

Intake opens 6° BDTC.

Intake closes 50° ABDC.

Exhaust opens 54°/30° BBDC.

Exhaust closes 10°/10° ATDC.

Overlap 16°.

 

EJ20G Cam Specs:

Intake opens 8° BDTC.

Intake closes 52° ABDC.

Exhaust opens 52° BBDC.

Exhaust closes 8° ATDC.

Overlap 16°.

 

EJ20K STi Cam Specs:

Intake opens 10° BDTC

Intake closes 56° ABDC

Exhaust opens 56° BBDC

Exhaust closes 12° ATDC

Overlap 22°

 

Just in case you needed specs. The EJ20G cams are more like the EJ25D cams while the EJ20K cams are their own animal.":dm::dm::dm:

Edited March 7, 2017 by Senseless1

[DOHCEJ22E1]

Tip: Do not go to mirror finish on the heads. With the MLS head gaskets you will be using, the head needs a light measure of roughness so that they can bite into the gasket. Super smooth finishes will cause excess scrubbing action between the heads and gaskets, and the gaskets will risk blowing.

[Senseless1]

Thanks for the tip! I'm only taking the combustion chambers to 400 grit, and leaving the gasket mating surface for the machine shop to resurface. I just recently found out about this gasket sealing issue though, so thanks for sharing.

[Senseless1]

Necro bump