legacycentral bbs

Well I just purchased my '91 Legacy Turbo that was said to "run great." Well it runs far from great. So I will pull the motor out probably Monday and get started on fixing all the problems it has. The main problem it has is a blown headgasket or warped head, not sure which until I get the heads off.

My main question is what would be worth my while to do to the heads while they are out? I am going to have a buddy of mine Port and polish the intake and exhaust ports, but is there anything else that is cost efficient to do while they are off? Or something that can prevent future problems? Or is there a beter type of head I should go with?

I was going to go with some DOHC heads but I had a few guys tell me that the SOHC heads are actually beter as they produce less load on the bottom end assembly. So I would like to get the most out of the heads while they are off.

Thanks in advance for your time and help.

-Matt

Do your rings and seals for sure

here is the engine rebuild faq

http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=18218

I would suggest to port and polish all the intake and exhaust manifold since you just pay a little exter but it will have a big imporve.

But depands on how much will be the rebuild cost. I was thinking to rebuild my EJ22T when the crank seal worn but after I call the price for rebuild, its a bit more then I replace my EJ20G to my BC5.

EJ22T is a good engine as I compair on both of 22t and 20G. The EJ22T has more low end power ..... also, you don't have to worry about the ECU problem since everything could use back to stock.

Just my point of view, hope it could be help.

Ben

Usually, I hear about the port/polish being quite expensive to have done (though I may be thinking of valves there.....). If you do it yourself, it shouldn't be all that much.

I might suggest Cryo-treating them. It shouldn't cost all that much, and there are many benefits. If you look around, I'm sure you can find somewhere near you that can do it.

I just found a place near Atlanta that can do heads for $65 for a 4-cylinder (it may be a bit more, but that should be in the ballpark. I'll e-mail them to ask).

Yeah a buddy of mine is going to do the port and polish on the heads so that wont cost me much. I will also send them to a head shop and have the clean up what he does and then have them plained and checked for cracks. I will also port match the header and intake manifolds as well.

I am not however looking to rebuild the bottom end unless it looks like it absolutely needs it. It has around 96K miles on it so that isnt too bad and it does not burn any oil. I has large oil leaks around the valve cover gaskets, oil pan gasket, and where the oil filter screws on. So I dont really think it needs a rebuild on the lower half.

Thanks for the replys!!! If anyone else has any further input please post it. Thanks.

-Matt

The bottom end seldom has to be done. Mine had 246+k and was almost like brand new when I took it apart.

Steve

Heck.... The only reason I'd touch the bottom end would be to get it balanced, put new pistons in, and get the whole shootin' match cryo-ed.

Yeah that is what I figured. The 2.2T is pretty undestructable from what I have been told by Ron @ Axis. I cant wait to push some serious boost through this motor.

-Matt

I am going to emphasize replacing the rings again. Its easy and will help alot!

The only comment I will add is that whoever told you it is a bad idea to upgrade to DOHC EJ25 heads is smoking crack. Those heads flow about 25% more and have bigger ports stock than you will ever get your EJ22T heads ported to. But sticking with Ej22T heads is a good low cost option. You can push a decent amount of air through them

If you can afford a vavle job, it is worth it. What many people don't realize is that a large percentage of the gains of headwork come from cleaning up the valve seat and enlarging it. You can only push as much air as your narrowest air allows...

Very good info!! Thanks Matt.

I will definitely look into picking up some DOHC heads and do the valvetrain and cam upgrade on those. For the time being I will just port and polish the SOHC heads. Right now I am more or less looking to stay within some sort of budget just to get the car running again. I have ALOT of money invested in my Legacy GT (rotated mount GT30R kit), so once I finish my project with it then I will start on the SS.

Thanks again for the great info.

-Matt

The heads most likely didnt warp; check them but they are probably ok and don't need to be milled. The subaru heads that tend to warp are the 2.5s, late (99) 2.2s, and old EA heads warp a little between the cylinders. Check out delta camshafts about getting a cam grind. You might as well do the valve job while the heads are out like Matty said. Be careful about cracks around the seats.
You're going to rebuild them right? If not, make sure you at least replace the rear o ring on the right head. It's a bitch in the car. good luck
-maximus