AssYriaNrocKer's 98 GT build

[AssYriaNrocKer]

Got some fresh Fuji Bond and got around to installing the new oil separator plate on the back of the block. Also installed a new rear main seal. I know many of us have used various techniques for installing seals such as, large sockets, the old seal, or just a hammer. I can not stress enough how the right tool for the job is KEY to installing seals PERFECTLY. Granted, as a Subaru technician I have access to every special tool and seal installer available...But man it makes such a huge difference in ease and making sure you have your seal at the correct depth exactly where it was intended to be.


I want to keep all original hardware so I did my best to clean it all up. The hardware sat in white vinegar for about 2 weeks. This helped remove a lot of the rust and pretty much all of the sealant that was stuck to threads. The bolts came out a lot cleaner and with a dry gray finish to them. I have been hitting each bolt with the wire wheel before installing. Here you can see the dried bolts that just came out of the vinegar. You can see the 4 at the bottom there have been wire wheeled and ready to be installed on the coolant crossover pipe.

Oil pump bolts after vinegar treatment and wire wheel love.


Killer B windage tray installed with the Pick up tube. I'm lead to believe the pick up tube I am using is a first generation Killer B tube. It is far sturdier than the stock counterpart. I contacted Killer B about the 0 Ring that is used for the tube. I had an OEM O ring on hand but felt it was a bit small. Killer B motorsports confirmed that although they recommend their O ring kit the OEM o ring should seal just fine. Not gonna lie...I was a little paranoid and decided to use a little Fuji Bond on the outside of the O ring as a precaution.


STI oil pan installed. I was a little upset to see that this brand new part came out of the package all scratched up like that but decided to use it anyway. Gold plug magnetic drain plug installed. Group N motor mounts installed. USDM OEM oil filter installed.


Oil pump has been disassembled, cleaned, lubed, and reassembled. I used a dial caliper to measure the rotors and verify it is indeed a 10mm oil pump. I would have run the 11mm pump if I had one but I am ok with using the 10mm pump seeing as it is what Subaru calls for on this particular engine. Research shows more flow and psi can cause things you don't want such as heat and frothing of the oil. I doubt I will have an issue on this non turbo engine. I do not plan on doing any road racing at this time...just some spirited driving. New oil seal installed. I also installed the left side buckets, cam shafts, and caps. I decided to hold off on installing the right side. I want to go though the valve adjustment procedure before continuing. I have never adjusted this style head before and the procedure is a little different than I expected. Apparently you leave the cam installed and just push down on the bucket to remove and replace shims. I have the special tool in hand and will get to it when I get to it.
Cross over pipe installed. STI dipstick and tube installed but left loose to allow installation of timing cover. New OEM oil pressure switch installed. OEM water pump, idlers, tensioner, and belt on the way.



Party on Wayne...

-RONI-

[BD5_Legacy_RSb]

Got some fresh Fuji Bond and got around to installing the new oil separator plate on the back of the block. Also installed a new rear main seal. I know many of us have used various techniques for installing seals such as, large sockets, the old seal, or just a hammer. I can not stress enough how the right tool for the job is KEY to installing seals PERFECTLY. Granted, as a Subaru technician I have access to every special tool and seal installer available...But man it makes such a huge difference in ease and making sure you have your seal at the correct depth exactly where it was intended to be.


I want to keep all original hardware so I did my best to clean it all up. The hardware sat in white vinegar for about 2 weeks. This helped remove a lot of the rust and pretty much all of the sealant that was stuck to threads. The bolts came out a lot cleaner and with a dry gray finish to them. I have been hitting each bolt with the wire wheel before installing. Here you can see the dried bolts that just came out of the vinegar. You can see the 4 at the bottom there have been wire wheeled and ready to be installed on the coolant crossover pipe.

Oil pump bolts after vinegar treatment and wire wheel love.


Killer B windage tray installed with the Pick up tube. I'm lead to believe the pick up tube I am using is a first generation Killer B tube. It is far sturdier than the stock counterpart. I contacted Killer B about the 0 Ring that is used for the tube. I had an OEM O ring on hand but felt it was a bit small. Killer B motorsports confirmed that although they recommend their O ring kit the OEM o ring should seal just fine. Not gonna lie...I was a little paranoid and decided to use a little Fuji Bond on the outside of the O ring as a precaution.


STI oil pan installed. I was a little upset to see that this brand new part came out of the package all scratched up like that but decided to use it anyway. Gold plug magnetic drain plug installed. Group N motor mounts installed. USDM OEM oil filter installed.


Oil pump has been disassembled, cleaned, lubed, and reassembled. I used a dial caliper to measure the rotors and verify it is indeed a 10mm oil pump. I would have run the 11mm pump if I had one but I am ok with using the 10mm pump seeing as it is what Subaru calls for on this particular engine. Research shows more flow and psi can cause things you don't want such as heat and frothing of the oil. I doubt I will have an issue on this non turbo engine. I do not plan on doing any road racing at this time...just some spirited driving. New oil seal installed. I also installed the left side buckets, cam shafts, and caps. I decided to hold off on installing the right side. I want to go though the valve adjustment procedure before continuing. I have never adjusted this style head before and the procedure is a little different than I expected. Apparently you leave the cam installed and just push down on the bucket to remove and replace shims. I have the special tool in hand and will get to it when I get to it.
Cross over pipe installed. STI dipstick and tube installed but left loose to allow installation of timing cover. New OEM oil pressure switch installed. OEM water pump, idlers, tensioner, and belt on the way.



Party on Wayne...

-RONI-

Any updates?

[AssYriaNrocKer]

Any updates?

I wish there was! It's pretty cold and although my garage is heated I still haven't been overly motivated to be out there working on it. Currently I am procrastinating valve clearance measurements. I am hoping whatever shims I need I have in stock otherwise I will have to order them. Aside from household projects keeping me busy, I am also tired of the smell the heater gives off in the garage. it is an open flame natural gas heater. I have a small exhaust fan and a CO detector but still the fumes are so strong and it seeps into the living room. I have a neighbor with the same setup and similar complaints. Not fun, so I'll just try to embrace some patience and wait for the warmer weather. Thanks for checking in! Updates will come as soon as I make some notable progress.

-RONI-

[ryu_haneda]

Still nice to see activity in this forum. Think I'll make the rounds again...

[AssYriaNrocKer]

Finally made some more progress on this project. After figuring out how to use the Subaru special tool I was able to make my valve clearance checks. Not all of the valve clearances needed to be adjusted thankfully. The special tool certainly makes life easier but it took a minute to figure out how to use it as it does not come with any instructions. Basically you place the tool between the exhaust and intake valve of one cylinder. as you tighten the 10mm bolt the tool wedges itself so it sits still. as you turn the 17mm bolt the arms force down the buckets which allows you to remove the shim and replace with the correct shim after doing the magical mathematic equation found in the FSM. I'm not going to go into anymore depth on the valve adjustment at this time. If anyone needs any info I can share more details if requested. Unfortunately I did not have the required shims for exhaust valves on cylinder three but I was at least able to move forward with everything else while waiting for parts to arrive.

Here you can see just how the tool is placed. You can also make out the part number for the tool. 498187200 (Its expensive!)


Here is a closer look at the arms that push down on the buckets and how it should be placed.


So...Although I don't have the last 2 shims I need, I decided to move forward with everything else while leaving the one valve cover off. This included assembly of the intake manifold. It was a little confusing getting all the wiring and vacuum tubes back in order. I was able to get it done while also replacing the old cracked up rubber lines and retaping small portions of the harness. I cleaned of harness connectors and installed new large style zip ties in the stock locations. Before putting the intake manifold on I installed the previously mentioned phenolic spacers. Install was about as simple as can be. I used OEM gaskets on both sides of the spacer. The kit came with some fancy hardware which is longer than the OEM bolts for obvious reasons. The hard part was extending the EGR tube. I basically torched the S*** out of it and kept bending and stretching. Eventually I got it in place but it was not easy! The kit should come with a new tube in my opinion....just sayin. Timing covers were cleaned and installed along with the light weight crank pulley. A/C compressor installed.





I decided to replace the PCV tubing. Surprisingly it did not get damaged on removal like I expected it to so now I have a used spare if anyone needs one.



Here you can see the stretched EGR tube vs a regular one. It onle has to be stretch a small amount but it was very difficult.





Just waiting on the last 2 shims on cyl number 3.



Its nice to have less parts laying around and my work space cleaned up a little.



Next on the agenda was wrapping the exhaust header. Now this is my first time ever doing this and I gotta say I thought it would be easier then it actually was. I used a black fiberglass wrap with small metal twist ties as well as large metal zip ties. The metal zip ties are a little annoying to get tight but using a needle nose and a twisting motion while setting the locking ball inside the lock is what I did to get it as tight as possible. Once it was all wrapped I used a "thermo 2000 degree heat coating".

This is after wrapping just before spraying on the heat coating.



This is after the heat coating. I sprayed 1 coat and then with gloves on I tried to smooth down the fibers with my hands before applying another coat. I purposely used one entire can.








That's all for now. I forgot to mention I have plugs and wires on order along with those shims.

-RONI-

[AssYriaNrocKer]

Couple more pictures of this PIG while I wait for the shims.





-RONI-

[AssYriaNrocKer]

Finally received the correct shims. Apparently Subaru has decided to stop offering a lot of the shim sizes for this motor. Fortunately I was able to get my hands on the 2 2.58mm shims I needed. With all the correct shims in place I was finally able to close her up and drop her in. The clutch does not have many miles on it so I reused all of the parts except the throwout bearing. I didn't like the way it sounded and we had one in stock at work so I threw a new one on.









I'm doing my best to clean each part before installation. I took the radiator fans apart and hot tanked the fans at work while also getting the shrouds as clean as I could. The fan blades had some undercoating over spray on them so I imagine cleaning them will have helped with any balancing issue there may have been. Cleaned and installed power steering pump, alternator, and starter as well.





That's about were she sits for now. Time to crawl underneath and get the exhaust parts together.

Update more as soon as I get more done.

-RONI-

[ryu_haneda]

Very nice. Too bad you had to really work to get the part(s) required. Thanks for posting!

[AssYriaNrocKer]

Very nice. Too bad you had to really work to get the part(s) required. Thanks for posting!

Yes it was a little annoying but it was all worth it in the end!

She is running and has never sounded this good! I was a bit nervous with the used short block but very thankful it all worked out. Lets just say so far so good. No knocking or piston slap. Valves sound quiet and the valve ticky noise is gone. I am not sure if it is because of a better valve adjustment this time around or if it truly is the exhaust wrap keeping the headers valve noise down. Either way it sounds great. The only noise that is annoying me right now is the intake not having the intake resonator installed. I don't believe I ever had one but I can tell you one is ordered because that droning vacuum sound is way too annoying.

One problem I am having is power steering. I have no power steering and I cant seem to figure out why. I have tried swapping pumps to no avail. I tried draining and filling as well with no positive results. My only guess at this time is a collapsed hose. Maybe during the time the pump was just hanging out it may have kinked the lines and done some internal damage? I am not sure but that's what I am rolling with right now. New lines were only 85 bucks so I ordered new OEM lines.









Finally figured out how to upload videos.....errr I think. You can really here that intake vacuum sound in the second video!







Comments and questions always welcome. Ill keep updating as I go.

Next:
Oil change
coolant flush
fuel filter
power steering lines
find the dang title and get it registered!


-RONI-

[AssYriaNrocKer]

Picked up the intake resonator/silencer on ebay for 40$ and threw it in. Best 40 dollars ever spent! That intake humming noise is so obnoxious. I also read about some tuners insisting on the use of stock intake resonators due to air intake turbulence that occurs without it. I'm not sure about all that...I guess its plausible...but the noise was just unbearable. No more humming intake noise in the engine compartment.




This is looking inside the right front fender well where the resonator gets mounted.


Not sure if there is a small shroud that is missing or if this is how it is suppose to look from the factory but here is the air inlet.


Picked up a free battery. Not my choice but free is a good price. The one I had before was temporary as the posts were opposite sides.


A newer battery tray and tie down were installed with the battery as well. Here is a current photo of the engine bay. Looks good. Feels good. I have about 1000 miles clocked so far with minor issues. I did have an exhaust gasket fall apart and start leaking. It was a cheap paper type that I had on hand. Replaced that with an oem metal gasket which seems to be holding well so far. The only other issue I am experiencing is a p0400 code. EGR flow. I'm pretty sure it is due to the bends I made on the EGR pipe in order to stretch it to fit with the new intake spacer. I will have to see if I can just create a new pipe. It doesn't kick the code all the time. just once in a while. I just clear it and party on for now. Other than that motor feels great and drives great. Need a left front wheel bearing. Also haven't washed this thing AT ALL....gotta get on that.




-RONI-

[xrayspecs]

damn i love how the BD'S look. such a good looking sedan!

it does look like you are missing one part of the intake assembly, a small intake duct from the FSM.

[AssYriaNrocKer]

damn i love how the BD'S look. such a good looking sedan!

it does look like you are missing one part of the intake assembly, a small intake duct from the FSM.

Oh dang! Time to hunt that piece down. Thank for the heads up.

Some parts that have been waiting for installation. Momo steering wheel, JDM fogs, and new power steering lines.


-RONI-

[AssYriaNrocKer]

damn i love how the BD'S look. such a good looking sedan!

it does look like you are missing one part of the intake assembly, a small intake duct from the FSM.

Thanks again for the heads up. Purchaced and installed the final intake piece.



-RONI-

[xrayspecs]

Nice, looks like its in good condition too! The older these cars get the harder it is to find spares for the misc stuff like that.

[AssYriaNrocKer]

The Sunday driver is doing pretty good so far. Took it out to run some errands this weekend. Brought it back, vacuumed, wiped her down and parked it. Feels good.







Still got a trunk full of goodies waiting to be installed.







Can't beat that license plate!
Please ignore my garage door framing that needs painting.

-RONI-

[LosMan603]

Gotta love that JDM front grille & emblem! I've tried to locate one for my GTB but it was difficult to find something in good condition.

I ended up finding a Zenki grille, which "mostly" fits my Kouki front end

Good job on the build keep up the great work!

[AssYriaNrocKer]

Gotta love that JDM front grille & emblem! I've tried to locate one for my GTB but it was difficult to find something in good condition.

I ended up finding a Zenki grille, which "mostly" fits my Kouki front end

Good job on the build keep up the great work!

mysubieparts.com is a good spot to find some of that hard to find JDM stuff. I think they are closing unfortunately but still worth checking the site out before they close for good. Thanks for the kind words. Although I don't feel like I have done much, this build really has come a long way. Wish I had the time and funds to do what I really want but, one thing at a time is ok too.

-RONI-

[AssYriaNrocKer]

Finally Picked up the second front caliper. I have been holding on to the RF caliper for a couple years now. A co-worker gave me the LF caliper yesterday out of the blue. What a great find. paid exactly 0 dollars for the pair.

A big thank you to my co-worker Kyle, you duuhh man.



-RONI-

[LosMan603]

...paid exactly 0 dollars for the pair....

You lucky dog! I love that you hang on to the first caliper and it finally paid off!

[dusterbd13]

man, just read this thread. beautiful car, and amazing dedication! love the rolling restoration.

[AssYriaNrocKer]

So not sure if I can use these STI rear calipers but I did pick one up. It has a broken bolt stuck in it but that shouldn't be too hard to remove.



-RONI-

[AssYriaNrocKer]

MAAANNNNN I can not wait for summer. I am soo eager to drive the GT this year. I am going to have to take a look at the ignition wiring for the starting problem I have been having for a few years now. Also going to take care of the wheel bearing thats makin all that noise.

In other news I picked up a bit of a cherry. 1996 Legacy with 64k miles. Its not minty fresh but it is def. a looker with low miles. I will be doing some much needed exhaust work and resealing. It will be posted for sale soon enough. I will be sure to include it on the SLI classified section.

Anyone interested should send a message. Hoping for local pickup but delivery can be negotiated.




-RONI-