kimokalihi's 91 SS EJ20 Swap

[PhyrraM]

Agreed. Change both with a new key. Doing anything less is going to risk more, like your crankshaft itself.

[logan9691]

hey that's what mine looked like when it broke, destroyed the back of the crank pully, destroyed the key and my crank timing gear. How come I didn't get as lucky as you >:(

[logan9691]

I might be wrong but I think that some people use a sequence on the wrx crank pullys too.

[kimokalihi]

Alright. I'll get another crank gear too. Fuck. I don't think it did much damage to the crankshaft.

[logan9691]

as long as a new crank pulley goes on without any play in it and you put a new key on it it'll probably be fine. I have a broken off piece of bolt in mine and it's still fine. but that's just my .02 cents.

[kimokalihi]

Everything is cheap from the dealership except the pulley.

804505060 WDF KEY-5X6.5X 16 Crankshaft Key $1.67
800213030 BOLT-13X65X28 Crankshaft Bolt $3.65
12305AA150 PULLEY-CRANKSHAFT Crank Pulley $129.56
13021AA090 SPROCKET-CRANKSFT Crank Gear $24.20

What do you guys think about buying a lightweight aftermarket Perrin or Agency Power pulley? Good or bad idea? Revs will rise and fall quicker which is both good and bad. Anything else? Aluminum is not as strong as cast iron or whatever the stock pulley is made of. Which may be a good thing. Wouldn't it be better to have the pulley strip out than the key and possibly the crankshaft? All my pulleys are very rusty, not a big deal but worth noting. Won't have to worth about what condition the harmonic balancer rubber is in with unknown mileage.

[logan9691]

I'd just use a stock pulley with a new key for the crank and make sure it is torqued enough. Rust wouldn't be a problem unless you're worried about looks (could always go to the pull a part and try to find a better looking one for alot less then the dealer), painting the front of it is always an option to. I've read good and bad things about light weight ones, never used one though.

[kimokalihi]

I had a full set including the alternator and power steering pulleys but I sold them because everyone said it would make my car not run properly in combination with my lightweight flywheel. The flywheel that came on this EJ20G was super light stock! Very thin and unlike any flywheel I've ever seen. I think the flywheel on my metro was twice as heavy and that's a 1.0L motor.

[logan9691]

well in that case a stock one will get you by till you figure out what u want to do. A stock light weight fly wheel? never knew it existed, but then again subaru has done some funky stuff in the past.

[kimokalihi]

JDM 2.0. You can ask mike-tracey I think I sold it to him. Blew me away how light and thin it was.

[mike-tracy]

The OEM 20g flywheel Kimo sold me weighed in at 11.9 lbs

[Legacy777]

Use the stock pulley you have in the picture. It'll be fine.

[kimokalihi]

I already have a new one coming from subaru along with a key and bolt.

Yesterday the bolt that you tighten on the alternator backet after tightening the bolt above it fell out and the belt was super loose and squealing and then it started smoking. Gotta find a new one today.

I finally decided to move my gauges. I'm sick of them being in the stereo cavity making my car all ghetto and I want to put my stereo in and a fuel cut defender I've had for a long time. When I get time to wire all that shit up I'll get her done. For now I've started work on the mounting location I've chosen. The steering column.

Here's a couple preview shots of what I have done so far. Not too fancy, looks a bit cheap but I might fiberglass the column piece. We'll see.

[cj91legss]

looks like it'll be a nice install, test fit pics?

[evolutionmovement]

Orrrrrr you could get some scrap gray plastic interior pieces and plastic weld it around the gauges so it looks OEM. You'd need strips you could bend with a heat gun and another piece you could grind into 1/8" rounds for weld rod. That's the plan for mine. Might resemble a Mickey Mouse head.

[kimokalihi]

looks like it'll be a nice install, test fit pics?

No test fit pics yet. The piece is now in my trunk. It's a bitch to get on and off without breaking the bolt hole shafts off. I'm going to reinforce them before putting it back on because they're about to snap off. I know it fits though. I cut the first hole before removing it.

[kimokalihi]

Orrrrrr you could get some scrap gray plastic interior pieces and plastic weld it around the gauges so it looks OEM. You'd need strips you could bend with a heat gun and another piece you could grind into 1/8" rounds for weld rod. That's the plan for mine. Might resemble a Mickey Mouse head.

I could but then I'd have to buy a plastic welder too. Plus how do you get the same exact color plastic?

[kimokalihi]

Just took a look in the daylight under the hood. Found the bolt that fell out. Miraculously it had landed in the tiny gap between the wiring harness that runs along the bottom of the radiator and the fans! Fell straight into that threaded end first and caught on the head. Crazy.

The alternator is stripped out. It took a couple threads with it when it came out. I hate aluminum sometimes. I will helicoil the alternator and get it all straightened up again with a new belt. You can see how it tore the shit out of the belt in the picture. That belt yesterday looked new. Only had 3K miles on it. Now it's toast.











On top of that I have a leaking coolant tank which is pissing me off and spilling all over the passenger side head and exhaust wrap. Originally it was just a hose I didn't have a clamp on so I installed a clamp on it and it's leaking elsewhere now. Looks like it could be leaking from the cap. Can I go to the dealership and buy a new cap for an STI?

[evolutionmovement]

It's in the post—you get spare interior parts for the scrap. For me, I'm using a spare wagon side cargo door. That's really the only reason to go with it instead of FG, which would be quicker and easier (especially where I have a blue interior). But, yeah, you'd have to get a welder. If you were close, I'd lend you mine.

[kimokalihi]

Oh I see. Yeah that makes sense. If I could get one cheap I'd go that route. I actually bought a gauge pod pillar for a WRX that holds 4 gauges and I test fit it on my car and it looks retarded and the top gauge is like right in my face so it's too close but I was thinking about cutting out the pods and fiberglassing them to the OEM pillar trim piece in closer proximities to each other. Then I decided it looks too ricey and I don't have money to buy a coolant temp and oil pressure gauge to fill the other two pods.

[mike-tracy]

Kimo, I read on this board that the STI's have a higher PSI cap than ours, which is bad for your cooling system.

[kimokalihi]

Interesting. So ask them for a 91 turbo SS cap then?

[cj91legss]

Interesting. So ask them for a 91 turbo SS cap then?

i would go with that, or just an n/a one. i have an N/A radiator in my SS and have had the same radiator since 2008... cap and all. never caused an issue for me.

[ericem]

Just ask for a oem cap it should be 1.1 bar regardless oem caps are really good quality.

[kimokalihi]

Parts came today. I removed the pulley again, took the timing covers off and rotated the crank until the gear was at the timing mark and the pulleys were way off so I rotated it again....and again...about 20 times and they do not line up. All 4 cam gears are 6 teeth counterclockwise of where they should be! WTF

How bad is this? Could this have caused any damage? Could this be why I've been seeing a shit load of knock on warm up the last 3 weeks? How did this happen? Brand new idlers and pulleys, brand new belt, brand new timing tensioner. There's even a bracket that is bolted right on top of the crank gear to prevent it from slipping and somehow it still did.

What should I do? Do I line everything back up again and hope for the best?