The AWD Squirrels Return: A story of murder and Ressurection

Short story: First of all "I'm Back Baby, Yeah" and after just 5-8 years of swearing off Subaru forever.

 

05 STi Rally-X car- Murdered by me and slowly dismembered (parted out) after engine one exploded and engine two had a badly machined head. I ripped it's heart out like the antagonist from Indiana Jones and the temple of doom and gleefully carved up the remains which I then sold to the highest bidder. I know I'm a monster.

 

A 2005 Legacy GT Wagon, traded in by me after spending 3 weeks and thousands on repairs and having that last straw break the camels back. Wheel bearings, brakes 3 times, PS Rack, turbo, a handful of Chinese remanned PS pumps, various hoses exploded, inlet hose rotted off, so many burned out headlight bulbs...etc etc etc

 

2011 WRX after the last two debacles I got rid of it after the warranty was up and the A/C compressor failed.

 

Along comes a little white 2006 OBXT...The body was in phenomenal shape for 166k miles. Clearly someone loved this car. A cursory inspection revealed all the original parts on it but it was rattling and smoking like a banshee. Ok, no problem I said to myself, it can go to the morgue... But then I saw what appeared to be a 5speed manual sticking out of the center console and suddenly I couldn't let the poor bastard die.

 

 

I brought it home to the ICU, much to my wife's chagrin as it is makeshift from her cars garage stall. I began resuscitating the patient immediately but the heart stopped shortly thereafter and it would only idle. The diagnosis was terminal, a snapped turbo shaft. "If only they had brought you in sooner instead of gallivanting around on your final days!"

 

 

I decided to try some experimental treatments. First, I pulled the engine with the help of my nurses, child #1 and child #2. Fortunately, they work for free because, fun fact, there's no child labor laws if they are YOUR children! Then I put it on a steady IV of Money. Money continues to flow into it to this day to keep it alive during it's month long (so far) engine out surgery. The credit cards are remarkably resilient to this therapy and the Subaru's really seem to respond well to it. Unfortunately it is an addictive therapy and if you stop the therapy the Subaru tends to languish and die.

 

I started wet sanding and buffing it out and the paint is in great shape.

 

So, currently after 10 grand, a month and a whole host of parts it is... Still sitting in my damned garage waiting for more parts.

 

 

 

 

Here's the list so far

 

 

battery 159.99

 

arp head studs 209.97

 

master gasket set 265.29

 

Short block 1800

 

Heads 1300

 

Turbo vf52 1149.99

 

Oil pump 11mm 141.14

 

turbo oil return line 12.92

 

oem thermostat 17.97

 

turbo oil feed line 56.81

 

oil pan part number 11109AA151 95.3

 

oil cooler part number 21311AA051 194.95

 

cam gear AVSC drivers side 145.88

 

cam gear AVSC pass side 130

 

AVSC valve drivers side 89.99

 

AVSC valve pass side 89.99

 

Cam gear bolts X4 25

 

Plastic cam gear drivers side 77.82

 

plastic cam gear pass side 72.23

 

Timing cover center 38.99

 

timing cover rear, RH 30.66

 

timing cover rear LH 25.01

 

thermostat housing

 

Coil packs

 

Top feed fuel lines, injectors, TGV's (Used) 186

 

Catless Grimmspeed uppipe (Used) 100

 

All OEM coolant hoses and rear vacuum hose 79.61

 

Radiator

 

P/S Pump

 

Alternator

 

Starter

 

MAF

 

Spark plugs 50

 

timing belt kit w/ water pump 266.51

 

new injectors idx 1050x

 

fuel pump AEM 116.71

 

killerb oil pickup tube 149

 

lower control arms 262.48

 

radiator

 

Exedyclutch w/ WRX single mass flywheel 534

 

SHIPPING 800

 

consumables

Wipers (all three subaru OEM) 40.99

 

oil 39.99

oil filter 9.99

coolant

brake fluid

Subaru three bond TB1217H 19.99

Permatex 800368 Caulking gun 11.57

 

 

Running total is 9,601.50

 

 

Here's a couple of before and afters on the paint...

Edited August 30, 2020 by ViscousSquirrel

Alright, so here's a pic of the reason I saved it from certain death along with some pics of the engine bay, before engine removal, and a pic of the oil drain tube from the turbo. Have a gander at the metal embedded in that cam journal and the scoring on the cam

 

 

 

It's somewhat hard to see int he photo but you can see what looks like gunk in the oil pan that is actually metal shavings gunked up with oil.

Edited August 30, 2020 by ViscousSquirrel

Liking the sound of this, hope the pics can back it up.

Just when I thought I was out...

 

Just when I thought I was out...

 

 

 

That is perfect.

 

Liking the sound of this, hope the pics can back it up.

 

You know I tried to load the pics but its giving me an error despite being within the size constraints???

That is perfect.

 

 

 

You know I tried to load the pics but its giving me an error despite being within the size constraints???

 

To post pictures, Have you logged out of the site from the "log out" button in the upper left side under your avatar on the home page. Then log back in and you should be able to post if you have done the other steps.

To post pictures, Have you logged out of the site from the "log out" button in the upper left side under your avatar on the home page. Then log back in and you should be able to post if you have done the other steps.

 

I have not ill give that a shot thanks!

Hahahah.....welcome back!!

To post pictures, Have you logged out of the site from the "log out" button in the upper left side under your avatar on the home page. Then log back in and you should be able to post if you have done the other steps.

 

 

Looks like that doesn't work either. JPG File sizes are under 2mb and 2400 pixels wide on the long side. I wonder if it's a color space issue?

PM one of the MOD's, they can help you. I had to do that.

And here's the old engine pulled and the new engine dropped on my front porch by Fedx.

 

 

 

My hats off to Flat Irons tuning for the fantastic customer service and overnighting the shortblock to Honolulu!

Edited August 29, 2020 by ViscousSquirrel

I picked up a small parts washer and began cleaning each individual nut and bolt by hand. The ones that wouldn't clean with the parts washer ended up with a copper wire brush and if that didn't get the job done they got a quick hit on the grinder with a wire wheel.

 

 

Also, I'm trying to individually clean each part before reinstalling what few parts I could re-use. Unfortunately, that's been very few parts as every time I take something off it's either not usable or becomes a "While I'm in there "part.

Edited August 29, 2020 by ViscousSquirrel

Some of the reason my Credit Cards are sore... A new from FlatIrons Vf52, New oil lines, New Aisin Timing kit with all Japanese bearings, New 11mm Oil pump, new water pump. The master gasket set from Subaru (thanks for including a list of what the part numbers are there Subaru)

 

 

The center console cubby surround was destroyed so I picked up a factory fresh one from Subaru.

 

 

I am trying to keep as much on this car OEM as possible.

 

 

Here is the gasket set list that I used from 2phless on a certain other Subaru forum.

 

 

"Gasket set part number 10105AA590 Gasket & Seal Kit - ENG

 

My list key

 

list number/part number/ part name/ quantity/ what it is or where it goes.

 

1 / 803928010 / GSKT-28.2x33.5x1 / 3 / silver seals for the 14mm allen block access bolts

2 / 806786040 / OIL SEAL-86x103x10 / 3 / Rear main seal. Why 3? I don't know.

3 / 10991AA000 / O RING-CYL BLOCK / 4 / 3 between block halves. 1 behind oil pump. ** Looks similar to pt # 11 **

4 / 806931020 / O RING-31x2.0 / 1 (but came with 2) / #4 wrist pin access cover gasket (hidden by flywheel)

5 / 806932030 / O RING-32.6x2.7 / 1 / ???

6 / 11034AA000 / WASH-CYL BLK SLNG 6 / for the 6 internal 12mm 12 point block connecting bolts that contact oil.

7 / 11044AA641 / GSKT-CYL HEAD / 2 / Head gasket pair.

8 / 803912040 / GSKT-12x16x1 / 14 / Copper bango bolt washers (except for the turbo oil feed)

9 / 806910170 / O RING-10x2 / 2 / 2 orange gaskets for the bottom of the dipstick tube.

10 / 806917070 / O RING-17.4x2.4 / 1 / oil fill tube to LH valve cover

 

11 / 11122AA000 / SEALING-OIL PAN / 1 / This goes between the oil pump pickup and block. ** Looks similar to pt # 3 **

12 / 11126AA000 / GSKT-DRAIN PLUG / 1 / A crush ring for the drain plug. Nice of them huh?

13 / 805323040 / CIRCLIP-INR 23 / 8 / Wrist pin circlips

14 / 806742160 / OILSEAL-42x55x8 / 2 / Intake cam seals

15 / 806732160 / OILSEAL-32x55x8 / 2 / exhaust cam seals

16 / 13091AA050 / SEALING-TENSIONER / 2 / *** These are the rubber or foam stickies on the tensioner *

17 / 13091AA060 / SEALING-TENSIONER / 2 / * mount plate that keep dust out of the timing belt area *****

18 / 806939040 / O RING-39.4x3.1 / 2 / AVCR intake cam oil covers (the triangular covers held to the front of each intake cam sprocket by 3 philips/8mm bolts)

 

The next several part numbers are fairly unidentifiable. They are the foam stickies or rubber edges that seal the

timing chain covers.They have no dimentions or valid descriptions. They either have obvious spots or don't. I've

used RTV for the wishy washy areas before.

 

19 / 13581AA050 / SEALING-BELT CVR FR / 1 /

20 / 13594AA000 / SLNG-BELT COVER, 2FR / 1 /

21 / 13583AA260 / SEALING-BELT CVR RH / 1 /

22 / 13583AA270 / SEALING-BELT CVR / 1 /

23 / 13583AA280 / SEALING-BELT CVR / 1 /

24 / 13583AA290 / SEALING-BELT CVR RH / 2 /

25 / 13584AA050 / SLNG-BELT COVER, 2RH / 1 /

26 / 13597AA020 / SEALING-BELT CVR / 1 /

27 / 13597AA031 / SEALING-BELT CVR / 1 /

 

See?

 

28 / 13592AA011 / MOUNT-BELT COVER / 7 / Snap in rubber coated metal spacers for the t-cover-to-block bolts.

29 / 13207AA050 / SEAL-INT VALVE / 8 / intake valve seals (green???)

30 / 13211AA050 / SEAL-EXH VALVE / 8 / exhaust valve seals (black???) I haven't checked the difference yet.

31 / 13210AA020 / COLLET-VALVE / 32 / Small metal wedges. Dip concave side in thick grease to stick to valves during install.

32 / 13270AA190 / GSKT-ROCKER COVERRH / 1 / Right valve cover gasket.

33 / 13272AA140 / GSKT-ROCKER COVERLH / 1 / Left valve cover gasket.

34 / 13293AA050 / GSKT-ROCKER CVR,2 / 4 / Spark plug hole gaskets

35 / 806733030 / OIL SEAL-33x49x8 / 1 / oil pump to crank seal (front main)

36 / 15048AA001 / SEALING-OIL PUMP / 2 / More rubber pads for timing chain dust control.

37 / 806922040 / O RING-22.1x3.5 / 1 / This may be the recirc valve kneck o-ring

38 / 803942010 / GSKT-42x51x8.5 / 1 / Oil fill-tube cap gasket. (This was a puzzler the first time I saw one)

39 / 21114AA051 / GSKT-WATER PUMP / 1 / Water pump gasket. (Coated Metal)

40 / 21116AA010 / SEALING-WATER PUMP / 1 / And another rubber dust gasket for timing chain area.

41 / 21236AA010 / GSKT-THERMO / 1 / Thermostat gasket. Inner rib snaps around radius of the thermostat.

42 / 21370KA001 / GSKT-OIL COOLER / 2 / Orange and 1 goes between oil cooler and block. #2 included for backup?

43 / 806959030 / O RING-59.6x2.4 / 1 / Blue??? Not sure where it goes.

44 / 806932040 / O RING-32.0x1.9 / 1 / Orange and goes between the two block halves.

45 / 14035AA421 / GSKT-INT MANIF / 2 / *** One of these is the intake to tumblers *

46 / 14075AA160 / GSKT-INT COOL / 2 / * and the other is Tumblers to heads ******

47 / 16608AA040 / SEAL-FUEL INJ / 4 / Lumpy fuel injector seats

48 / 16698AA050 / O RING-INJECTOR / 4 / Lower small diameter injector o-rings ???

49 / 16698AA060 / O RING-INJECTOR / 4 / Upper large diameter injector o-rings ??? (or reversed)

50 / 14038AA000 / GSKT-EXH MANIF / 2 / head to exhaust manifold metal gaskets.

51 / 14022AA160 / GSKT-MF / 2 / Exhaust crossover gaskets? PN may be a typo as 44022AA160 was listed but I don't believe it.

52 / 803910050 / GSKT-10x14x1 / copper turbo oil feed banjo gaskets

53 / 16175AA241 / GSKT-THROT CHMBR / 1 / Blue paper throttle body gasket.

54 / 806933010 / O RING-33.7x3.5 / Water jacket crossover pipe to right and left blocks.

55 / 21896AA072 / GSKT - INTER COOLER / 2 / *** one pair is for the Y-pipe to TMIC, the other *

56 / 21896AA010 / GSKT - INTER COOLER / 2 / * pair is TMIC to recirculating valve. (2 why?) ****"

Edited August 29, 2020 by ViscousSquirrel

I cut this down-pipe nut with dremel after using every tool I had and failing to remove it. It still would come off. I beat it with a hammer and chisel after it was cut and got nowhere. I had to cut it into thirds and then beat it with the hammer and chisel and eventually it came off

Here's some of the unsalvageable parts I had planned to reuse.. Take a look at the corrosion on that outlet.

 

 

 

Look at that cam gear. One of these exploded and killed my last STI Midlap on the dirt track. I took an extra close look at the ones on this STOCK car after cleaning them and found that SOB crack right there. That could have been disastrous!!

 

 

I could have re-used this clutch but you know..."While I was in there..."

This Killer B oil pickup tube is built like a tank!

Some assembly required... with the factory three-bond (when did fujibond die?).

 

The shiny new oil pan meeting its new home.

 

A pic of how the engine sits now waiting for the heads to arrive... I have a new thermostat and gasket in there, a new oil cooler and I'm waiting on all new coolant lines from Flat Irons in fact for those that care Jon over there was nice enough to pull out the parts catalog and give me a list and links to all the parts. (If I'm beginning to sound like an advertisement I'm sorry. I'm just super impressed with their customer service. This car looks to ahve been pretty well maintaned mehcnically as the engine mounts have clearly been replaced with factory Subaru units as had the axles speaking of which.

 

 

 

Here is the list of the hoses I purchased:

 

 

https://www.flatironstuning.com/subaru-oem-pre-heater-hose-wrx-08-10-05-09-obxt-05-09-lgt-fxt-09-10

 

https://www.flatironstuning.com/subaru-oem-pre-heater-hose-08-14-wrx-05-09-lgt-05-09-obxt-09-13-fxt

https://www.flatironstuning.com/subaru-oem-coolant-water-pipe-hose-02-07-wrx-04-sti-05-06-lgt

https://www.flatironstuning.com/suabur-oem-aux-coolant-hose-08-14-wrx-09-13-fxt-05-09-lgt-obxt

https://www.flatironstuning.com/subaru-oem-aux-res-coolant-hose-08-14-wrx-05-09-lgt-obxt-09-13-fxt

https://www.flatironstuning.com/subaru-oem-waterpump-hoses-clamps-04-sti-02-14-wrx

https://www.flatironstuning.com/subaru-oem-oil-cooler-hoses-02-07-wrx-04-07-sti - You need 3 of these.

Edited August 29, 2020 by ViscousSquirrel

Great pictures

Great pictures

Thanks for the help!

 

 

The answer was to change the color space from Adobe sRGB to regular RGB and shrink the file size well below the minimum to 512k and 1024 pixels on the long edge.

Edited August 29, 2020 by ViscousSquirrel

Out with the old and In with the new...

 

 

I replaced the lower control arms with Mevotech aluminum units from RockAuto which you can find here:

 

 

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=6506952&cc=1432742

 

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/subaru,2006,legacy,2.5l+h4,1432742,suspension,control+arm,10401

 

 

 

Picked up some new-to-me wheels and tires from FutureFicus whose car looks badass on the new meats I might add.

You can find his, much more interesting, thread here:

 

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/09-obxt-dbm-photo-journal-206005p5.html

Edited August 29, 2020 by ViscousSquirrel

Great thread! And also very timely and helpful for me, since next month I will be diving into my engine rebuild - thanks very much for including all the parts ID info. Best of luck to you in winding up yours!

Honolulu ??? Daaaaamn! That's gotta be a hefty shipping bill, overnight no less.

Might as well overnight from Japan lol!

 

Here's the breakdown on all the coolant hoses all over the top of the shortblock as well as the twisty PCV hose from the center of the crank case tot he black steel tubing

 

 

 

 

I forgot which hose this is 807611031

 

Water Pump Upper Hose 807612011

 

Hose Clamp 805918010

 

Water Pump Lower Hose 807615182

 

Hose Clamp 805922090

 

Aux Res Coolant Hose 14472AA050

 

Aux Coolant Hose 14472AA040

 

Coolant Water Pipe Hose 807611090

 

Pre-Heater Hose 21204AA900

 

Pre-Heater Hose 21204AA830

 

Vacuum Hose 99071AC220

Edited August 30, 2020 by ViscousSquirrel

This is just my kind of build!!!

This is just my kind of build!!!

 

Oh so you too are a fan of bad decision making!? ;P

Edited August 31, 2020 by ViscousSquirrel