Land Shark Build Thread - Use the right head gaskets

1500 miles! That is all they lasted!

 

Long story short. Bought a 99 Outback with 144,900 miles with a suspected bad head gasket for $1300 from a dealer in Mesa, AZ. I drove it 230 miles back to my house without issue or overheating. I replaced the gasket at 145,500 miles with a ITM Engine Components full gasket kit I bought off of Rockauto for $94 shipped. I got the engine back together and my girlfriend drove it for a month and a half and said she heard a bubbling and hissing from under the hood. Looked in the radiator after it cooled, it was half full. The bubbling was inside the overflow tank and had blown the cap off and sprayed coolant everywhere. Refilled it, drove it, car started to get hot after a 8 mile drive, radiator half empty, and white smoke out of the tailpipe. Boom, blown head gasket after just 1500 miles.

 

This is my build thread of replacing the head gasket, again, but this time I will not be pulling the motor out of the car. At least not initially unless I find some serious issue that necessitates it. The engine gaskets were completely replaced when it was out so, I shouldn't have any issues. I'm hoping that the issue is just the head gaskets (which are a composite type gasket, old generation) and not warped heads or a head bolt that backed itself out (that's a whole other suspicion considering I found out two weeks later that my torque wrench was off calibration during reassembly ). Stay tuned for updates.

 

EDIT: For reference, the gasket that you should NOT use is the ITM 09-41329. You should use the Fel-Pro 26167PT gaskets. They cost 2x as much as the ITM gasket but they're identical to the updated gaskets from Subaru that cost $55 from the dealer. So remember kids: Use the right gasket now, or spend a lot more time later fixing what you messed up on.

I hope it's a simple head gasket swap. I always worry about calibration on those things...

It's not TOO difficult to do it with the motor in the car, just higher chance of pinching fingers in the tight spaces. That really sucks though

Day 1: Motor is just about torn down to the long block. When I assembled the engine for the first time 1,500 mile ago, I used all new timing components. I removed the timing cover and went to align my marks and was kind of freaked out to see this:

 

http://i.imgur.com/eYveMUr.jpg

 

The exhaust cam gears look like they're off by a tooth or so. First I thought it was a fluke and I set the crank gear wrong. Upon inspection, I found both the left and right side looked off. The crazy part is that the components are new, I made sure that I had all marks lined up properly during assembly, and I hand turned the engine about 20-30 times to make sure everything lined up. I was assured that nothing was wrong with it, it didn't jump a tooth and I didn't assemble it wrong. Apparently, OEM belts have a tendency to stretch a little bit and I was told it was within spec as it doesn't look like its a full tooth off and the car ran great before the gaskets blew.

 

http://i.imgur.com/idycrSB.jpg

 

I cut it short today because a friend came over that blew out his wheel bearing and I pressed it out of the hub and replaced it with a new one for him. That took up the rest of my night.

 

The whole top of the motor is bare for more room and removed the timing belt and tensioner to prep it for reassembly. Valve covers are nearly off. Next comes cam gears, then the heads are ready to come off tomorrow afternoon.

Are you going to have your heads resurfaced while they are off the block? The '98 LGT I bought just had the headgaskets and timing set done before I bought it and I blew one within the first 3,000 miles because they didn't get the heads checked out before reassembly. Now I get to do the same thing you're into, just happen to be adding fun stuff at the same time.

Im going to double check my measurements again to see if I can use them without machining. I didn't have them machined the first time out because they were at 0.03mm of warpage. If they're at the 0.05mm limit, I might as well have them resurfaced.

Day 2: Removed the right head. The gasket was in terrible shape and was stuck to the head and the block.

 

http://i.imgur.com/V1iBJoX.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/A8ImOCI.jpg

 

I'm gonna say it again: USE THE RIGHT GASKET

 

There was so much material on the head and block deck. No wonder it didn't seal right. Also, to confirm my suspicions, the head bolts were not even torqued to the right spec. I replaced my torque wrench so it will be torqued properly now with the right specs. For reference, here's the original gasket I removed side by side to the gasket I installed.

 

http://i.imgur.com/4lExv7h.jpg

 

The old MLS gasket is on the left and the new composite gasket that failed is on the right. I'll say it for the second time in this post: USE THE RIGHT GASKET.

 

Head is all cleaned up, deck is cleaned off. Used a green scrub pad to clean everything off and used a fine grit sandpaper. Everything is within spec according to the Subaru FSM. and head installed awaiting tomorrow for the proper torque spec.

 

Shows after I scurbbed it off before I sanded it smooth.

http://i.imgur.com/R1TaSjZ.jpg

 

New gasket peeking out from the head and block

http://i.imgur.com/9BDbezk.jpg

Update:

 

The last few weeks have been met with some very unfavorable weather that has prohibited me from working on the car, but this week I made some progress. I pulled off the other head from the car (left side) and the deck is definitely warped. Between cylinders 1/3 the warpage gap is nearly twice the limit. So now out comes the motor.

 

I have a low mileage EJ25 spare from a 97 SUS in my garage that I acquired from a friend in Canada. I found the VIN on the block and the Carfax shows the motor was in a one owner car and has a confirmed 78,000 miles on it two weeks prior to the date the motor was pulled from the car in 2015. It was pulled for a bad head gasket but the customer did not want to fix it, my buddy bought the car, salvaged the motor and some other bits and junked the rest because the body was cancerous. Last year when I visited, the opportunity came up to me to acquire the engine as long as I drove up there to get it, so while visiting my family in nearby New York, I made a day trip up there to snag it for the low price of free.

 

This week, I checked out the engine and the deck and heads are dead straight, less than 0.02mm of warpage, which is incredible, so I am rebuilding this motor from the ground up.

 

Here is what the motor looked like before:

http://i.imgur.com/poprgrk.jpg

Here it is after the deep cleaning of everything:

http://i.imgur.com/FNyI3Ut.jpg

Rebuilt the heads, cleaned them all up and installed them with the new Felpro gaskets. I threw the intake from my 99 to check fitment and it will work perfect with the 97 long block:

http://i.imgur.com/gPL9cSP.jpg

Tomorrow the block gets painted with aluminum engine paint and the valve covers, timing covers, and intake will be painted the closest color I could get to WRC Blue engine paint.

 

Things that need to be done:

- Engine block painted

- New water pump installed

- New timing hardware and belt installed (on order, monday delivery)

- Paint timing covers

- Paint coolant crossover pipe

- Disassemble intake and grind down casting marks flush and paint

- Clean and paint valve covers

- Install oil pickup, oil filter, and pan (on order, monday delivery)

 

I want this engine to look like a million bucks when I'm done with it. Last week someone was supposed to come by and look at who was interested in trading my their 03 Forester for it after I finished the head gaskets, but the guy flaked out and was a no-show despite being "very interested" in the trade.

 

While waiting for everything to come in, I also ordered some Borla-knockoff UEL headers and a JDM N1 3" catback exhaust system with a 4.5" outlet pipe from an 02-07 WRX that I bought from a guy in California. The headers should be here by the end of next week and the catback exhaust should be here Monday.

I got a little bit of work done yesterday after work. Paint came in faster than I expected, so I broke down the intake manifold last night to clean it up and paint it. I also prepped the engine last night for paint.

 

http://i.imgur.com/QR5ZNFN.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/C0cxZps.jpg

 

For those interested, the paint used on the engine is Rustoleum 248904 Flat Aluminum Engine Paint and the intake manifold is painted with Duplicolor BCP104 Caliper Paint. The engine paint is rated up to 2000 degrees and the caliper paint is rated up to 500 degrees so the longevity should be good for both.

Interesting thread. Nice work.

Update:

 

Cleaned up and painted the valve covers now.

http://i.imgur.com/4GzUQFt.jpg

 

The top end is all put together. I ordered a new Gates timing belt, Beck/Arney Oil Pan gasket, and a new oil filter. I already had an extra set of pulleys, tensioner, and water pump that I ordered a few years ago to rebuild my EJ22. The kits are exactly the same with the exception of the belt.

 

http://i.imgur.com/yN0f9az.jpg

 

Here is the engine almost fully assembled and ready to install. I need to install the exhaust studs, new oil filter, and the spark plugs and motor mounts from the old engine since they're brand new.

 

http://i.imgur.com/Kya42RL.jpg

 

Now onto the new toys. I picked up a set of Borla knockoff UEL headers and a JDM N1 catback exhaust for the 02-07 WRX. The catback will need to be modified to fit. I'm also contemplating doing a cat delete and have a test pipe made with O2 bungs. The back O2 sensor will be installed with a spacer to prevent check engine lights. The test pipe will go from the headers with the 2.5" inlet to a 3" outlet to adapt to my catback pipes.

 

http://i.imgur.com/3xhIcQu.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/MlDfLuj.jpg

I'd leave the second cat, that exhaust is gonna sound really over drafted with 3in tubing and only a small resonator and flow through muffler. You'll get a lot of raspy hondaness if you reduce restriction even more.

I'd leave the second cat, that exhaust is gonna sound really over drafted with 3in tubing and only a small resonator and flow through muffler. You'll get a lot of raspy hondaness if you reduce restriction even more.

 

I've contemplated leaving both of them because I'll be moving into an emissions area in the next year so I will need them to pass inspection. If I wasn't moving, I'd hack them up. I plan on renewing with 5 year tags this month, so I don't think it'll be an issue if I hack it up. Do you think putting an additional resonator on the test pipe will give me less raspy hondaness?

Yeah, if you are going to remove the second cat, put a resonator in it's place, it won't reduce loudness of the exhaust all that much (maybe 2-5db) but it'll reduce or get rid of the honda noise. My buddy has an exhaust on his 09 NA 2.5 and at first it was just a stock exhaust (resonator with 2.25 in tube) and flowmaster mufflers, it sounded really nice and subaru ish with that set up. But he wanted it louder so he went with a 2.5in cat back with only the same flowmaster mufflers and it sounds like complete shit, I can't tell it apart from a 4cyl toyota or honda with a fart can. So going off of that, you are now going to run 3in cat back with as flow through muffler and a little resonator. I don't want to be insulting but I'm not hopeful that that set up will sound good. But you can always make changes to the exhaust to get the sound and tone you want and it's pretty painless.

A friend of mine has an 97 OBS with a 2.5 and the same setup and it sounds pretty good. I've got a little bit of playing around to do. I'm going to hold off on the cat delete and see how it sounds with what I have then go from there. I hate the Honda fartcan sound, I want to keep it Subaru, hence the reason for the UEL headers. The axleback portion has a removable silencer in it and I've heard it with and without it in. With it in, it's 100% Subaru, with it removed it's too Honda ricer.

Just a small update. I have been super busy over the last few weekends, so no huge progress is being made on the project. I did manage to pull the old motor out of the car and remove the exhaust system.

 

http://i.imgur.com/GtkZF0h.jpg

 

I'm going to be mating the new headers to the cats for now and install when I put the new motor in.

 

Question: How do I remove the exhaust studs from the old heads without screwing them up?

Just a small update. I have been super busy over the last few weekends, so no huge progress is being made on the project. I did manage to pull the old motor out of the car and remove the exhaust system.

 

http://i.imgur.com/GtkZF0h.jpg

 

I'm going to be mating the new headers to the cats for now and install when I put the new motor in.

 

Question: How do I remove the exhaust studs from the old heads without screwing them up?

Screwing which one up, heads or studs, or both?

 

Weld a nut to the stud.

Screwing which one up, heads or studs, or both?

 

Weld a nut to the stud.

Screwing which one up, heads or studs, or both?

 

Weld a nut to the stud.

 

Or double nut it if you don't have welder access or ability.

Screwing which one up, heads or studs, or both?

 

Weld a nut to the stud.

 

Or double nut it if you don't have welder access or ability.

Screwing which one up, heads or studs, or both?

 

Weld a nut to the stud.

 

 

I was worried about screwing up the studs as I need to transfer them to the bad heads to the new heads.

 

Or double nut it if you don't have welder access or ability.

 

I don't have a welder, so I'll try the double nut trick.

Screwing which one up, heads or studs, or both?

 

Weld a nut to the stud.

 

 

I was worried about screwing up the studs as I need to transfer them to the bad heads to the new heads.

 

Or double nut it if you don't have welder access or ability.

 

I don't have a welder, so I'll try the double nut trick.

Did you have it happen where the nut rusts solid to the stud so that it now unscrews from the head instead of the nut coming off the stud? You can always find a new stud and the nut is an m12-1.5 I think so as long as the heads are in good shape, I would just hammer the stud out of the header or heat it up and try to unscrew/wiggle it free

Did you have it happen where the nut rusts solid to the stud so that it now unscrews from the head instead of the nut coming off the stud? You can always find a new stud and the nut is an m12-1.5 I think so as long as the heads are in good shape, I would just hammer the stud out of the header or heat it up and try to unscrew/wiggle it free