kimokalihi's 91 SS EJ20 Swap

[Legacy777]

The thing with the PNW is that what happened with this latest round of snow is somewhat typical. It's abnormal for it to stay cold for long periods of time so the snow sticks around. Usually there's a little bit and then it warms up and melts or it turns to rain.

When there's A LOT of snow like there was this past week and it warms up or turns to rain it causes havoc in many ways! Back in 1996 a similar snow and warm up/rain event occurred. Trees were falling down, roofs were collapsing, and roads floading due to all the drainage ditches being plugged with slush. I ended up driving from Lake Stevens to Everett in my mom's 4x4 yota. It was a mess!

[kimokalihi]

Still no power. Pouring rain 36 degrees. Here comes the flooding.

[sqc151]

we finally got snow for the first time since oct. not much but its coming down pretty good.

[kimokalihi]

GC STI Carbon strut brace to stiffen things up a touch. Looks really good and fitment is excellent like it was made for this car.

[kimokalihi]

Snow/Ice storm carnage.

[kimokalihi]

I think this has to be my coolant leak. Blown head gasket on passenger side. Not shown in the pics but further back towards the firewall you can clearly see the head gasket protruding out from between the head and the block. Then there's the huge gap in these pics where no gasket is visible. I can't find any leaking hoses and so it has to be a blown gasket or the coolant crossover pipe somehow leaking which is unlikely.

Thoughts? This may be a stupid question but would it be worth trying to vacuum out all the coolant from that gap and filling it with gasket sealant? I don't want to remove the engine again.

[sqc151]

nice strut bar, i have the same one. where did your washer bottle go??

as per the HG. just sucks to hear this happened now. especially during winter.

[kimokalihi]

Washer bottle is relocated in the driver's side fender.

[sqc151]

ahh... slick...

its down in front behind the bumper cover?

how do u fill it?

[kimokalihi]

Yeah it's directly in front of my driver's side tire. Freed up a lot of room in my engine bay. Can't wait to ditch the ABS and free up some more space.

[sqc151]

yeah i just noticed i dont see the emissions canister either??

so u pull back the fender lining to fill the washer bottle?

[kimokalihi]

The one I had had 3 nipples and the engine I swapped in only had 2 lines so I just plugged them and left it out. The gas tank has a lot of pressure in it when I remove the cap to fill up but so far that is the only known consequence.

[vrg3]

You can use the 2-nipple charcoal canister. It's meant for a non-turbo. Connect the two fittings like the stock canister, and put a check valve in the vacuum hose going to the purge solenoid or intake manifold, so it prevents boost from pressurizing the canister. Gas tanks aren't designed to be pressurized, so I would do this soon.

[Legacy777]

Kimo,

Try cleaning the coolant so you can determine with more certainty where it's coming from. If it is the headgasket you could try some rtv silicone, but I doubt it will last long.


Regarding the charcoal canister....I really don't feel the little check valves would make much difference in protecting the charcoal canister from being pressurized. I played with the one that came on my Impreza and it's not very robust. I doubt it would hold up to several pounds of boost....but maybe I'm wrong.

[vrg3]

The canister isn't sealed; if you send boost into it, you'll smell fuel fumes coming out of it. It does have that extra drain port on the bottom, after all. It's possible that some of the boost would go back towards the fuel tank, too; I don't know.

The check valve I'm suggesting would only really come into play in the split second that you transition from vacuum to boost; the ECU shuts the purge solenoid off when you're on boost anyway.

[beatersubi]

That strut bar is a great addition from both a functional and aesthetic standpoint. I regret selling mine every time I see one.

[kimokalihi]

Got it from a gent on SLI for $175 shipped from Japan. I believe he's moving so I don't think he's got the hook up on JDM parts anymore. I like it. I wish I could still use my strut covers but alas they do not snap on with the brace being too thick.

[Dominator]

I just picked up another FHI Carbon Fiber bar yesterday too. The guy was using it on a 1st gen Forester. Got a smoking deal on it, $90! It was fairly local, being in Anchorage, but that's about 400 miles away. The seller dropped it off with a buddy of mine to hold on to it until I get a chance to visit.

That makes 2 of these for me. I bought the first one years ago for my 2.5rs off ebay from a seller in Japan, paid a lot more for it too. Since I got rid of the RS I was very happy to see that they fit the 1st gen Legacys. It makes sense, the Impreza was based off the Legacy chassis, and the Forester was based off the Impreza chassis. This one is for my 95 Impreza project when it's up and running. It'll replace the cheapo aluminum bar that's on there now.

[kimokalihi]

Nice find! Wish I had gotten it for that cheap but they tend to go for $200ish on NASIOC.

[Doaomo]

That strut bar is dead sexy boss!!!

[kimokalihi]

Thanks. I'm actually surprised there aren't more people using them on their legacys.

[Doaomo]

I saw this bar used by NICO and added it to my wish list months ago!!! Can't wait!!!

[kimokalihi]

I've wanted them for a long time. I actually ordered a whiteline rear bar as well but then 2 weeks later the jerkoffs finally tell me it's 90 days out and they refunded my money. I never wanted to spend the money on them but then I quit spending money almost altogether for a long time and figured I deserved a treat and got the carbon bar and I thought I had the rear one coming but not anymore.

[kimokalihi]

I finally installed my LS wiper/turn signal multiswitch with the intermittent speed dial and they it doesn't work. The hi/low settings work but not the dial that adjusts the interval between wipes. Any idea why it's not working? Is it plug and play or do I have to change something else too? I thought people just plugged these in and were good to go.

I'm in the middle of moving my gauges to my vent. Need some ABS though. Hopefully home deep has some but I'm not really sure why they would. I'd like to see how other people have done them. I guess I'll search NASIOC or something.

Got tired of the ghetto ricer mounted on the steering column look and they reflected on the windshield at night which was not affecting my line of sight but it was visible and hopefully in the vents it won't be on the windshield.

I also replaced the steering column plastic trim that I had cut holes in to mount the gauges in. Looks much nicer now.

[Legacy777]

The check valve I'm suggesting would only really come into play in the split second that you transition from vacuum to boost; the ECU shuts the purge solenoid off when you're on boost anyway.

True.....I still don't know if the valve I tested made any difference.