Alucard's '99 Legacy GT.

[Alucard]

I don't think I've ever posted my wagon in this forum (I have posted other Legacies of mine under different profile names, though), so I'll introduce my LGT wagon to SL-i. This is Gloria. I picked her up about 2yrs ago from a guy selling her in Milford, CT. His mother had owned the car but she'd passed away and he inherited it through her will. When I first started her, the EJ25D vibrated and right then, I knew that the valves needed to be replaced. Didn't matter. I absolutely had to have this car and after my car accident with the last LGT, I'd have been a fool not to jump on this deal for $700. She started her days out as a factory 4eat, but that would change over time.

[Alucard]

Relocated it to my old home at the time. At this point, I was ready to get at the engine and dig in, even being as injured as I was at the time.

[Alucard]

Bought this grille and as SUS grilles are my favorite, it had to go on.

[Alucard]

With a good amount of painkillers at the time, I'd finally gotten around to disassembling the EJ25D. It had one burnt valve and one bent valve in Cyl#4. I'd ended up getting some good valves from heads in the junkyard and I'd lapped them into the 25D heads, later putting them on an EJ222 block and installing that EJ22D combo into my GT. The engine ran damned good for a while. The bottom end had an EJ257 oil pump, Moroso oil pickup, and STi pan and baffle. The car was also fitted with coilovers later that afternoon.

[Alucard]

The new EJ22D wasn't as upgraded in the oiling area as it should have been for the touge runs I was doing at East Rock, so it began to go through it's valve guides and it's rings in a short amount of time and when it was run on the dyno, it was a smoke bomb that produced 136awhp/126awft-lbs. On a trip to Northwest CT to pick up some parts, a valve in Cyl#4 melted. Engine was still able to bring me back home despite being in the worst shape it could possibly be. There was a high compression EJ25D installed but it failed due to the oil pump gerotor housing bolts backing out at 140mph, chewing up the camshafts and the bottom end completely. That engine was then replaced with an EJ22E.

[Alucard]

My friend had this engine sitting in his garage for a few years after he swapped his EJ22D+T in his wagon, so I asked him to use it and he gave the go-ahead. This engine turned out to be a neat little rulebreaker because my usual mod list was put on this wagon for it and it produced the following power level:



139awhp/155awft-lbs. I swapped this engine in before my WRX 3.90 5mt and LSD rear differential, which I also got from him. Changed the entire way the entire car responded and for the better.

[Alucard]

Despite being in serious pain and the transmission falling on my face at some point, I manage to finish the 5mt swap in 4 days, working on and off through the pain and painkillers.

[Alucard]

The first two pics were taken after I'd installed the flywheel and clutch while the last two pics were goodies I'd gotten some time before and after the dyno run.

My mod list by the point would go as follows:

Cosmo Racing intake pipe + Stock airbox = Hybrid intake.
Screamin' Demon ignition coil + NGK copper plugs gapped to .056.
2.25in catback.
Grimmspeed lightweight pulley.
Grimmspeed intake manifold spacers.
MaxSpeedingRods GC coilovers + Megan Racing springs.
06-07 WRX 4pot/2pot setup + Stainless steel lines + Grimmspeed master cylinder brace.
Stoptech rotors.
EBC yellowstuff pads (would not recommend, dusty even though they work well, only last a year).
Tribeca 24mm front sway bar.
Whiteline 22mm rear sway bar.
Perrin solid end links.
ZeroSports front strut bar.
Megan Racing rear strut bar.
Exedy lightweight flywheel + clutch.
Dragonball shift knob (7 star).
04 WRX 3.90 5mt w/LSD rear differential.
Street Rays pitch mount.
Kein transmission racing mount.
Kartboy solid shifter, poly shifter bushings, and poly transmission bushings.
JDM headlights.
JDM taillights.
JDM foglights.
JDM RFRB grille.
04 WRX seats.
03 LL. Bean steering wheel = 04 Red Momo airbag.
00 2.5 RS 6 spokes (lightweight wheel).

[Alucard]

A short while ago, I did a transmission swap to a Mitsubishi 3000GT DOHC 3.0 SL and discovered that the clutch pins look oddly similar to ours. Turns out they are a few mm longer. As I was looking for a way to improve the 3000GT's clutch pedal response and succeeded, I kept that same information to apply to my own clutch pedal (it wasn't bad but could use a little help, even after bench bleeding/new fluid). The thicker clutch pin was my result for seeking a stronger, longer, and thicker pin for improved pedal response.

[Alucard]

The comparison between the pins goes as follows:n.

1. Mitsubishi 3000GT clutch pin.
2. OEM Subaru WRX clutch pin.
3. Aftermarket WRX clutch pin.

Also to note, the N/A clutch pins are exactly the same length and thickness of the WRX clutch pins. Furthermore, in order for this to work successfully, I had to use the 2004 N/A Impreza clutch master cylinder, as the increased pressure created by the prototype thicker/longer pin destroyed 2 WRX master cylinders (blew the bottoms out quite violently).

[Alucard]

After taking measurement of the 3000GT clutch pin and having tried it on my slave beforehand, I decided that a thicker pin would suffice, and cut and ground this bolt as close to the 3000GT pin's length as I possibly could. Close enough.

- - - Updated - - -

That's all for tonight. I'll get back at this thread first thing in the morning.

[lord flashheart]

damn dude, looking good. i got to upgrade my brakes too. nice build man. Looks like you got a cornering machine!

[Alucard]

damn dude, looking good. i got to upgrade my brakes too. nice build man. Looks like you got a cornering machine!

I am honored. Your thread has helped me quite a bit in compiling my own data concerning these Phase 1 layouts. At some point in the near future, I'll release it to everyone here. As for handling, this car feels like it is connected to my nervous system and responds about as such. However, the power steering pump just gave out and the forearm workouts have been real this past week. Lol.

[Go Mifune]

Great to see you mending and back at it. Love the 6 spokes and wish I had had that horsepower when I was tracking my wagon.

[Alucard]

Great to see you mending and back at it. Love the 6 spokes and wish I had had that horsepower when I was tracking my wagon.

Thank you! It took a bit and even with the permanent damage, I recovered well enough to continue working. As for the accident, here is a glimpse of what occurred.

On March 10th, 2019 at around midnight, I was struck by a drunk driver texting on his phone while waiting at a light. The impact was about 65mph. I sustained torn ligaments, torn muscles, and a cracked hip on my left side while he was completely unharmed. I spent a good deal of 2019 and 2020 in physical therapy but anger and stubborness (along with a bit of painkillers) kept me from being still a lot of the time. During that time, I completed Banana's 4eat to 5mt conversion (some of you may know what Banana was if you're from the CT/Mass area). The first pic is of the car the day it got hit (afternoon) and the 2nd pic is the car a few days after. I still look at my rear view mirror at EVERY stop light and haven't missed one since the accident.

The Legacy GT was a project a friend and I had restored about 3 months prior. Auto to manual conversion, suspension, new-ish EJ25D hybrid (11.5:1 compression ratio) with bolt-ons, etc. Whatever we could replace or repair, it was done. This car was a good sports sedan before it was destroyed and it took a lot of information with it.

[Alucard]

Over time, I'd grown tired of the output of the EJ22E. While it was a terrific engine, I felt the need for more power and sought to build another EJ25D hybrid. Unfortunately, the EJ251 block I'd gotten had a bolt thread strip while I was torquing down the heads, so it was disposed of. Here is the EJ222 block. It came out of an '01 Impreza L and had about 130k miles on it at the time. Knowing how durable these EJ222 bottoms are, I bought the engine with intent to create another EJ22D as I had done many times before.

It got it's oiling upgrades with the following:
Killer B oil baffle.
Moroso oil pickup.
STi oil pump.
STi oil pan.
Honda S2000 oil filter (replaced after break-in).

The rings and bearings were still mint, so no need to replace them.
As the engine is running amazing to this day, the results turned out well.

[Alucard]

After getting JDM EJ20D heads (a friend stored these after he'd gotten them from me after I tore down an EJ20D I'd gotten from JDM Depot in New Jersey), I disassembled them, got new buckets, new Mizumo valves, sanded them down to perfect flatness in different grits, and got them ready for installation.

[Alucard]

The heads and EJ257 oil pump are bolted on the EJ222 block and the resulting combo looks the same as my last setup. It is a completely different engine, though. Calm in the street and violent up top, the way a proper 2.2 hybrid should be. It seems to be more responsive than the one I made in 2017:



This engine put out 153awhp/138awft-lbs through the stock 4eat on my old '96 Legacy LSi. I am looking to go past that with this new 2.2. Being bolted to a manual, it should provide much less power drain. We will see on the dyno soon.

[Alucard]

The STi oil pan was installed and primered/painted after I'd sanded the rough spot, and the water pump was replaced with a brand new one after the timing was mocked up to ensure the cams and block spun as they should.

[Alucard]

After being completed and transported to it's destination, the EJ22D was installed into the wagon.

[Alucard]

Over time, the car got blacked out with my painting of the wheels, my installation of the Custom Bracket Designs headlights (custom made with a full Morimoto H1 setup), and dark GT-B tails. After the EJ22D was installed and run, I learned that it had a few minor hiccups that needed attention but now the engine runs as it should. The adjustable fuel pressure later was installed with the usage of a driver side EJ25D rail and a flared line w/flange for proper fitment. This was needed due to the pressure being higher than the ECU liked. Once I dropped the pressure to 1psi below spec, the engine ran perfectly.

[Alucard]

From left to right, the plugs number from cyl #1 to cyl #4. I'd say the burn is just about spot on. I'll keep an eye on number 2 for a bit. I replaced them with copper NGK plugs gapped to .056 and continued on.

[Alucard]

Redlined it in 1st coming up and slowed it down on my birthday a short while back. The EJ22D sounds healthy and strong.

[Alucard]

Gloria as she sits as of a few days ago.

[lord flashheart]

sounds fantastic. i love it.

[Alucard]

sounds fantastic. i love it.

Thank you!

Update, car got a replacement power steering pump today after the old one died completely. The next pump it gets will be a 3g Legacy pump. They respond much faster than the 2g pumps..

[lord flashheart]

were they the ones with the remote tank?

[Alucard]

were they the ones with the remote tank?

Yeah. Finding them around this area has been difficult due to the yard being constantly raided for Subaru parts (you can usually walk away from a yard with a full engine, seats, bumpers, brakes, and suspension for about $400).

[Alucard]

Here is a friend's (Milana Castillo) Legacy that I periodically drive out to help repair/maintain.

It's basically almost everything my wagon had before, but still retains factory EJ22E and 4eat. We usually race around the city and the difference between the EJ22E and EJ22D are apparent: She has peak torque lower in the rpm range, so trying to keep up with her in small spaces is doable with a 3.90, but a hell of a chore. However, when lined up and drag raced, we are even until I hit 3rd gear, after which I jog away swiftly. As proud as I am that my EJ22D is superior to an EJ22E in the ways it should be, I'm moreover impressed at the EJ22E's ability to respond quickly with the similar mods and 4eat.

[ryu_haneda]

WOW. Very nice wagon pics.