dankberries 1993 Legacy SS

[dankberries]

Finally after going through some bs I got these damn valves. Had my first bad online purchasing experience. After 30 days of no call no show from a distributor of supertech, I had to open up a dispute with PayPal and ended up getting a check from PayPal for the original purchase. I then reordered from supertech directly, went pretty smooth except they sent the wrong frickin valves, had to ship them back, then supertech overnighted me the correct ones.
Finally! Nickel econal exhaust valves & nitrided intake valves:


I keep finding these amazing deals I can't turn down, I think I maybe going over board a little lol, oh well.
Picked up a freshly refurbished JDM gc8 td05h $520:


Then right after buying that ^ , I found this refurbished td05 16g evo3 w/ P&P.. Ended up really impressing this guy with my work and bargained him down to $350. Steal of a deal.


But I didn't stop there... I ended up finding an unbelievable deal that even though I shouldn't be spending anymore money, I could not resist! I think I was very lucky to be the first one in line to respond to this sale, as many people called after me. I just happened to see the post for it right as it was put up.
98,000miles ej205 w/ the very beginning sighns of head gasket failure (common problem on these engines) purchased from a fellow turbo swapped gc8 guy, money was not an issue for this guy, he just bought a new engine in place of this one.
After a thorough inspection as best I could, this thing looks pretty tits!
Complete engine including all sensors manifolds, PS pump, alternator, wiring, exc.
I feel like I practically stole this thing... Talked him down to $350.. He really just needed his garage space back..
Yes ej205 does fit in the back of legacy SS:


Can't wait to tear into this engine and see its story.
Really don't need 2 turbo's so I'm likely going to sell one at some point when I decide what one I want to keep.

[Legacy777]

You now have a mid-engine Legacy

[cj91legss]

I wish I got all my 205 stuff for 350...................

[dankberries]

You now have a mid-engine Legacy

First twin engine legacy featuring obd1 & obd2, now that otta stump the emissions people!

I wish I got all my 205 stuff for 350...................

Im still in awe.. All the parts and sensors alone are well worth more than that.. It wouldn't even matter if the heads and block where wasted, I would still come out winning(said like charlie Sheen)

Now I just need to decide what the hell am I going to do with it... I'm already knees deep into a 25d build for the lego... I have a serious amount of money and time put into the impreza 25d setup..
Flip a coin and decide which car is going obd2?!
I'm going to end up needing to buy another daily driver at the rate I'm going

[cj91legss]

For what it's worth, It's nice having an OBD2 first gen sedan

[dankberries]

Put the goldies back on today and washed the car. I missed the gold!







I had to call my Machinist and see how progress was, it's been two months and I hadn't heard from him. I guess he had the wrong number written down for me and couldn't get ahold of me. Upsetting that I have been patiently waiting for nothing.
I dropped off the fittings for the turbo oil and coolant lines so he can drill and tap the heads for the right sizes. Head work should be concluded within the week. Finally.
Just a couple more pieces needed to put project DOHC 22t together. Need to purchase a haltech ECU, going standalone on this project. Still on the fence about my final CR, I have a spare 22t I'm considering putting larger pistons in to up my CR.
Slowly starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.

[dankberries]

Getting closer



Just need a couple more things and it's go time! Decided to hold off on short block work, going to feel out the lower compression for a bit and make a later determination of upping the piston size if I don't like it.
I plan to use all new valve train components, I just need to know if the Sti(257) valve springs are a good idea or not. It's going to cost the same to buy 25d parts as Sti parts, so if it's any kind of an upgrade, I'm all for it. I plan for future cam upgrades so I want to be assure I'm using the right components to get the job done safe.

[mike-tracy]

You should put an NSFW label on your thread - car porn

[dankberries]

You should put an NSFW label on your thread - car porn

Mike I'm flattered, you like my carnography

Pulled the trigger on Sti valve components. Happy birthday to me.



Got a awesome deal on these parts, I just hope it's the right direction to go. I plan to make some measurements and comparison before installing anything

[dankberries]

Worked on my DOHC heads over the weekend. I made measurements and comparisons of the 97' ej25d valve springs/seats/retainers vs. The 04' STi valve springs/seats/retainers. My main goal was to be assured that the STi parts could work OK in the 25d heads. In conclusion the parts would work OK. Over all fitments were not an issue, the parts where relatively close to each other in shape, size, and design.
Although I was unable make my own measurments for spring tension(for lack of having the proper tool), I found some info in the F.S.M's.

04' STi:

97' ej25d:


If im thinking correctly it would appear that the gain is rather minimal if at all between the STi and 25d spring tensions. If I go to a bigger cam I'm going need to go a different route.

Comparison side by side:


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The roughness of the factory casting in the intake/exhaust ports was bugging my o.c.d side, so I decided I would clean it up just a touch.

Before:




After:




I also cleaned up my cam caps. Before & after:



Things kind of escalated quickly. A little cleaning turned into extensive work. The love of shiney is real.
Spent a lot of time tediously recleaning the heads!
Got everything assembled and heads are ready for install. Happy to have concluded head work.

I also found time to disassemble a spare ej22t I have. I decided if it was in good shape that I could use the short block to put together the new setup. It would save me time to be able to pull the current engine and just swap a new one in with less down time.


Unfortunately the engine had a rod bearing failure on #2, the mains were at their beginning sighns of wear but not horrible.
Im Hoping the crank is reusable, it looks pretty good just some minor wear on the #2 rod. I'm going to drop the block and crank off at the machine shop for cleaning/inspection. Because I'm this far in, I'm reconsidering using some oversized pistons.

The saga continues...

[dankberries]

Made it to the machine shop yesterday, had the crank checked out. The crank will need to be ground, I really wanted a crank that I could keep at standard bearing sizes so I spent some time yesterday trying to track one down. I also dropped the block off for cleaning, had amazing turn around time and was done by the end of the day. I went back to pick it up and still hadn't found a good crank yet, I told the Machinist I was going to pull the trigger on buying a new one, I can get a new one for $300, but the Machinist said he would do the grind and polish for $150, so I caved in to half the cost and decide to go that route. Turn around will be 3 days on the crank.
I also pulled the trigger last night on new wiseco 98mm pistons and eagle rods. I guess shit is getting serious for this legacy. Sets me back a little bit on finish time but thats OK as I am in no hurry.

[dankberries]

Yep ... Gettin serious.

Pistons and rods arrived in the mail today . Dropped the block and pistons off to the machine shop to begin the over bore.


The machinist has got a lead on a good crank that should spec out for standard bearings, will know by tomorrow. I already committed to having the other crank ground but he offered to keep the ground crank and give me the standard crank at the same price.
Once the boring is done I will need the rotating assembly rebalanced. I need to purchase a new clutch and possibly a flywheel before I can do that, hoping to source a setup before this Friday, which is the estimated finish date of boring.

The light at the end of the tunnel is getting close enough I need to put my shades on

[dankberries]

It's beautiful








Balancing of the rotating assembly should be complete Wednesday, hopefully by next weekend I will be putting everything together

[dankberries]

Got the rotating assembly back from being balanced today.
Items needed for balancing included crank, rods, pistons w/ wrist pins included, main and rod bearings, harmonic balancer and timing sprocket, flywheel, clutch disk, pressure plate, and flywheel/pressure plate bolts.



Evidence of crank balancing, rather than drilling they ground material away:


Evidence of rod weight matching, ground away material:


The pistons didn't need anything, they all weighed identical.
Should be able to start some short block assembly this weekend.

[mike-tracy]

I've been interested in having the rotating assembly balanced for a while now. Care to share how much the rods and crank cost to have done?

[PhyrraM]

I've been interested in having the rotating assembly balanced for a while now. Care to share how much the rods and crank cost to have done?

Because of the flat nature of the motor as long as the crank and flywheel are balanced, and the other parts are all weight matched, there is no need to rebalance the crank again with simulated loads like inline or "V" type motors. Something about there is always an equal-but-opposite force on the opposite side and it naturally cancels as long as the weights are equal.

[dankberries]

I've been interested in having the rotating assembly balanced for a while now. Care to share how much the rods and crank cost to have done?

The total for everything was $150, that includes weight matching and balancing. I've seen the price range from $150-300 depending what shop you use.

Because of the flat nature of the motor as long as the crank and flywheel are balanced, and the other parts are all weight matched, there is no need to rebalance the crank again with simulated loads like inline or "V" type motors. Something about there is always an equal-but-opposite force on the opposite side and it naturally cancels as long as the weights are equal.

There is an overwhelming amount of information on the balancing of a 180° flat four, a lot of discussion going in both directions of doing it, and not doing it.
The general consensus I've seen is that, as you've stated, in comparison of inline or V engines it's not as crucial given the nature of the flat four. However I do believe it possible to go above and beyond what the OE manufacture has done. I've read from several people even checking the balance with the use of a new OEM crank,rods, and pistons. Though it's probably good enough to be safe, their is room to achieve perfection with minor adjustments.
In my case, I've changed several components that vary from OE specs(especially the 10.4lbs ACT flywheel) and for the cost of $150, I can be assured that everything is in happy harmonic balance. Although rare, It's also good to know you aren't potentially using a bent crank.

[rallyak]

The last 2.5D I rebuilt was balanced and it is a lot smoother than factory. At a light you can't even feel it run and no harmonic vibrations at any rpm. All the 2.5D that I've seen are shakers at idle but smooth out off idle.

[PhyrraM]

I wasn't trying to say don't balance anything. By all means balance the crank, flywheel and even the crank pulley. However, if the rods, bearings, pistons, pins, and rings are all weight matched you don't need to go through the procedure of bolting up simulated weights and dynamically balance.

[dankberries]

I wasn't trying to say don't balance anything

I follow you now, the use of bob weights simulating rods/pistons would be unnecessary for this type of crank, so as long as everything is weight matched.
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Well I didn't get as much time to work on the engine as anticipated being Easter weekend, but I got a little bit done.
Got the main and rod bearing clearances checked via platigauge. Using ACL race STD bearings the clearances all fell within factory specifications, the crank being used was very consistent at 52mm on all rod journals and 60mm on mains. Pretty happy about not using a ground crank, and getting this low miles STD one.
Got the piston ring gaps sized, .0050 top ring, .0055 2nd ring, recommend for Street-moderate turbo/nitrous.
Crank, rods, and pistons all assembled.

Side notes/pictures:

Not sure why I hadn't thought of doing this before, but I made a air nozzle fitting to except my oil piston squirters. I found and tapped the fitting to the same size and thread pitch of the squirters. This was in a effort to help clean them out, at first I wasn't getting any air to come through and realized they were very clogged. I filled the nozzle with brake cleaner and kept spraying with the compressor set at about 50psi until I was able to get them cleared out. Fairly certain had I not done this cleaning, I would not have properly functioning squirters.
Custom air nozzle/squirter cleaner:



Rod weight matching small and big end:

Clearance checking/assembly:




*I learned a cool trick for removing stuck dowel/guide pins, find a tap that matches the dowel I.D. size, Begin tapping the inside until that baby pops its self out, or if it doesnt, you should have enough leverage to pull it up and out. Better than bending one up with pliers!

[mike-tracy]

I've ridden in a couple Subarus that had the crank, rods, pistons, flywheel and pressure plate balanced. One of which was the 9k+ rpm 2.35L destroker engine MPS had in one of their cars. The smoothness of that engine was unreal. Like no other 4-cyl I've felt before.

[jefferson]

Sent you a pm.

[Legacy777]

Side notes/pictures:

Not sure why I hadn't thought of doing this before, but I made a air nozzle fitting to except my oil piston squirters. I found and tapped the fitting to the same size and thread pitch of the squirters. This was in a effort to help clean them out, at first I wasn't getting any air to come through and realized they were very clogged. I filled the nozzle with brake cleaner and kept spraying with the compressor set at about 50psi until I was able to get them cleared out. Fairly certain had I not done this cleaning, I would not have properly functioning squirters.

I just ended up using the air gun with a rubber tip to clean my squirters out. I got a nice oil/parts cleaner mist come out


BTW, that's a nice tip with the dowel pins. I ran into that issue myself and took the block halves to a buddy and we used a slide hammer and vice grips to get the old ones out.

[mike-tracy]

Good idea with those oil squirters. Wish i had thought of that.

[Reuben]

Man, Loving this build! Very jelly of that motor!