So last spring I stumbled upon a stock 08 Spec-B that I have some history with. It had a "blown engine" and long story short I got it for cheap, it runs, but #4 cyl. is dead. With about 220k stock, soccer mom, freeway miles I'm hoping it's a burnt valve, but we all know it's probably a busted piston. I'm assuming at this point it will at least need pistons and the heads rebuilt. I was a dealer tech for 6years so I'm more than capable of disassembling and reassembling the engine, but living north of Seattle close to the boarder I don't know of any good machine shops with Subaru experience to do the machine work. I would be willing to ship the block and heads out to someone reputable, I'd even be willing to make a weekend camping trip with the wife and the dogs to drive somewhere, but at what point would it be worth it to just buy a built short block from someone like IAG? My goals are a reliable/daily driven 350-400ish whp (sidebar: will a VF52 get me there?). I want forged pistons, I know some say they aren't necessary, but I've replaced too many short blocks over my career due to broken ringlands and really don't mind the added hassle they come with. The car will probably see some autocross and possibly some track days.
I have been searching for a little while and I can't seem to find any good answers. Thanks in advance!