Just brought home an '06 Limited beauty

[iWrench]

A coworker of mine found this gem for sale locally today as he knows I've been looking for one, an '06 Legacy GT Limited 5-speed in need of an engine, for a crazy low $800. Even without an engine I feel like it was a steal given the excellent overall condition, aftermarket wheels and brand new tires, Tein coilovers, and Cobb Accessport included. I've been looking for a cheap project I can rebuild from the ground up since selling my '09 WRX a little over a year ago, which I had also rebuilt but wasn't really my cup of tea physically but love the powertrain, and I've always really liked the Legacy GT style as it's just more "grown up" and refined to me. So now that I've learned quite a bit about the EJ25 from the WRX rebuild, I'm really looking forward to this one! Planning a moderate performance build around an IAG 550 short block or similar, don't really care to push this car past about 500 HP as I want it to be overall pretty reliable, but still a fun and exciting drive. 

[Febreze Mee]

Phenomenal find for only $800! What a good friend. Welcome to the forum! 

500HP is a lot!

[iWrench]

23 minutes ago, Febreze Mee said:

Phenomenal find for only $800! What a good friend. Welcome to the forum! 

500HP is a lot!

Yeah the more I've been thinking and doing more research on what kind of build I want plus how much money I really want to dump into this project (I have two other projects currently), I'm thinking more in the (up to) 400 whp range would be plenty for my needs, as I'm more concerned with long term reliability than bleeding edge performance. That'll allow me to use an OEM EJ257 short block and OEM heads as a foundation rather than an IAG 550 short block and I can put that money saved towards other upgrades (exhaust, turbo, fuel). Plus I want to be able to use a stock 6-speed MT.

I had a lot of fun rebuilding the WRX, so I'm really excited for this one. This time I'm going through every little nook and cranny from the ground up and giving her a complete overhaul.

Edited April 21 by iWrench
Added info

[KZJonny]

Respectfully, I don’t think you’ll get a stock short block, reliable and 400whp in the same engine bay…. Pick 2 of those 3.

I know you said ‘up to’, so that gives you a lot of flexibility… but if you want all those 3 things, you probably need to replace OE EJ257 with ‘built short block and forged piston, etc…’. ymmv tho.

Any photos of the Rex?

[iWrench]

2 hours ago, KZJonny said:

Respectfully, I don’t think you’ll get a stock short block, reliable and 400whp in the same engine bay…. Pick 2 of those 3.

I know you said ‘up to’, so that gives you a lot of flexibility… but if you want all those 3 things, you probably need to replace OE EJ257 with ‘built short block and forged piston, etc…’. ymmv tho.

Any photos of the Rex?

I'm not really fixated on any particular hp number, just planning on if I go with an OEM EJ257 short block, adding just enough power to remain within the threshold of safety and reliability. The only time it would ever see a dyno is for tuning. But I'm still considering an IAG 550 built block for a little more headroom, and it's only a couple grand more, which is very little in the grand scheme of the whole car. I also don't beat on my cars all the time, they rarely get driven hard and I don't wind out the RPMs, so reliability really shouldn't be a problem. I just really don't want to have to invest in built heads as those are quite pricey, so I'm looking to make power with stock heads. 

I'll have to see if I can dig up pics of the WRX.

Edited April 21 by iWrench

[NORULZleggy]

do 400whp, and a STI 6MT and be happy. I would not put that much into a 2006 unless you have a daily like I do. I have an 06 with what I need but I could never daily it, tuned and built cars are not reliable. These cars have an attitude and act funny even when they are running great lol.