New '05 LGT 5MT Wagon Owner With a Plan

[Max Capacity]

Yeah that one exhaust valve is much different then the others.

 

When you install the new spark plugs be sure to gap them at .028"

[TMBLKDG]

10-4!

[TMBLKDG]

Well, that took way longer than expected.

 

Finally got the car back from my buddy's shop last Wednesday. I'm not too upset at the extra time though, gave my bank account a chance to recover. He sliced and diced and gave me a great price on all the work done too, came out a fair bit cheaper than I was fearing.

 

The car is now back in my driveway with the following done to it:

Rebuilt cylinder heads (new guides, seats, valves)

All new gaskets, seals & hoses (AVO intake & MAF hoses)

New timing belt

New right rear wheelbearing

All new fluids

Exedy Stage 1 clutch

Invidia catless UP

JMP Custom VF52

Cobb catted DP

 

the shop found all kinds of shoddy work done by the previous shop that supposedly rebuilt the engine. Stuff held together with zip ties, multiple missing or broken bolts (including three bolts missing from the bellhousing), etc. They don't think the heads were rebuilt at all, or if they were it was a terrible job as the guides were all screwed up which was what was causing the valves not to seat properly.

 

I drove it around a little the day I got it back, being careful to never go more than maybe 1/3 throttle and I never let the RPMs get over 3500 and it is way more responsive and seems to have quite a bit more power than it did before I took it in. Can't wait to finish getting all the supporting parts installed and get it tuned.

 

I've been working on my truck and that's in my garage at the moment. Should have that all done by this weekend then I can put the wagon in and get the rest of the parts installed.

 

Parts to be installed:

New front axles

- Will inspect ball joints and may replace those as well as control arms/bushings at this point. The shop reported that my front control arm bushings and swaybar end links are worn.

Whiteline F & R swaybars

Kartboy end links

Borla CBE

Grimmspeed TMIC

Grimmspeed EBCS

'13 Forester XT TGVs & ID1000 injectors

AEM fuel pump

AEM A/F & Boost gauges

Morell speakers & sound deadening in doors.

JL Audio 70wx4 amp

Kenwood head unit and JDM climate controls

 

I'll try to document and post pics as I go. At the speed I work, and given that I'll be out of town the first week of August, it's going to be a little while before this is all done.

Edited July 25, 2019 by TMBLKDG

[Holla]

Glad you got it back together.

 

Have you considered just getting it tuned with the stock fueling? I have a similar setup but I’m still on stock fueling with a pro tune. It’s been so reliable the last 8 years I’ve been afraid to change anything.

[The Yeti71]

Good times!

 

And here is a late "welcome".

 

j.

[SageAbkatsor]

This is turning into a real hassle. One of the reasons I bought this particular car is the paperwork the PO had that showed a rebuilt engine was installed about 75K ago. I figured a car with a relatively fresh engine would be the best foundation for my plans. Now it looks like I need a new shortblock.

 

 

 

Couldn't it be that your valves need to be adjusted? Just a thought. Maybe I am way off base.

 

Don't jump to the worst conclusion immediately... though it is a turbo Subaru lol, so you might want to plan for the worst case.

 

EDIT: Also I do not mean to laugh at your plight, but I am in a similar boat. I had my valves adjusted, engine resealed, all new timing, clutch components, and a few aftermarket items added for reliability. I was not looking to make power just wanted it to go another 50k. Now, about 5k later, my motor just popped. I blame only myself for not having done more research, not picking a better tech to do the work the first time around, and not addressing the issues that arose sooner. Even then, I was just one misfire/detonation event away from catastrophe...

 

Live and learn I guess. An expensive lesson.

 

EDIT 2: Somehow I missed page 2... Just disregard me completely.

 

EDIT 3: Looks like a great build!

Edited July 24, 2019 by SageAbkatsor

[TMBLKDG]

Glad you got it back together.

 

Have you considered just getting it tuned with the stock fueling? I have a similar setup but I’m still on stock fueling with a pro tune. It’s been so reliable the last 8 years I’ve been afraid to change anything.

 

I considered it briefly, then said "nah, let's go all in."

 

A stock VF52 will outrun the stock injectors. You can tune for that, but you're leaving power on the table on the top end as boost must be tapered at higher RPMs.

 

JMP's custom VF52 flows more than a stock VF52. What would be the point of buying that if I'm not going to install the rest of the parts needed to fully support it?

 

I have the TGVs, injectors, and fuel pump sitting on a shelf in my garage. Might as well put 'em in and use the full capabilities of the turbo.

 

Can't wait to see what 4500-6500 RPM feels like.

[TMBLKDG]

Couldn't it be that your valves need to be adjusted? Just a thought. Maybe I am way off base.

 

Don't jump to the worst conclusion immediately... though it is a turbo Subaru lol, so you might want to plan for the worst case.

 

EDIT: Also I do not mean to laugh at your plight, but I am in a similar boat. I had my valves adjusted, engine resealed, all new timing, clutch components, and a few aftermarket items added for reliability. I was not looking to make power just wanted it to go another 50k. Now, about 5k later, my motor just popped. I blame only myself for not having done more research, not picking a better tech to do the work the first time around, and not addressing the issues that arose sooner. Even then, I was just one misfire/detonation event away from catastrophe...

 

Live and learn I guess. An expensive lesson.

 

EDIT 2: Somehow I missed page 2... Just disregard me completely.

 

EDIT 3: Looks like a great build!

 

 

 

I read your thread.... what a bunch of bad luck! Hope you come out of this with a good, reliable combo. I'd send your turbo off to JMP, his stock rebuild is a lot cheaper than buying a new factory unit.

 

Thanks for the input, and best of luck!

[Tehnation]

from being in this boat... i can't recommend enough to pop the pistons out and inspect them.... these god damn ringlands are no joke, everything will look fine until bam, ynansb! Its like we all know these engines suffer from it, the guys on nasioc suffer from it, the pistons just plain suck, and if you have the engine out and the heads off, take the pistons out, clean them and inspect for hairline cracks... its a bit more work but i'm seeing left and right people making the same mistake.... walls look fine , so pistons are fine..... smh. thank god I'm ocd and took the extra step.

 

hopefully all is well!

[SageAbkatsor]

Yeah I sent JMP a message... or two (I am still learning how this whole PM thing works. Nothing showed up in my sent message box... derp) to see what he would charge for a VF40 rebuild and see what his turnaround time would be.

 

I would have a local shop do a stock rebuild if I can't get him to do it for me. I have spoken with them a few times and wouldn't hesitate to trust their work.

 

But I want the car off the factory map regardless so I may as well get something with better performance along with the better reliability.

[Tehnation]

i'd give it a day or two for a response, he has like a real job etc. this is a side thing i think!

 

a stock vf52 will not outrun the injectors! the pump yea, injectors no.

 

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/turboi-wiki-twist-178684.html

Edited July 25, 2019 by Tehnation

[Infosecdad]

i'd give it a day or two for a response, he has like a real job etc. this is a side thing i think!

 

a stock vf52 will not outrun the injectors! the pump yea, injectors no.

 

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/turboi-wiki-twist-178684.html

 

The VF52 can outrun the stock injectors, my stock injectors pushed 100% before the turbo ran out of steam. The stock injectors are my number one limiting factor right now.

[TMBLKDG]

I'm going on recommendations from Dave at Cryotune. He's the one who told me boost would have to be limited on the top end with stock injectors. JMP also told me the stock injectors won't keep up and recommended some larger side-feeds. I don't need 1000cc injectors, but Dave said he has the best results with top feeds and I found a great deal on them and the TGVs so it was kind of a no-brainer to go this route.

 

SageAbkatsor - pretty sure JMP travels a lot. He was out of town for 2-3 days at a time when I was communicating with him, so I'd give him a couple days to respond. He got the rebuild done real quick though once he received my core.

[Tehnation]

hmmm might be time to update the sticky

 

is that on the stock pump?

 

i hacked up a top feed from a later lgt to make my top feed setup, definitely worth it. side feed has fewer options and cost more money.

Edited July 25, 2019 by Tehnation

[TMBLKDG]

Well, I guess I'll resurrect this thread. It's been a long time and I had the car running for about a month then disaster struck.

But, let's start from where I left off above -

My life has been hectic the last few years but things are finally settling into place.   I'm working long hours with a new employer but I enjoy the work and am paid well for it and with the sale of my old house and purchasing a new house with my fiance I found myself with enough money to finally overcome the fact I don't have any time, so I dropped the car off at Drive Autosports in Everett, gave them boxes full of parts and turned them loose on it with the goal to get the car into shape for daily driver duty.

They went through and replaced/upgraded a bunch of stuff and installed most of my parts though they recommended TGV deletes and an AEG fuel rail and regulator assembly as well as Injector Dynamics 1050x injectors which they said give better results and are more tunable than the older ID1000s I had.  They didn't want to use my FXT TGVs at all.  After everything was installed they dyno tuned it but I can't find the dyno results so will have to write them again to get it.  I believe they said 260 WHP, which seems a bit low to me....

Full mods list as follows:

ENGINE/FUELING:
JMP custom VF52
Invidia catless UP
Cobb catted DP
Borla cat-back
Grimmspeed TMIC
Grimmspeed 3-port EBCS
Aluminati TGV deletes
AEG fuel rails & fuel pressure regulator
Injector Dynamics 1050x injectors
AEM 340 pump
AVO silicone hoses

SUSPENSION/BRAKES/WHEELS:
Whiteline Front End Essentials bushing kit
Whiteline upper and lower rear trailing arm bushings
Whiteline adjustable front and rear swaybars
Kartboy endlinks
Koni struts
Enkei TS-5 bronze 17x8 wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires.
New front calipers
All new rotors
Ceramic pads
All new wheelbearings

MISC/APPEARANCE:
Koyo aluminum radiator
Redline tuning hood struts
Subtle Solutions Alternator cover
AEM AFR gauge (dash cubby)
AEM vacuum/boost gauge (dash cubby)

That's everything that's been done to this point.  I got the car back from the shop at the end of July and other than a super annoying buzzing vibration that seems to be coming from inside the left side of the dash right at 3000 RPM I was mostly happy with it.  I did feel like maybe it should make more power, more on that later.

I was looking forward to progressing with the interior restoration/modifications and some exterior upgrades at this point as the leather is all dried out and stiff (need the seats recovered and already have new boots for the shifter and e-brake plus a Latheworks shift knob) and a lot of the interior stuff is kind of worn/shabby looking.  I also have all of the parts for a nice stereo and all the conversion stuff to put a double-DIN unit in the dash with the dual-zone climate control.  For the exterior I have a pair of JDM Xenon headlights, a JDM grill insert (the recessed honeycomb grill with Subaru logo), and a pair of '09 update taillight lenses.  I guess that's all on hold now 'til I get it back.

The one thing about this car that's been troublesome is the transmission and it basically caused what happened.  I've been driving manuals all my life and this is by far the hardest transmission to shift smoothly/quickly at higher RPMs of any I've had.   Of course, it has 177K on it now so maybe it needs to be gone through.  In any case, I've been playing around with it, trying to figure out how to get the quickest shifts out of it when running up to higher RPMs.  Two weeks ago I was driving home from a friend's house late at night and as I was getting onto the freeway I ran up to about 6000 RPM in 1st, 5500 in 2nd, 5500 again in 3rd (about 70 MPH) and when I went for 4th gear I hit 2nd somehow.  Took only a second to realize what happened and get the clutch back in but in that short time at 10,000+ RPM the engine was very unhappy.

Not sure exactly what the damage is at this point but spun bearings for sure. The engine rattles pretty badly when revving and the oil is full of metal.  It's back at Drive Autosports but they seem to be taking their time tearing the engine down. They said they'd have a report and options for how to proceed for me this week but when I checked in with them today they said their tech is still tearing the engine down...   Really, all I need to know is if the valves hit the pistons. The shortblock is obviously trashed and it makes more sense to just buy a new shortblock rather than try to fix this one so not sure why it's taking so long to get the heads off it.

So, that's where I'm at currently.  3 years of waiting to drive my car, drive it for a month, then blow it up... LOL.

In the meantime, I'm wondering what kind of power levels people would expect with the mods I have.  I was thinking it should be closer to 300 WHP but I understand that every dyno is different, etc. etc. and maybe my expectations are out of line.  It did pull good but honestly I expected more out of it, it didn't feel anything like 100 more horsepower than my '06 WRX had.

I don't plan to go with a bigger turbo or anything like that so wondering whether a new Subaru shortblock or one of the IAG blocks makes the most sense.  Having something with forged pistons in it would give me peace of mind as the Subaru pistons are fragile as we all know.

Also, I'm wondering what kind of boost pressures people would expect from the tune on an engine setup like mine.  I feel like they tuned it awfully conservatively with boost peaking at 18-19 PSI right around 4500 RPM then tapering off pretty rapidly to 11-12 as the RPMs climb.  Does that sound right to you who are more knowledgeable about this kind of stuff?

Finally, the transmission.  I'm thinking maybe I should send mine off to ZF Design...

Thanks for reading!  I wanted to get more pics of the car this weekend but with it being back in the shop that's going to be hard to do.  Here's a couple I took with my phone the day I got it back from the shop.

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by TMBLKDG

[Max Capacity]

Sorry to hear about the engine. Good Luck.

Here's my dyno sheet from a Mustang dyno, which tend to read low. That's on stock fueling, stock TGV's, and a smaller IPR tmic then the GS on it now. Read my sig.

I have found the Moore Performance Blast Plates help with high rpm shifts, they stiffen the case.

[shralp]

Those TGV deletes won’t serve you well with the new Cobb rules to keep from going afoul of the EPA. Once your put back together your tuner won’t legally be allowed to tune your car without TGV’s installed

Edited September 3, 2022 by shralp

[TMBLKDG]

1 hour ago, Max Capacity said:

Sorry to hear about the engine. Good Luck.

Here's my dyno sheet from a Mustang dyno, which tend to read low. That's on stock fueling, stock TGV's, and a smaller IPR tmic then the GS on it now. Read my sig.

I have found the Moore Performance Blast Plates help with high rpm shifts, they stiffen the case.

 

So, theoretically, on the same dyno under the same conditions my engine should be able to squeeze out a few more ponies than shown there.

I just read about those plates. Definitely worth a try, thanks!


 

58 minutes ago, shralp said:

Those TGV deletes won’t serve you well with the new Cobb rules to keep from going afoul of the EPA. Once your put back together your tuner won’t legally be allowed to tune your car without TGV’s installed

I'm afraid I don't understand... They just tuned the car at the end of July and Cobb didn't have anything to do with it...?

I do have an Accessport but have never used it and now I see it's basically worthless.

[shralp]

Not sure I understand your reply as well   Your NOT running a Cobb Accessport on your car?  Unless you're running some sort of aftermarket tuning software how was your tuner able to provide you with a map to allow for all your upgrades?  Are you running different tuning software other than an Accessport? 

[TMBLKDG]

3 minutes ago, shralp said:

Not sure I understand your reply as well   Your NOT running a Cobb Accessport on your car?  Unless you're running some sort of aftermarket tuning software how was your tuner able to provide you with a map to allow for all your upgrades?  Are you running different tuning software other than an Accessport? 

No, I do not have an Accessport hooked up and as far as I know one was not used for the tune.  I believe the tuner uses Open Source software.

[shralp]

Gotcha that would explain it.  Open source seems to be getting more rare these days but maybe that will swing the other way with all these new EPA rules... 

[TMBLKDG]

Well, the engine tear down is complete and it's a total loss.  Whoever assembled this engine really was either completely incompetent or just didn't give a F#$%.

The engine was full of silicone - they even used it to seal up a damaged oil pickup to block O-ring.  Blocked oil passages in the heads, silicone on the oil pickup, etc. The failure was inevitable, the over-rev was just the straw on the camel's back.

Cam tunnels in the heads all scored up. Cam cap bolts installed backwards.  Valve guides at inconsistent depths.  All the bearings showing signs of starving for oil. Just all kinds of FUBAR.

So, it's completely new engine time.  All new, everything. Factory short block with ARP head studs, Wiseco pistons, and a Blouch TD05H-380XT this time around though.

I was going to get one of the new 6 speeds put in too per Scottydunno and Infosedad's info but this deal is costing wayyyy more than I anticipated and on top of this one of our other cars started making bad noises and our septic system is going to need replacing, so time to start cutting back.  I'll do the trans swap eventually but I'll do it myself once my garage is finally whipped into shape and in the meantime I'll just be careful/gentle on that 3-4 shift.  Gonna put all new bushings in the shifter, too, and hope that helps.

Edited September 20, 2022 by TMBLKDG

[dgoodhue]

The oil Pan to block has one metal reinforce metal gasket and doesn’t have an o-ring, it suppose to be silicon gasket. (The factory assembly almost looks like an o-ring). I got confuse the 1st one that I disassembled because it looked link an o-ring but I couldn’t find it in the parts catalog. The rest of the picture don’t look like the assembly  caused the failure. What I do see is, significant scoring, that didn’t happen from failed bearing that someone stopped driving shortly after. I would bet the original turbo failed.  Either you didn’t notice it or the prior owner swapped the turbo out and passed the repair bill to you. 

[dgoodhue]

I would replace the heads, cam, caps etc. unfortunately your entire motor is a total loss in my opinion. 

[seanyb505]

Shame about the engine, I know that sucks. It's also a shame we couldn't explore the power results with those parts. I'd expect that turbo and fueling to do better than Byron's stock 52 and injectors. Everything else pretty much looked the same.