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RS-RA teardown pictures...
Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 3:42 pm
by Matt Monson
Ok,
I finally got my shit together and here's some preliminary photos of the teardown. As you can see, it's not totally apart yet, but at least it is apart enough to show you some of the major goodies.

The Ghetto Garage, with the engine on the stand.

Heads from the outside.
Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 3:48 pm
by Matt Monson

Stamped "S" instead of a serial number!

Fuzzy picture of the ports. The portwork is amazing. Definitely done by hand!

For scale. This is the RS-RA head with a 24mm socket. Below is an Ej22E head. The biggest socket that will fit there is 19mm!

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 3:52 pm
by Matt Monson

The block. Closed deck with squirters.

Fuzzy photo of cylinder with squirter in the bottom.

Note how the rods attach. Top is RS-RA. Bottom is current USDM EJ257 STi.

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 3:57 pm
by Matt Monson
And the forged pistons.. Piston top:

And a side view:

And the bottom. You can't see it, but it actually says ART inside the piston...

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 4:00 pm
by Matt Monson
And the last little bits. You guys can argue over injector color and flow rate,
And the oil cooler.
I will do some more once I get the case cracked. The bottom end is bad on the motor and I have yet to see if it is just bearing damage or if my crank is borked as well...
Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 5:25 pm
by DLC
Awesome to see the differences between a hand-prepped motor and a normal production one.
Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 6:27 pm
by Legacy777
Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 9:32 pm
by Matt Monson
yeah,
I can't wait to compare the cranks. And now that I've got my old Ej20G bottom end back, I can tear that down and compare, eventually...
Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 10:15 pm
by 206er
those intake ports are Saweeet! bad ass motor, what is an RS-RA, a special liberty? or some sort of impreza? and what are the stock power figures on those motors?
Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 10:37 pm
by Matt Monson
I have seen everything from standard 220ps to 250ps listed on them. But the RS-RA was the first generation of motors built by STi. The RS was the Legacy Sedan from 89-94 over in Japan. THe RA stood for record attempt. As in the 100,000 km land speed endurance record. Which the car set.
After that was done, STi set to work building the rally empire of Subaru. These engines were used in homologation special editions and numbered around 1000 units by '94 when the Impreza was released. Mine is a 1991.
They were factory blueprinted. PnP heads. Forged pistons. DOH! I just realized I didn't show you guys pics of the sodium filled exhaust valves. Weight matched forged rods. Counterbalanced crank, etc. etc...

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 10:39 pm
by THAWA
It was a Legacy. Google Legacy RS-RA and you'll find more info about it.
Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 11:12 pm
by gt2.5turbo
damn i wish i would be allowed to have my garage look like that. Sweet thread always wanted to see the differences in those engines. But soon ill get to see sti's work first hand as one of my friends just spun a rod bearing so we get to rebuild it

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2005 12:06 am
by Matt Monson
I'm should be there to help with Tyler's rebuild. We've been talking about it. I want to take pictures of his stuff since I have very little first hand tech on V4 stuff.
And I wish my garage didn't look like that. I just had a WRX front cut delivered and I don't know where the hell I am going to put it...
Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2005 3:56 am
by napphappy
thanks for the pics Matt, its nice to see what my engine looks like inside
heres a question, what flywheel and pressure plate are you going to use?
as you know they were balanced with the engine.
right now I am not using either because I still have my NA trannie.
how much of a difference do you think they would make?
BTW you need a macro

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2005 4:06 am
by douglas vincent
Not questioning you, but how do you know they are sodium filled valves?
Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2005 4:49 am
by evolutionmovement
Are those valves the same size as any other exhaust valves and what would be availability on something like those?
Steve
Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2005 7:47 am
by gt2.5turbo
cool yeah he said something about you coming up to help should be a time. I too wanna get inside that engine a little bit i think im going to be doing my top mount around the same time as well.
Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2005 2:50 pm
by legacy92ej22t
Wow Matt, that port work is awesome!!
Man, screw regular EJ20G heads, I want me some RA heads for sure! If not the whole kitty.
Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2005 5:31 pm
by Matt Monson
douglas vincent wrote:Not questioning you, but how do you know they are sodium filled valves?
Aside from the technical documents about it, the fact that they are yellow like that. I have never seen a Subaru exhaust that color before.
And Steve, I don't know about the specs on the valves. I will see if I can come up with a part number and other measurements...
Napphappy,
I only thought the flywheel was balanced with it. I have the stock flywheel. When I rebuild the engine (because the bottom end is bad) I will have my machine shop rebalance it for me...
Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2005 12:31 am
by napphappy
Hey Matt, here is a quote from the out-flat page
"crank shaft, flywheel and clutch cover hand finish balance "
can you think of any way to tell if ours came with the original "clutch cover"
also does any one know if a NA trans bell housing be converted to a pull style?
Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 3:38 pm
by Matt Monson
Well,
I know I didn't get the pressure plate and have no idea how to ID one. But I have never before heard of balancing with a pressure plate. Who knows.
On your tranny question, why do you want to do that?
And lastly, I made an interesting discovery last night. It turns out that these heads do have serial numbers on them. But it is not in the regular location. On the front edge next to the exhaust cam it is stamped in the head. They are matched sets L & R. Mine is number 749. Talk about small production numbers...
Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 6:57 pm
by scottzg
Matt Monson wrote:. But I have never before heard of balancing with a pressure plate. Who knows.
some old fords are.
Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2005 12:32 am
by napphappy
the RA Clutch and flywheel are pull style and I would like to use at least the flywheel.
if I cant convert to pull style, does anybody know of a push style clutch that uses a turbo pressure plate bolt pattern?
am i making sense to anybody besides me?
thanks
Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2005 2:23 am
by THAWA
I believe they all use the same bolt pattern.
Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2005 4:51 am
by napphappy
my NA clutch wouldnt bolt up to the RA flywheel.