legacycentral bbs

In preparation for winter, I recently picked up a low mileage ej22t short block to swap into my 91 ss after mine decided to quit on me last spring.



I ventured down south to Grand Forks, ND to pick up a head gasket set for 230 bucks (as opposed to 430 up here).





Once I pull my old motor I will begin the process of swapping everything over, so I need some advice on what to do/replace, or any tips on building up the new block.

The block has about 135000kms (84,000 miles for the yanks) so I wont be tearing into it.
This is my winter car so I would like to keep the cost down as much as possible.

So in addition to the stuff I have already:
Block
Head Gasket Set
Fuel Filter

what else do I need?
Timing Belt kit
Oil Filter
Oil pan gasket

Should I change the water pump? My motor ran perfectly before it decided to crap out on me. The heads will be cleaned and surfaced.

Oh, and what should i use to remove old head gesket from the block, and can i clean it or surface it myself?

Definitely replace the water pump and timing belt...you're already halfway there Make sure you get a '91-specific water pump, they have 3 hose connectors, later ones have only two.

A 3M paint-removal wheel works wonders on the mating surfaces, just use it gently, it will start removing metal if leaned on too hard. Get one in the body & paint section of your FLAPS.

Nice, how did the original motor crap out??

New timing belt tensioner. Even if they seem to compress fine, they can fail. There are better ways to spend a winter night than waiting for a tow. I clean everything off with flexible razor blades (mostly to scrape) and brake cleaner by hand (no holders or anything for the blades - you want them to flex). Don't use the razors if you aren't a careful type of person since you can gouge the aluminum. I had plenty of experience with cast iron engines before hand, so I wasn't worried. I believe there are plastic scrapers for that type of thing somewhere, but I have no clue where you get them or how well they work/long they last.

I'd also recommend a new knock sensor if you have an old one.

ericem wrote:Nice, how did the original motor crap out??

spun a bearing.

cheapest place to get a waterpump and timing belt kit anyone?

found a reman'd water pump for 105 at the closest parts place..47 for a timing belt..waiting for a price for the tensioner. timing belt kits are as high as 430 bucks for 5 pieces. wtf.

New waterpumps from subarupart.com was $60 or 80 a few years back.

just called the dealer, and they want 130 for a brand new water pump, 150 for a timing belt, and 230 for the tensionor.

86.36 for a water pump from subarupart.com, 50.36 for a timing belt, 101.72 for a tensioner.

decided to buy an ebay timing belt kit, it was on sale for 25% off!


ebay link

total was 113cdn after the exchange. will most likely incur some form of duty when it reaches me here.

got the waterpump..

i love the look of new waterpumps.

was that kit special order? i was on there website and found no gasket kit listed

ebay link

looks like this one.

has anyone personally used this ebay kit? I question some of the cheap ebay car parts, I know some vendor made a kit like this for my S4, it was all garbage, cheap chinese crap. I hope this kit is better!

The bearings are German, the belt chinese. At least the two I bought.

Oof! Yeah, I'll stick with OEM. Then again, the OEM's probably made in China, too. I can only hope they actually have quality control in place at the OEM plants.

guess we'll find out!

started to rip the motor out.













the block has oil puked all over it, i am assuming from the pcv system. so, id like to run a catch can setup.

bro cleanin up the turbo, which is in near perfect shape, NO shaft play.



and she's out!

i finished stripping the old parts off my old block, and begun the time consuming task of cleaning the 17 year old gunk of everything.


im taking the heads to a friend to get rebuilt.


just about done cleaning the new block, i will be reinstalling parts as they get cleaned.

cleaned the engine bay tonight.

got my heads back.

Nice, To bad its and AUTO!

motor is about to back in!

in