legacycentral bbs

so i bought a 1993 legacy touring wagon with an ej22t already out with the short block rebuilt. the story is that the lady who owned the car brought it to a diesel mechanic to have the timing belt done im guessing around 108,xxx miles (thats what it was at when i got it) and the engine immediately ticked upon running so they told her she needed a new engine, she left the car there, and some how this guy i bought it from ended up with it after the engine sat in the back of the car. he rebuilt the short block and had it honed out and replaced all the pistons with oem ones. the intake and everything else is totally untouched and dirty. so i bought this car for 800 that was sitting in his garage that he wanted gone and in exchange for buying the car i got the rebuilt short block and supposedly everything to put it together. only problem is that i have an apartment and the touring wagon was automatic. so we began to strip everything out of it including the hood, turbo cross member and sway bar, seats, auto turbo transmission (which i sold on craigslist for 250 dollars) and the turbo taillight. we did not however take the ecu as it was too intimidating. then i called pick n pull and got a couple hundred dollars for what was left.

Now, obviously i have some concerns and need advice. first off he rebuilt one of the heads himself and the other is in pieces. the timing belt pulley on the camshaft of the assembled one has a tiny bit of play. is this supposed to be there? does it go away once you torque the pulley down to the camshaft? can i rent a Subaru valve spring compressor to do the other? how can i inspect the assembled head that already has the valve cover on and sealed if it was assembled properly? should all the valves turn by hand via the pulley? they dont. it just rotates then stops in both directions.

other questions i have is whats the maximum boost i should run with these oem pistons? he told me the were "oem forged" pistons. does that exist? they dont look particularly forged.. should i replace injectors with 440cc ones? what turbo would be a good replacement for the stock 8.5 psi one. what ECU's would work for this engine? i plan on getting a 1993 legacy ss for the swap but i grabbed the cross member and sway bar just in case i ended up putting it in a n/a car in the future.

SORRY FOR THE HEAPS OF QUESTIONS. I NEED LOTS OF HELP ill post pictures soon. the engine is literally spread across my kitchen table.

Welcome to the forum first of all. Secondly, this forum has been around for over 12 years now and virtually any Q you can think of has been asked and answered.

So as a first step I would recommend you use the "custom google search" bar above and search for the factory service manuals and download that. No matter what year your car, the ones we have on the board will cover it.

Next, I would do a search for your individual questions in the search bar. Be a little creative with the search terms if you don't get perfect results immediately.

Also, visit the Build Journal section to get an idea of what other members are doing. At the top of each section is a few "sticky" links that have the most common questions answered.

After you have put in the work and searched for the answers, and still can't find what you're looking for, post back here and we'll do our best to help you. Show us a willingness to put in the effort, and learn, and you'll find this is one of the friendliest and most knowledgeable spots on the Interwebs!

Fixxorred

thank you! ill go through the proper steps of not being lazy next time.

Welcome to the BBS.

I guess as a quick question/clarification; can you provide information on what you're wanting to do? Do you already have an existing car you plan to swap the engine and the parts into? I don't understand why you got rid of the 93 touring wagon and didn't take the ECU and other boost related components you need for the swap.