Operation Bug

[Tomma]

Having owned the car for over a year now it's time I made my own mark on the car!

Nige then Greig + his brother had gotten the car to where it was the day I picked it up, 387Bhp and 391ftlb which was a lot of fun!



I did a lot of research in to which direction I wanted to go with the car, not being able to find any decent EJ22 blocks at the right time I had originally planned to get the existing EJ25 Block closed and go from there... However... someone on here who always seems to find quality bits for impreza's pointed this out which was for sale, in very good condition and less than 2 miles from where I lived!

It turned out I knew the chap who was selling it so a few £'s later it was mine!





Had a day off work so borrowed an engine hoist from a friend which unbelievably I managed to fit in my smart car!

After consulting with google I found a couple of guides and managed to pull the engine out from start to finish in approx 4-5 hours which wasn't bad for my first time!





Point to note:-

Make sure everything is disconnected that needs to be ESPECIALLY the clutch fork pin - I went and made a tea and came back and had forgotten to do this which resulted me pulling the engine AND the car backwards and forwards for a while!

************************************************** ********
Admittedly I know dick all about the internals of engines so I will not be doing any engine work, I will however be doing everything else to the car myself or with a bit of help from people who have the know-how!

Engine is now out and have started to take the heads off. Once this is done the block halves and heads will be sent for some work whilst i sort out new internals then get someone to build the engine for me.

Whilst this is done I will crack on with the bits I can do myself to the car, engine bay will be cleaned up and a few things will be replaced and/or relocated to elsewhere in the car - I will ultimately be going for a de cluttered look in the engine bay.

I am in discussion with a chap who will be custom building a couple of bits for the car which i will post up once they are confirmed and on there way

Still haven't decided on which turbo to go for yet either.

This build is going to take a while due to work commitments etc but I will post up as it takes place!

[C. J.]

Another one joining the 2.35 club
Down to you but would go the sc gt30 billet for spool on a .62 housing unless you like lag then the 35 .
Good luck with it which ever way you go and look forward to seeing the progress
Happy to help if you get stuck or need advice .

[BIG"E"]

You are certainly are braver than me taking on a project like this.

What are you ultimately looking for though, when its finished ?

Good luck.

[Hongkongfooi]

Originally Posted by BIG"E"

You are certainly are braver than me taking on a project like this.

What are you ultimately looking for though, when its finished ?

Good luck.

He will be getting loads a power with his plans

[Steve_PPP]

Always liked this bug - ever since the tree hugger took me for a spin in it when i was a scoob newbie (and scared the crap outta me!).

Look forward to following your progress

[Tomma]

Originally Posted by C. J.

Another one joining the 2.35 club
Down to you but would go the sc gt30 billet for spool on a .62 housing unless you like lag then the 35 .
Good luck with it which ever way you go and look forward to seeing the progress
Happy to help if you get stuck or need advice .

Thanks CJ, i'm sure i'll be in need of some advice along the way particularly with a few bits in the engine bay so they may be a few crates of beer winging there way to you!

Ian, Power wise I'll be happy with anything in the mid to high 500's the car isn't a daily driver so it won't be doing 1000's of miles a year, I also don't want to try and squeeze as much as I can out of it, i'd rather it be reliable more than anything else, I'd also like to have a go at a few driving events too

This is also going to be a lot about learning for me too, I'll post up everything I do and can do an 'idiots guide' for anything people deem worthy!

[C. J.]

You and anyone else are move than welcome to have a passanger ride at one of mlr/22b sprints as thats about the only place i let the car loose !
Can take you down the road in it but by the time I'm going into third i start slowing down . Would give you an idea if you want to see what a 2.35 with a gt30 goes like.
James will be able to give you an idea of a 35 on one soon .
Think hard and long on what you want to do with it before you back any big choices .
I'm staying with a 30 with standard cams as i like minimum lag and thats what i have .

[jura11]

As above good luck with your project,we are too thinking about the 2.35L and GT30

Looking forward to progress and pictures


Jura

[Tomma]

Originally Posted by C. J.

You and anyone else are move than welcome to have a passanger ride at one of mlr/22b sprints as thats about the only place i let the car loose !
Can take you down the road in it but by the time I'm going into third i start slowing down . Would give you an idea if you want to see what a 2.35 with a gt30 goes like.
James will be able to give you an idea of a 35 on one soon .
Think hard and long on what you want to do with it before you back any big choices .
I'm staying with a 30 with standard cams as i like minimum lag and thats what i have .

Cheers, I'll take you up on that offer, the turbo is the only thing i'm undecided on and I was thinking that this is going to take a good few months to do and I'd be more informed further down the line to make a choice!

Originally Posted by jura11

As above good luck with your project,we are too thinking about the 2.35L and GT30

Looking forward to progress and pictures




Jura

Thanks jura

[Anger]

Nice one mate

Glad you got the 2.2 block and cheaper than mine

Look forward to seein the progress

Good luck. As you can now see that bottom end was brand new. So you should move it on ok. Will be looking forward to see this build finished

[Tomma]

Originally Posted by Anger

Nice one mate

Glad you got the 2.2 block and cheaper than mine

Look forward to seein the progress

Cheers, that was another good find by yourself!

Originally Posted by Nige

Good luck. As you can now see that bottom end was brand new. So you should move it on ok. Will be looking forward to see this build finished

I've Started stripping it down to the block, it's still nice and new looking!

[majorscooby]

Nice work so far!

Would love to do an engine strip out project myself one day, will keep an eye on this for info. good luck.

[RobEvo5]

Brave man - and hats off to you. Especially when you already had a pretty nice and sorted road car, that I assume was still perfectly fine.

I'd attempt most things, but that isn't something I would dare have a go at.

Lots of experience in here though, which will probably see you allright on the night.

Good luck and can't wait for next installment.

[ralliart didz]

thats a nice bug you have tomma,with nice power already.but good luck with build.should be a good read

did you really get engine host in your smart car

[Tomma]

Yes the car was still perfectly fine beforehand - I want more power, to make my own statement with the car and do anything I'm capable of myself which is definatley not building an engine!

Didz, yep the hoist fit in the smart car, i'll take a photo when I return it, the car's like a tardis!

[simba]

good luck tom look forward to reading your reports

[munk]

good on you ...alot more satisfaction doing bits yourself!!

shouldnt go far wrong with all the advise readily availible on here!

[AndyWRX]

Good luck matey, looking forward to the project thread as it progresses

[Tomma]

Heads are stripped now, ready to be cleaned and sent away along with the block halves for 14mm stud conversion and some other work....

Everything was photo'd and labelled and stored separately so i know where it goes/came from and so nothing gets damaged!

I've noticed that on both heads there are some tiny hairline cracks that run from the sparkplug holes towards the valves, there only a couple of mm deep and approx 5-6mm long. I've done some reading and it seems this is common on Subaru heads?









Magnetic pen tool came in very handy when removing valve collets!




Valve guides are staying put for now, I will be replacing the valves, springs, retainers, seals and the Camshafts will be uprated too

Next job whilst the block and heads are away will be to remove the aircon rad and pipework, I'll also start moving washer bottle and the battery to the boot.

[Tomma]

Quick clean to get most of the oil and loose muck off before they go for a proper clean

Before:-


After:-

[Hongkongfooi]

Yep the head cracks are fairly common as I have read too

[Tomma]

Started to order a few bits now and am now wondering about the crank, is the standard EJ25 crank from my old block ok for this build if pretty much everything else has been uprated and what sort of power rating is it good for?

I've been looking at a few billet cranks and have seen the Manley billet cranks. Are they any good, I've seen them for sale in the uk for approx £1500 yet I can get an Identical one from a few tuning companies in the states delivered and duty + vat included for £300 less

The EJ25 crank is meant to be quiet happy running 650bhp.

[Tomma]

Well that's going to save me a lot of money then! Cheers!