Tailhappy - Subie Legacy Question

I'm looking to get a car again and I can't decide WTF I want. Some how I have ended up looking at late 90's Legacys. I know you have one so I wanted to ask some questions.

I like both sedan and wagon, but wagons are easier to come by. It also looks like manuals are hard to come by.

i know they come with 2.2L and 2.5L engines, which is the better one to own in the long run? What's the deal with head gaskets? I know that there is some issue with them. How much are they a pain in the ass to replace?


Besides cancer, what are any other issues?

Get a 2.2L with a manual. It will last forever. Stay away from the '95 though, they have door and dogleg rust and pre-OBDII. Later years just rust behind the wheel wells (and around the windshield if its been replaced. Ask me how I know ).
The head gaskets will fail on pretty much anything, but the 2.5L was WELL KNOWN for being badly designed. The 2.2L will last longer on original HG's, so long as the timing belt and water pump was done around 100k, you're set.
If you DO get the 2.5L for its glorious 165hp, and the HG's need to be done, you have to pull the motor. Which ain't a bad job. And once its out everything comes apart easily. Only issue to be had is lining up 4 cams and the crank on the new timing belt you'll be putting in anyways, two of the cams are under tension when lining everything up.

OR, just find a wagon with good service history, and recent HG work. If done within the past few years it'll have the latest and greatest HG design, and will last 60-100k depending.
Everyone says they'll still fail eventually.

After looking up cars for an hour on craiglist, it's a pain to find a 2.2L manual. 98% of everything on there is automatic. I'm not totally against automatics, but I would like to have a manual. I may just get an auto until something better comes along.

How hard is it to pull the cylinder heads?

This one isn't too far from me, I may call this guy up to see if he still has it. It's the only 2.5 GT sedan I can find with a manual.

http://lasalle.craigslist.org/cto/2573922118.html

This one was too good to be true. I checked the Carfax, and it did have an accident with the front right corner, you can see the fender and door are a different color.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/ctd/2607226537.html

And the striping is only on the rear door as well.

Yeah I saw that. Disappointing.

Heads aren't hard to pull. You CAN sorta do it with the eingine in the car but.... its just so much easier with it out, and it's only like, 6 bolts and a couple hoses.

Oh, watch out for muddy dirty coolant reservoir tanks. The 2.5L head gaskets leak INTERNALLY. They leak compression into the cooling system to bubbles or oil in the coolant is a sure sign, so is overheating due to coolant being pushed out of the overflow reservoir. IF you can, take the car for a loooooong test drive, at high RPM and note if the coolant level changes dramatically, or if it overheats.
Also, check for oil leaks. Vavle cover gaskets are common, but moreso are rear-main seal and oil separator plate leaks. If the bottom of the engine is bone dry, its a good sign its been out and has had the updated metal plate installed. Either the engine or trans has to come out to replace it, so if you see a lot of oil under the car, try to talk them down at LEAST $500 for the job. And hey, might as well do head gaskets while you're in there!

BTW:

http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/cto/2607023135.html

http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/ctd/2590168127.html

http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/cto/2598856626.html (this one is nice, too bad its auto... they can be easily converted though!)

http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/cto/2584545571.html

http://racine.craigslist.org/ctd/2603125135.html (Hey... its cheap!)

WI has a lot of stick Legacy wagons.....

Yeah I looked at Milwaukee CL lastnight. I don't want one that I have to work in right now preferably (wife would kill me).

I found a few 97-99 2.5 GT sedans a really like. You say it an easy conversion to manual, I wonder how easy.

On a side note, my wife doesnt like wagons for some reason (but SUVs are ok :rolleyes: ) so I may lean more towards a sedan.

Well.... it took me a few hours (but I was swapping engines and stuff too) and I had all the parts, plus I lucked out that the rear diff ratio of my L wagon was the same as the 5-speed I had from my GT.

You need:

5-speed trans
Shifter assy
Brake/clutch Pedal assy
Clutch master
MT trans crossmember
MT driveshaft
Flywheel/clutch/bearings

Put trans in, pedals in, ground pin 84(?) on the PCM, and pull the TCM out. You will lose ABS w/o the TCM in (ABS module is in it on AT cars, on the hydraulic module on MT cars), or you will have a high idle with the TCM plugged in (but will have ABS again).
Either splice the neutral safety switch to always be in neutral (mine threw a CEL after while for the switch) or wire it into the clutch switch (that way you can't start it without the clutch in, like a normal MT car).

Not NEEDED but for a COMPLETE FACTORY swap you'll need:

MT PCM (not needed as the only difference is the grounded pin)
MT car ABS module
MT car wiring harness (so no extra wires run, no plugs hanging around uselessly)
Matching rear diff, if your trans final drive doesn't match the rear end.
Timing belt guide plate (only found on MT cars, keeps the timing belt from jumping off the crank sprocket supposedly)
MT Under dash structure (its shorter on AT cars, so the pedal box doesn't get bolted to 5 holes, only 3. No biggie really, its still in there holding on after 40,000 miles on my car. This part is welded in. Fffffffuck swapping THAT)

See? Not that bad. Half a day's worth of work without a lift, so long as you have all the parts. The hardest part was getting the pedal box in around the steering shaft, but it was doable without removing it.

Holy Jesus that sounds like a lot of work.

Anyways I think I'm gonna stick with an automatic now and swap out to a manual later.

Just check for torque bind. Common with the autos. Turn in tight circles and see if anything binds up or skips or feels funny.

The 2000-2004 big headlight Legacys are growing on me slowly. I still like the 95-99 more, but these are popping up everywhere.

Just don't plan to mod them much. Not much out there aftermarket for them.

For Legacys in general?

No, the '95-'99 Legacy platform was used for the 2002-2007 Impreza so a lot of Impreza stuff fits, plus JDM parts are more plentiful and cheaper for the '95-'99 than the '00-'04.

But yes, there is a lack of aftermarket support for Legacies in general.

Well 95-99 sounds like what I want, how much did you fork out for JDM stuff?

Headlights run about $200, grilles around $100, tail lights $100-300 depending if you get the center section, never got into getting side sills, spats, rain guards, steering wheels, bumpers, exhausts, etc.