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Greetings fellow Subie converts. Back in the fall I purchased a 2003 Legacy 2.5 SOHC. The vehicle had 164,000 miles. Ran great, no smoke, and I drove it home. I’ve spent the past couple of months doing an engine refresh (heads machined, new head gaskets, etc.) I’m about to finish up with the engine (hopefully) and anticipate needing to call upon this list’s wisdom as I prepare to put it in my 89 Westy MT. I plan to post my progress in text and photos in case someone might find it useful. I’m also sharing info on thesamba.com as that is a great resource as well.?
Warren?
‘89 Westy
(which I just drove to Buses by the Bridge)
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Did you split the block or get a new short block? I picked up a 2002 sohc and went with a new short block. I figured no point in putting a tired old engine in a tired old van. But that’s just me. I had the exhaust valves changed as well and the intakes re ground, heads decked and triple valve grind done also new springs.?
I’d be tentative to put a block with high kms in my van given the amount of work it takes.?
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On Fri, Jan 24, 2025 at 5:40?PM SubieVanagon via groups.io <wklail@...> wrote:
Greetings fellow Subie converts. Back in the fall I purchased a 2003 Legacy 2.5 SOHC. The vehicle had 164,000 miles. Ran great, no smoke, and I drove it home. I’ve spent the past couple of months doing an engine refresh (heads machined, new head gaskets, etc.) I’m about to finish up with the engine (hopefully) and anticipate needing to call upon this list’s wisdom as I prepare to put it in my 89 Westy MT. I plan to post my progress in text and photos in case someone might find it useful. I’m also sharing info on thesamba.com as that is a great resource as well.?
Warren?
‘89 Westy
(which I just drove to Buses by the Bridge)
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Sorry the other items to consider are the oil pressure sender as it’s a known failure piece and the cheapest of all the sensors, check the wiring on the cam sensor as it tends to crack, have the injectors gone through by someone with a proper bench for such things, test the knock sensor (super simple) same with temp sensor if you’re using the subie one, clean out the entire intake and throttle body until it shines, replace pcv and its hoses as they crack. Replace plug wires obviously. I just think there is no way I’d leave that old stuff on and then install it in the van where all of the sensors etc are a real bear to get at and remove.?
MLS head gaskets for sure as well as new head bolts(although most keep the old stretched ones and don’t seem to suffer)?
That’s all I did on my 2002 sohc. For what it’s worth I guess.?
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On Fri, Jan 24, 2025 at 6:18?PM John <xstreamcanadian@...> wrote:
Did you split the block or get a new short block? I picked up a 2002 sohc and went with a new short block. I figured no point in putting a tired old engine in a tired old van. But that’s just me. I had the exhaust valves changed as well and the intakes re ground, heads decked and triple valve grind done also new springs.?
I’d be tentative to put a block with high kms in my van given the amount of work it takes.? On Fri, Jan 24, 2025 at 5:40?PM SubieVanagon via groups.io <wklail@...> wrote:
Greetings fellow Subie converts. Back in the fall I purchased a 2003 Legacy 2.5 SOHC. The vehicle had 164,000 miles. Ran great, no smoke, and I drove it home. I’ve spent the past couple of months doing an engine refresh (heads machined, new head gaskets, etc.) I’m about to finish up with the engine (hopefully) and anticipate needing to call upon this list’s wisdom as I prepare to put it in my 89 Westy MT. I plan to post my progress in text and photos in case someone might find it useful. I’m also sharing info on thesamba.com as that is a great resource as well.?
Warren?
‘89 Westy
(which I just drove to Buses by the Bridge)
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Thanks for the input and suggestions! ?I did not split the case. I found it pretty easy to get it down to the short block, so if I ever need to replace it I’ll order a short block from Subaru for about $2K I think, then put it all back together. I tested the cam and crank sensors and they passed. ?I replaced the temp, oil, and knock sensors with OEM. ?Basic machining of the heads and installed with new head bolts (OEM) and MLS head gaskets. ?(Finding the correct torque specs was a challenge as they seem to keep changing). I didn’t clean the fuel injectors and I might live to regret that decision. ?I cleaned the bejesus out of the intake manifold and throttle body and thoroughly cleaned all components related. ?Replaced those short pieces of fuel injection line with new stuff. ?
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Warren
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Here’s where I started back in October. ?Pulled the Legacy to my garage door and pulled the engine. It was filthy. ?It had oil leaks all over. ?
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I know what you mean about the intake, why are they so dirty? I think mine had 220kms on it or so and likely never had a new PCV so my guess was it was just purging oil into the intake at high revs? the injectors are an easy one to tick off, send to Mr Injector,
he has a three day turnaround and sends you a sheet on what they were and what they are now and is like 22 bucks per and they come back looking brand new. Worth it IMHO.
Just so you budget accordingly the short block was just over 3k and seems to be NLA in canada so likely soon also in the US.?
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Thanks for the input and suggestions! ?I did not split the case. I found it pretty easy to get it down to the short block, so if I ever need to replace it I’ll order a short block from Subaru for about $2K I think, then put it all back together. I tested
the cam and crank sensors and they passed. ?I replaced the temp, oil, and knock sensors with OEM. ?Basic machining of the heads and installed with new head bolts (OEM) and MLS head gaskets. ?(Finding the correct torque specs was a challenge as they seem to
keep changing). I didn’t clean the fuel injectors and I might live to regret that decision. ?I cleaned the bejesus out of the intake manifold and throttle body and thoroughly cleaned all components related. ?Replaced those short pieces of fuel injection line
with new stuff. ?
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Warren
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Got it on the stand and the party was about to begin!
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The short block is available through subarupartsdeal.com I think for right at $2K.
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I took it down this far. ?
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I’d also remove the oil pump clean it replace the seals and prime it with assembly lube?
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On Fri, Jan 24, 2025 at 8:44?PM SubieVanagon via groups.io <wklail@...> wrote:
I took it down this far. ?
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I would inspect the condition of the bearing journals before spending the money on a full short block. I have pulled a number of 150,000 mile-plus engines down and have almost never found problems with main or rod bearings, let alone problems with the entire case. Also check ring gap and if there is bore taper or ridges but, again, that sort of wear is rare unless the engine has been ran low (or without) oil. I think freshening up the heads and gaskets like you have done and checking the wear on the oil pump is typically sufficient to allow for continued long service life.
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The guy I used for my heads felt more or less the same way, but I went new for peace of mind. He said the cam is good, better than the dohc that do need replacing more often and he said the same about bearings. ?
Any thought on switching to the 11mm oil pump? I read it’s better at high rpm but can cause frothing at excessive low rpm. In the van these motors tend to be revving higher than in the Subaru most times. My thoughts anyway?
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On Sat, Jan 25, 2025 at 8:42?AM todd s via groups.io <tsorel1600@...> wrote:
I would inspect the condition of the bearing journals before spending the money on a full short block. I have pulled a number of 150,000 mile-plus engines down and have almost never found problems with main or rod bearings, let alone problems with the entire case. Also check ring gap and if there is bore taper or ridges but, again, that sort of wear is rare unless the engine has been ran low (or without) oil. I think freshening up the heads and gaskets like you have done and checking the wear on the oil pump is typically sufficient to allow for continued long service life.
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I replaced the oil pump (OEM) and squirted some assembly lube and rotated it a bit, replaced the oil pump/crank seal, replaced the water pump, thermostat (OEM), all idler pulleys (Aisin), timing belt (Mitsuboshi), replaced the cam seals and adjusted the valves. Replaced the rear main seal (OEM), and oil separator plate (replaced the aluminum one with the Subaru steel plate).?
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What’s the benefit of the steel plate? I also did the crank seal and pulleys as well. No end to the money pit. The dealers don’t replace the water pumps or pulleys generally I hear?
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On Sat, Jan 25, 2025 at 1:44?PM SubieVanagon via groups.io <wklail@...> wrote:
I replaced the oil pump (OEM) and squirted some assembly lube and rotated it a bit, replaced the oil pump/crank seal, replaced the water pump, thermostat (OEM), all idler pulleys (Aisin), timing belt (Mitsuboshi), replaced the cam seals and adjusted the valves. Replaced the rear main seal (OEM), and oil separator plate (replaced the aluminum one with the Subaru steel plate).?
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The seal shown in the image was a Felpro seal. It was difficult to install so I pulled it out and bought one at the Subaru dealer. It went right in.?
There were literally some sleepless nights when I questioned whether something was installed correctly. I replaced the new cam seals because I thought I had inserted them too deeply. I took the oil pump back off because I was concerned that the little o-ring slipped out of place while I was installing the pump (it was fine), and I took the timing belt off numerous times because lining up the timing marks was not as straightforward as I thought it should have been. And that Felpro rear main seal caused me to lose some sleep.?
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Here is a photo of the new oil pump, water pump, timing pulleys, and timing belt. 
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My engine came from an auto Subie but I’m putting it in a MT Vanagon so I had to add the piece above the crank pulley to make sure the timing belt would not skip a tooth or two if the engine should jump backward as when parked on a hill and roll back … 
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My intake manifold was a mess. Filthy dirty. So I used carb cleaner (lots of it) and cleaned it thoroughly. Then I sand blasted it. Then painted it. Then I removed and cleaned the throttle body.  
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Subaru has used three oil separator plates over the years. First was plastic and I’ve seen pics of them brittle or even melted. Then they used aluminum (which was on mine) but I’ve not seen or heard of issues with them, but the latest offering from Subaru is steel. So I went for it. Not sure if there’s any advantage though.?
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