Somac's '05 Outback XT - Progress/(Re)Build Thread/JDM EJ20X Swap

How's it going guys!

 

I guess I'll make a thread for this car now that I'm going to dive deeper into it.

 

I had an '04 Outback 5MT. Project thread can be found here:

 

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/showthread.php?19975-Somac-s-04-Outback-Wagon-How-to-Ruin-a-Daily-Driver

 

and presenting my current Outback. I sold my '04 Outback and bought the other car I wanted ('06 Infiniti G35 coupe 6MT) and missed having a Subaru, so I got an '03 Forester XS 5MT, then sold that and got my current Outback.

 

 

 

It's a 2005 Outback XT Limited 5MT. OBP single tone paint, just like I wanted my BH9 to be, with an EJ255 and 5 speed manual. Black leather interior, big ol' double sunroof that is leagues better than my BH's sunroof was, and an overall nicer experience that I'm so happy with.

 

I bought it with just about all of the performance mods already done, which is a lesson I should have already learned, but I figured I'd save myself a good chunk of money that way.

 

Lesson learned, the motor spun a bearing less than 1,000 miles after buying it. I was just cruising at 45mph and lost oil pressure. Towed the car home, changed the oil, knocks like crazy. Now it's time to rebuild.

 

The current mod list is:

Last updated 12/03/18

 

Engine/Drivetrain:

Stock EJ255 internals - Blown up 12/01/18

Kinugawa TD05-18G

Perrin TMIC

Perrin turbo inlet

Perrin pitch stop

Cobb SF intake + SF airbox

Cobb EBCS

Vibrant UEL header

Grimmspeed EWG up pipe

Tial 38mm wastegate

Grimmspeed downpipe

P&L custom 3" exhaust with Vibrant resonator and Vibrant mufflers

ID1000 injectors

AEM 320lph pump

Moore Performance top feed fuel rails

AN fuel line conversion

Tomei adjustable fuel pressure regulator

TGV deletes

Koyorad all aluminum radiator

Cobb AccessPort SUB-002 V3

Protuned by Corbin Johnson

OEM WRX single mass flywheel

South Bend Stage 3 Daily clutch

Kartboy short throw shifter

Kartboy shifter bushings

Killer B EJ25 ultimate oil pickup - Waiting on install

Killer B windage tray - Waiting on install

 

Suspension/Chassis:

King raised 1" springs

KYB Excel-G struts

Whiteline rear sway bar

AVO rear sway bar reinforcements

Whiteline rear diff bushings

Subaru Group N trans mount

Subaru Group N motor mounts - Waiting on install

Subaru SPT lower chassis brace - Waiting on install

Tow hitch

 

Brakes/Wheels:

'05 Legacy GT calipers, rotors, and pads

Sport Edition A8-2 17x7.5 +48 wheels

Bridgestone Blizzak 225/60R17 tires

 

Exterior:

JDM Legacy sport mesh grille

'08-'09 Outback tail lights

Morimoto Mini H1 7.0s - waiting on install

Tinted windows

 

Interior:

'07 Subaru P204UH radio conversion w/ aux

Momo shift knob

LED map/dome/trunk/courtesy lights

Weathertech floor liners

 

The current plan is to swap an EJ20X in. Not entirely sure if I trust the turbo anymore so I may use the whole JDM twin scroll setup if I can make it work with my Perrin TMIC. If I end up sending my turbo out to get inspected and cleaned and it comes back good, I may reuse all of that but we'll have to see.

Edited March 15, 2019 by Somac

The breakdown.

 

 

My oil.

 

 

I wish this was just a close-up of some Java Black Pearl paint, but my oil decided to shine bright like a diamond.

 

Currently exploring vendors for EJ20Xs. The biggest hurdle is probably going to be getting a downpipe made and finding a tuner that's willing to tune it open source with bigger injectors and different intake on a JDM ECU. Going to start pulling parts off of this car and get ready to pull the motor this week.

 

The goal is to have this car running in under two months so I can take it to Sno*Drift.

Tuned in for updates!

If it helps, I got my EJ207 from J Spec in Richmond VA a number of years ago. They were great guys to deal with.

Suck man! Oil was fresh and full before it failed? And have you already figured out why it spun a bearing? If not, check the oil pick up tube for cracks. It is not often, but it has happened in the past, where they crack at the weld.

If I end up sending my turbo out to get inspected and cleaned and it comes back good, I may reuse all of that but we'll have to see.

 

 

 

 

We have a fellow forum member who does a terrific job at rebuilding/inspecting our turbos.

 

 

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/news-homefront-276372.html?t=276372

Suck man! Oil was fresh and full before it failed? And have you already figured out why it spun a bearing? If not, check the oil pick up tube for cracks. It is not often, but it has happened in the past, where they crack at the weld.

 

Oil was full, but was about to be due for a change. I had actually just picked up some oil and an OEM filter for it in anticipation of hitting the mileage mark.

I haven't been able to tear down the motor yet. Lack of space and time is killing me so progress is slow. This weekend is going to hopefully be a big progress weekend.

 

We have a fellow forum member who does a terrific job at rebuilding/inspecting our turbos.

 

 

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/news-homefront-276372.html?t=276372

 

I've actually been talking with him already - he's pretty local to me, thankfully! Planning to meet up with him soon. He may be the answer to another one of my big problems, too.

Edited December 7, 2018 by Somac

Good to hear then. Good luck!

excited to see your build, should be fun!

 

Dave

subscribed !

Making very slow progress in the spare time I have.

 

Motor is mostly stripped down. The Perrin inlet is one of the biggest pains in the ass I've ever dealt with. Even getting it off was a nightmare. I have a feeling it's going to be even more fun getting it back on.

 

 

The turbo is still looking pretty healthy. Zero shaft play. Hopefully a good cleaning will be enough.

 

 

Should be looking at a motor this weekend. Looks like the presents under the Christmas tree are going to be a little smaller than normal this year.

 

Going to be ordering up a new Aisin timing kit, ARP head studs, a new oil cooler, and OEM gaskets once I pick up a motor.

huh. aftermarket turbo? You tuned for it?

huh. aftermarket turbo? You tuned for it?

 

Yep, car was tuned by Corbin Johnson with all of the mods on the car.

 

When the car was tuned, apparently the PO was told by Corbin/TiC "See you in 6 months when you need a short block," because of the power/torque and mileage on stock internals, and that was about a year ago, so the car (unfortunately) made it longer than the estimate.

Do you have an AP or the BtSsm app? I mean, you won't need it right now since you are fixing stuff, but it is definitely something you should have.

Also, have you thought about closed deck blocks? IAG sells some of these. Not super expensive for what you get I think. Still not cheap though.

 

 

https://www.iagperformance.com/IAG-Stage-3-Closed-Deck-Converted-Case-Halves-p/iag-eng-1910.htm

Do you have an AP or the BtSsm app? I mean, you won't need it right now since you are fixing stuff, but it is definitely something you should have.

 

Using an AP V3 now. If I go EJ20X, I'll switch to open source and monitor though BtSsm.

 

QUOTE=xt2005bonbon;5856278]Also, have you thought about closed deck blocks? IAG sells some of these. Not super expensive for what you get I think. Still not cheap though.

 

 

https://www.iagperformance.com/IAG-Stage-3-Closed-Deck-Converted-Case-Halves-p/iag-eng-1910.htm

 

The car is and will always be a daily driver for me, so I have no intention of doing anything serious with the motor. I'm happy with the power level it's at and the stock rods, pistons, and block itself should be good for 300-350whp reliably if I'm not beating on it all the time with the right upgrades. With the Killer B oiling parts, banjo bolt filters being removed, maybe braided oil lines, as well as the upgraded radiator, the motor should take it. Even if I get another EJ255, I'm going to get another tune and dial it back a little bit (and maybe go flex fuel).

fyi.

 

 

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/nj-arp-head-studs-276992.html?t=276992

Progress has been slow, but at least I've been buying stuff.

 

Decided to buy a used EJ255 from our resident turbo man JmP6889928. The motor had a blown head gasket, but the motor was all disassembled, heads were checked and slightly shaved, and the cross hatching in the cylinders still looked good.

 

Ordered ARP head studs, an OEM engine gasket kit, and Aisin timing kit.

 

Cleaned up all of the engine plastics, bought an engine stand ($38 out the door at HF!), bought some more tools.

 

At this point, I feel like I probably should have just ponied up for a new OEM block for what I paid for the used engine, but oh well.

 

Regrettably, this is the only photo I have of the engine I bought.

 

 

It'll get cleaned up and be as good as used, though.

Good luck to you!

keep us updated, enjoying following your build and obviously if you stick with the USDM ecu we can tune it with the ap for flex fuel.

 

Thanks!

 

Dave

Progress has been painfully slow - sorry for a lack of updates. I've had to keep shuffling my parts back and forth since I can't keep a stable spot to work on the car/engine.

 

 

The motor is mostly together. I hopefully have all the parts I need. To reiterate, it's just a stock EJ255/EJ257 B25 casting courtesy of JmP6889928.

 

Replaced all of the gaskets courtesy of the Subaru OEM engine gasket kit.

 

Got the ARP head studs in after I had to wait for a silly M11x1.25 tap to show up to clean up my threads. Made an improvised long-handle tap by cutting a stock head bolt in half, then welding the M11 tap to the head bolt so that I could clean up all of the threads.

 

 

Bought a Company23 billet timing belt guide and got some Company23 cam gear tools. All super nice stuff and I can't say enough good things about Company23.

 

Also got the IAG AVCS/turbo feed oil line to replace the stock one. The stock one was fine, but I didn't want to have to deal with chancing it leaking or breaking.

 

Got both of these from Oakos, who's also awesome. They've helped me out a couple times to make sure I can get the parts I need quickly, even with my unfortunate work schedule right now.

 

Bought a Harbor Freight engine crane and the engine is ready to come out of the car. I've got no time outside of work for the next week so I'm gonna try to get a couple buddies to try to help me do a quick pull and drop in of the new motor.

 

I'm selling my JDM front end from my BH9 Outback tomorrow, which will help free up some more cash and really get this car back together. Maybe I'll do something dumb and buy the JDM front end I've been eyeing on eBay.

 

Pics

 

Yesss! Just let me know when you're ready to ship!

Looking good

keep it up!

 

Dave