Hopefully this is ok on here!

Bought my first Jap car and looking for some information. I'm a mechanic to trade but was always into old fords more than anything else. Always liked the look of these and fancied something with a bit more power so ended up with this. Never really worked on many Subaru's so bit of a learning curve.

Plan is to get the car back on the road then get the body prepared while i rebuild the spare engine i've got looking for a decent bit of power. From what ive read single turbo is the way to go so i've been here having a look about. Some very nice cars and some guys obviously in the know so looking for a bit of help along the way!

Copied and pasted from another forum.
Bought a 3rd Gen Legacy GTB (TT) etune, got it relatively cheap due to the engine being in parts in the boot but it seems to be in pretty good condition.. except the OSR arch
Story is bottom end went, previous owner got another short block but never got round to putting it back together.





Theres quite a few bits missing from the engine bay and bits that need replaced so i bought another car to break. Sad to end a b4 rsk but needs must. Bottom end was knocking, but had a load of decent parts.


I've bought and stripped many a car to provide parts for my projects but this is the first subaru ive went this deep with. One thing ive noticed is how easily it seems to come apart, theres plugs where you would like there to be plugs. Almost as it some thought actually went into putting it together.. something you dont see in other manufacturers!



Then got started stripping the engine to see what the damage was. Found a few issues.. its had a water leak coming from the main coolant crossover pipe, instead of stripping some parts and repairing it someone has opted for a bottle of K-seal or similar a pet hate of mine.


more bad news


Lots of swarf, not good. Ive got another EJ20 stamped short block there if needed but i dont know much about it. I'll continue stripping this when im back in work tomorrow. Luckily we're pretty quiet just now so i can work on this during the day rather than night/weekends. Trying to build yourself a car with a 1 year old baby and still trying to keep the missus happy is not an easy task!

I've got a few questions for some of the guys a bit more in the know.

Cam pulleys look as if theyre bakelite (or similar), is there any issues with these breaking? can i get metal replacements?

is there anything in particular i should be looking out for with this engine?

any recommendations on a gasket kit/head gaskets?


Managed to get the rest of the B4 engine stripped today.What was left of one of the big end shells..




shells seem to largely have done their job though and have taken most of the damage. Hoping a machine shop can save the crank, the rod is a goner.



This is the block that came in the boot of the car, can anyone give me some information on it? Apparently closed deck is the way forward for bigger power? Although the thrust bearing is in the middle, the other one is at the end. Are these interchangeable?



The crank and rods that came with the car


Any help would be much appreciated!

 

Due to the global pandemic i finally got some time to spend on the car. Engine back together and into the hole but having some problems in getting her to fire.



Current situation;

Ive never heard the car running, bought it cheap 4 years ago after bottom end failure and previous owner removed the engine. (about half of which was in the boot, he had already purchased another bottom end and crank and gave me it with the car).

I assumed (fatal mistake) that everything was there and bought the parts to rebuild the engine. only when trying to piece it back together did i realise just how much was missing so bought a running 2001 b4 RSK with a bottom end rattle to use for parts. In hindsight i shouldve just repaired/replaced the bottom end and fitted the engine to the wagon juat to get it running but instead went for a complete nut and bolt rebuild and a couple of years time from only doing wee bits when i had time between work and the birth of the wee yin.

I've had to use parts i found in the boot and parts from the RSK which have all seemed to fit so far but im now having issues getting it to run and im wondering if its something simple from using parts from 2 different cars (loom issues?)..

Ive used the full inlet (and all attached such as injectors and loom) from the RSK. Spent maybe 10 mins comparing and it 'seems' to have all the same plugs etc on it, wondering if ive missed something here though as now getting -40 from IAT.

Turbos from original car. Coils came from RSK but was running so assumoption is they are ok. New plugs, Timing belt (rechecked timing and all ok), water pump, RCM oil pump.

Drained the tank and refilled with new fuel (only 95 available - would that make a difference? Previous owner said car was mapped but i would guess it should still run on 95 even if mapped for higher). Fuel pump primes and pumps when turning, although it sounds like it turns a little slow (reaches 180 rpm going by crank live data) but again i think that should be fast enough. Compression sounds good but will confirm later on.



Im hoping its something simple, been a long time coming and stuck at the last hurdle. Open to suggestions if anyone has any!

Got loads of pics to upload if any one is interested.

 

Have you spark ? If you've spark fuel and air it should go. Go back to basics first

 

Welcome and good luck..

 

Did you use the original heads from the GTB. If so, did you use the GTB Cam pulley's and the Crank toothed timing pulley (slides over the end of the Crank after the Oil Pump is on and hold position via the Woodruff Key) from the GTB as well?