[TomsSVX]

Originally Posted by Black88GTA

Cam & SoCal LS-L - Yeah, I think I'll end up with new head bolts. No sense reusing old ones for this kind of project. Thanks for the info on the head size, I'll have to make sure I've got a 14mm 12pt handy.

sowise - What do you think about your HF engine hoist / stand? Which ones did you get? I was thinking about ordering these things from HF, but haven't decided yet. I priced out this hoist on their website, and the checkout thing is saying $12 for shipping I don't think that's right, but I'm not complaining if it is. What did you pay for shipping, if you don't mind my asking?

As far as what I'm doing - I spent some time talking to yt the other day discussing my options / the best course of action. I think I've figured out what I'm going to do.

My tentative plan so far is to get a set of rebuilt heads from yt to throw on instead of reusing my existing ones. This eliminates me rolling the dice on finding a local machine shop to go through mine, plus this way I know everything is done correctly and the heads are sound, with no hidden cracks or any other fun things that may be lurking in my existing set. While the heads are off, I'm going to examine the bottom end for excessive wear. If it looks good, I'll leave it alone; if not, then it's new rings and bearings time. It should be OK though, the motor only has 109k on it. I hope it's OK, since redoing the bottom end will add a lot of cost to this (already expensive) project.

I wouldn't feel right ripping the whole thing apart without upgrading something, so I'm planning on grabbing a more aggressive set of cams from Delta to put in place of the stockers. Nothing crazy, but it should be a nice bump over stock. Although I will be sticking with stock springs, valves, and lifters. New OEM Subaru thermostat and water pump will be installed as well, plus knock sensors, iris check valve, hoses, and any other hard-to-access junk I see that should be changed while the IM is off. I think I'm going to leave the timing components alone, since these looked pretty fresh still when I did my cam / crank seals last summer - I think the PO had the TB and idlers done not long before I got the car.

intellibomb - I can't really drive it till it dies, because I don't think this engine will run much longer as it sits - at least, not without daily oil changes. I checked the oil again (after it had sat for a few days) and it's way past the full level on the dipstick, and looks thin. My thinking is that a large amount of coolant is probably getting into it. I'd rather do this now on my own terms during the summer when I can drive my other car, rather than have it suicide in December when I need it and my other set of wheels is worthless.

Thanks for all the help everyone - I hope to start on this within a couple months.

Evan, there is no reason to buy a hoist... You can typically rent them from tool rental places... If all else fails, drop down into Jersey City and pick mine up until you are done

Tom