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Thread: 1998 LGT Limited Equipped w/EJ22

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    1998 LGT Limited Equipped w/EJ22

    I haven't been here in a while & I figured that I've made journals elsewhere so why not here?
    My name is Kenny & allow me to introduce the canvas I bought May of 2011.
    Here is the story.May 5th. 2011 is when I first purchased the car from a man in East Haddam after several months of looking after my return from North Carolina.
    I had been specifically looking for a GT after having owned 2 Ls & an Outback (which I did not keep for very long.)
    This is my 3rd BD, my 3rd EJ22, my 2nd EJ25D, & my 4th Subaru.
    The first L was by far my favorite as I had done the most to it as well as it being a major part of what got me & my ex-wife around.




    After my divorce, the car was sold off to someone who put 3 spoke chrome rims on it, jacked it up w/Outback suspension, rebuilt the 22E, & sold off all of the other mods I had put into it, essentially destroying it.
    Neat.
    During that time, I also had a dark red 98 L 5spd that I had bolted DOHC heads & corresponding hardware on & it was a very fun car to drive.
    I won't talk about the Outback since it was a super piece of s**t & that is why you see the L looks the way it does.


    Anyways, onto the white GT.
    I had always wanted a GT to see how much better it was but back then, they were still going for over $4k & that was a lot of money for a me as a tech student at the time.
    I couldn't believe it when I finally found this one but the guy told me that if he swapped in a new engine, he would charge me $5k instead of $1700, so I jumped at the offer.












    At some point after I got the car, I got bored with the grille & painted it black for hahas. I didn't think I'd like it but I did, so I left it for a long while. I removed the foglights also since they had gotten real nasty on the insides to the point of no return.





    I had done the hybrid intake, knowing full well that I wouldn't be able to return it back to normal afterwards, decided that it was best for the car, & kept it the way it is to this day.



    Maybe a day later, I ordered UEL headers & a catback (that for some reason, does not get along with the midpipe I had welded for it).




    The ticking that was evident when I first got the car had grown to a large knocking sound by September from May, & I knew that the 25D was on it's last stroke of luck. Luckily, broknindarkagain's advice of putting heavier weight oil in it to prolong it's operation worked well all the way to point of explosion.


    Last edited by DOHCEJ22E; 12-12-2012 at 11:46 PM.

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    The engine did explode in a very dramatic manner as I was bringing it home from a city about 20 miles from where I live & since I wasn't into the tow truck fees, I decided to just "wing it". These EJs are very tough. Even though the 25D blew a rod right through the block (Rod #3), it could STILL start & move the car with a good amount of force. I still consider them VERY inferior to the EJ22E in everything but displacement. The next few pics will be of the teardown process.






    Damn near split the coolant pipe...



    Head removal...








    As you can see, the head gaskets were done before I got the car but the constant overheating & the oil/coolant mix had already done the bearings in, so if you have an EJ25D that has a head gasket leak & it's been compromised by the oil/coolant acid, it's time to replace the engine.



    After this, I realized that it would take me a while to get what I need to rebuild the engine, so the car sat from October 2011 to July/August 2012, when a trip to the casino would yield what I needed to create an engine for it. I got to work as soon as humanly possible.

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    I was able to remove the heads from the EJ25D before I left it to rest for those months.
    On the urge that I absolutely HAD to have another EJ22 no matter what, I took the money I won, bought a 1995 EJ22E & began spending it on a combo of EJ22E & EJ25D parts as well as other modifications to get this engine running right.







    EJ22E head gasket on 25D head...



    The 22E engine that I picked up had 100k miles on it & it was in excellent condition.
    The cylinder walls still had a decent amount of hone on them, so I knew the block was good to go for the conversion.
    After inspecting the 25D heads, I concluded that they were good to go too so I began the process of mating the heads w/the block.
    11mm 257 oil pump & 25D water pump on 22E block...



    25D heads bolted on 22E block...



    Ready to go...



    In the car...

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    After the EJ22 was put together, I gave it a regimen of tests & found that I made a few mistakes upon assembling it, one of them being that I did not seal the gaskets properly. I have since fixed my issues & found that the EJ22 that was built operates on a far higher smoothness than any 25D I've had. At the cost of power (maybe 15-20bhp down from a 25D at best) & lack of low-end TQ, the engine makes up for that by delivering smooth freeway power & MPGs I don't think I've ever been able to pull out of a Subaru before (it now gets over 28city/33+highway).


    Eventually, I got bored with the black grille after seeing how popular it was & decided that I wanted to paint it white...





    The car has the following mods:
    UEL headers.
    WRX catback exhaust.
    MSD ignition coil.
    FWD switch.
    Power mode switch.
    Phenolic intake manifold spacers.
    Hybrid intake assembly.
    I haven't done too much to it since it's revival but there will be more along the way.


    What the car looks like today






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    Engine: 2212cc
    Bore: 97mm
    Stroke: 75mm
    Head Gasket: 0.054in
    Piston Dish: -12cc
    Deck Height: -0.012
    Head Chamber: 46.6cc

    These numbers calculated yield a 9.3:1 compression ratio.

    Power is more or less the same as a regular 22E but it's pushed farther up & stretched, producing a 25D-like powerband w/none of the 25D's weaknesses.
    To be fair to the 25D, if it weren't for head gasket issues, it would probably be just as reliable as the 2.2 variants.

    As for this frankenstein, it is "the road less traveled", if you will. The oddball. When it comes to EJ hybrids because people prefer power as cheap as they can get it, like the SOHC 25D frankenstein (high compression & yields GOOD usable low-end unlike my engine, which focuses on midrange pull like the EJ25D).

    Simply put, my DOHC EJ22E is the opposite of the SOHC EJ25D, as it is a lowered compression engine that is really only supposed to be built for turbocharging but it's compression ratio is good for N/A (9.3:1), which is what I'm using it for since I can't afford a turbo build at the moment.

    Personally, I like it. 35mpg constantly. Nice midrange pull. Smooth operation. A little more power than an EJ22E.
    This car would be more fun with brake & suspension mods, & a 5 speed swap...
    Had to get a wheel bearing replaced not too long ago.


    The car has now reached 170K & the EJ22 at 105K+.
    It hasn't given me any serious issues since I installed the new hybrid & has been a loyal sweetheart to me for the most part.


    If or when I get rid of this car, I will really miss it but that won't be for a long while.
    In fact, I may never get rid of it & end up getting another GT (so I can retrofit it to look like a Limited) or I may get an Outback.
    Still gotta' modify it quite a bit before that point!
    Power comes on smoothly & the engine never feels overwhelmed or stressed out when accelerating or passing someone.


    The transmission shifts as smoothly as ever, even with the 1-2 kick, which only happens in the cold or when I first start driving.
    I think I'm really going to hold off on the turbo build & focus my efforts all around the car.
    I feel like this could be even more fun than my first BD was.
    The EJ22D still runs as smooth as ever & makes only the intake/exhaust sounds as expected of aftermarket parts.

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    Re: 1998 LGT Limited Equipped w/EJ22

    What an awesome start to a journal. Loved reading it. Thank you.
    Without you, we cease to exist. Without your support, we stop growing. Without your involvement, we remain at a standstill.
    Thank you for your faithfulness to our organization and your creative ideas and support.



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    More pics of the car:






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