Reviving the "rice burner"-Subie Engine install

Well this is the last section on the Paisley's Subaru.

As of last Sunday the engine was in and mounted up to the transmission, but that was about it.

Seems that crawling about on and under cars is not something that agrees with my back anymore.

Thank (insert favourite worship idol here) for Vodka and muscle relaxers.

Thankfully there was help. Marc "Big Red" was the muscle and Dan "The Coach" was the speed. Thanks to these two the work went pretty quick for all our chatter and obviously having the right tools at hand. You can see just two of Dan's tool carts behind them. There are two more just underneath me from where I'm taking this photo and more tools on the otherside of the car. Good thing Dan is a tool pack-rat.


Ah well back to the task at hand. So this is original engine just prior to the boys and I really starting to tear it apart.

In this shot the radiator and fans are already removed. The airbox and pipework is already out as well.








Draining the fluids from the block. This is funny to me since Big Red and I discovered later that we didn't get all the oil out of the block when we set it on it's back so I could get to some of the transmission cooler lines on the bottom of the block.

This is Dan's brand new garage and now my wife's car has christened his floor, which hasn't been sealed yet.

Sorry Dan, when I have my own garage one day you can let your car pee on the floor in return.


Ah!! The hoist is in place and we are ready to pull the engine out!

Fortunately we were able to just unbolt and move the A/C compressor to one side instead of having to let the nasty R-12 refrigerant loose into the ozone. We might not be professionals, but were environment friendly.






That's what is looks like in there!!! It wasn't too bad in there. You can see the oil build up on the bottom of the crossmember there.

It didn't take too long to get crossmember cleaned up and the surrounding areas.

No sense in putting a new (to me) engine into a dirty engine bay.





And here's the new (and gently used) engine up on the chains and getting prepped to get dropped into the engine bay and bolted up.

First order is to get that nasty looking old clutch pressure plate off the block. This one will be going into an automatic tranny model.

Funny thing is we looked for one in a five-speed and just couldn't find one. Now 2 years later there are manual tranny Forester's popping up faster than Wal-Mart can build a new store.


After all was said and done, it came down to one transmission cooler line holding things up. Seems the bloody little hose stressed after being taken off and wouldn't hold a seal when it was put back on.

Sorry to report that once again the Subie pee'd on Coach Dan's new garage floor. I'm just glad that it was small drops and not half the transmission.

It was so good to be able to take the Paisley up to Coach Dan's to pick up her car. It's not totally finished.............we are currently waiting for the money sucking dealership to get in a part that I need to put on the car. We only have three of the four mounting bolts for the A/C compressor on the car. Not a big deal.

We happily drove it to work today. I've missed the heated seated seat and the quiet exhaust. Don't get me wrong, I still love the Bronze Bitch, but there is something to driving that car occasionally instead of daily like we have for the past two months.

BMWCCA Outing-Group 2 Motoursports,Gerber Racing and Goodman Racing

So if you're not new to this blog you know that I'm a BMWCCA member. If you are new, now you know.

I own a 1987 E30- 325is model.

Please note that I didn't state I was a proud owner. Sometimes I'm proud. Like when my 22 year old car can still take down a newer car with presumably more horsepower and better reflexes in an all street smack down. Oh I think I'm drooling.

Sometimes I'm disgusted. Like recently. My auxiliary cooling fan is not coming on. I haven't totally tracked it down yet. At least the main fan is going strong since I had a new fan clutch installed last year.

Ah, rambling again.

So last month my local chapter set out one Saturday to tour two of Seattle's most known and respected shops: Goodman Racing and Group 2 Motoursports and Gerber Motoursport.

These places are absolutely hands down the best shops I've toured in years. Group 2 is a performance and maintenance shop that also does racing set ups and track build cars. Here are a few examples of the kind of stuff they have in their bays:

This is hands down the cleanest 5 series BMW I have ever seen.













This is the powerplant of the aforementioned 535.
Oh look in the back.......that looks like pipework for an aftermarket turbo kit.












This little red one is near and dear to me. This is a 1972 2002 tii.

Well mine was a 1976 and it wasn't a tii model, but the body didn't change much.

This is an uber light car that comes from the factory with a 2.0 litre turbo four cylinder.

Mine being a non turbo could break the tires loose through all four forward gears on a dry day. I'd hate to imagine the ride this one provides it's owners. Then again.................I grin from ear to ear dreaming of it.


OH!!! Wait a minute!! What's this!?

That's an M3 engine that's been transplanted into that hot looking little 2002 tii.

In layman's terms: this really light weight car now has enough power under the hood that one should really have an SCCA race license to drive this thing.

*wiping drool*



One of the poor long shots of the main shop area. The little white 2002 in the back on the left........yeah that one is also sporting one of those M3 engines as well. It's really a popular transplant and it works so well in those cars.

Well after we left the main shop it was next door to the warehouse and employee break room. It was nothing like I ever imagined it would be..........




These next three shots are the upper warehouse and the employee breakroom.


Quite the collection going on in the upper warehouse. Now for the employee breakroom.
This is the far end with widescreen tv,pellet stove a leather lounge sofa and chairs. The custom pool table is right in front of me as I took the photo.
There's plenty of reading material here. There's also a magazine rack (not shown) that has car magazines dating back to the mid 1940's. My father in law would drool at this too!!! Excuse me, I need to wipe my mouth again.
This is the toy display case I suppose. Mostly models and little die casts of Mercedes.
This was super cool!!! An actual Pebble Beach Concours D'Elagance trophy!!
Ah the dining facility! Nothing says cars like a 50's style diner with modern touches. On the right in this shot..............yep you guessed. That's a giant slot car track!! Me and my mates had a lot of fun racing on this. We did share with the other enthusiasts.
And finally, what employee room wouldn't be complete without it's very own Spy Hunter Video game and Spy Hunter Pinball machine?

I think I'm ready to get back into the automotive industry and leave the travel buisiness behind.

Well this one turned out a little longer than I planed. So with that in mind, we'll call this post part 1 of a series. Tomorrow............the lower warehouse of Group 2 Motoursports.

The Dropkick Murphys-All Roads Lead to Boston

So in February the Paisley and I took a day off to go and see one of my favourite bands, The Dropkick Murphy's.

If you've never heard of them, shame on you and visit their website.

What can I say. As a child of the 1970's when music was mostly horrible (granola eaters making hippie music or disco, you're choice) and a child of the 1980's (thank you glam rock and alt-punk wave) the music choices were pretty grim at times. Thankfully there was punk.

The Murphy's fit this definition, but they also fall into many other categories. Irish/Celtic-Punk. No matter how you slice it, there is something in their music for everyone.

We caught them that the Showbox SoDo location. Not a bad venue for a show. You can get there early and sit in the restaurant area and have a full meal before hand. Plenty of beer on hand. Guinness my fav is on tap. Saw plenty of the younger crew getting it on with the PBR bomber cans. Ick. In my opinion, PBR is the new Milwaukees Best. I have always been a beer snob. Beer should not be transparent and should have a distinctive flavour. It should also have an alcohol content higher than 3% percent like the yank brewers here in the States like to make.

I've rambled. It happens. Bear with me. The Showbox SoDo. Great place for a venue. They have these garage doors that they open up between the restaurant and the concert floor when the show starts. Awesome. Reasonably priced food and beverages too. We paid (with tip) about $65 for dinner and 6 Guinness. Maybe a bit more. Not too bad though. I wish I'd had room for some of the Deep Fried Twinkies. Totally will have to get back there for some of those.

Here are some photos from the show. Enjoy.

This is Scruffy Wallace, the bagpiper for the DKM's. He's probably my favourite since I was a piper myself.

This was the only glimpse I got of him that nite from where we were.













This is Al Barr, the lead vocalist. He's got a really loud harsh voice. He reminds me of Henry Rollins of Black Flag.











During their song, Kiss Me I'm Shitfaced, the band has as many of the ladies as they can get on the stage.

If you don't know the song then you will have to get a copy and listen to it to understand.

I think damn near every lady on this stage was shitfaced or beyond.





This shot is Tim, Al and Ken. Ken is another lead vocalist and bass player. Tim is multi-functional as he plays guitar and banjo and citar and I think I even saw him playing the accordian. Well someone in the band play accordian and he was closest to us, but I could be wrong on which member it was.







Finally we have a very blurred shot of the crowd that nite. Everyone had a great time. There were no arrests that I saw and no one was hurt and hauled away. After all we were there to see one of the best punk bands in recent history.









Now for those Deep Fried Twinkies........................another one of my fav bands will be here in April as part of the Jagermeister Tour: Pennywise!!! Hmm.........I wonder if I'll be able to make that one?

The Power Source is Here!!!

So I must start by apologising for not posting anything for almost 3 weeks now. Been a little tied up with work and loads of activities on the weekends. Of course as someone who works on a computer all day the last thing I want to do is get on one when I get home.

I can promise that I have several things to post. Thought I would start with this one.

I have finally gotten a motour for the Paisley's Subie.

I used to think that I had been spending a lot of money on my BMW. After all the true meaning of those 3 lettres is actually Bring Money Willingly. Now after further thought, I'm into that little Kraut Kruiser for far less than the Subaru.

Right away there the purchase: $2k
Then upon getting it home, a wheelbearing: $95 and my own labour
Then there was the oil change: $19- first time shop customer coupon.
Brake pads and sensors for all 4 corners done at a shop: $400
Fan Clutch done at a shop: $180
Mass Flow Sensor done at a shop: $300 - it was a remanufactured unit. New would have been $500 before the labour was added in.
Head Gasket, VCG,Timing Belt,Valve Grind,Several cooling hoses,O2 Sensor,Oil Change, tune up and other miscellaneous work: $1753.
Two new tyres: $201

Not too shaby for a 22 year old car especially since I could have gotten a nicer looking E30 in a lesser model such as the 318 or the 325 e or 325 i. I chose the one I have since it's the 325 is. This was the model that BMW manufactured for country markets that did not receive the M3 model. This car has the high output 6 cylinder and tighter suspension and other sport goodies without going into much further detail. Essentially: this car is the shit.

Now onto said Subaru.

Purchase: $10,200 (or somewhere around there anyway)
For the first year there was the routing oil changes of course: $65 per change.
Air filtre: $10
PCV Valve: $20
Brakes on all 4 corners: $700
Head Gasket Service (including rebuild of oil pump, oil change, coolant change, new transaxle on one corner, woodruff key on the main crankshaft) $2700
Knocksensor: $110
5 new tyres: $465

So far not too bad. Lets consider that this car is now 10 years old. The cost of owning this car has far exceeded the cost of the other. What happened to quality? The Paisley really likes the all wheel drive feature and sitting a little higher up. I can go for that. I like those things as well.

What I can't stomach is the fact that the dealership wanted $7k to do a new engine!!! No way was I going to let them rape me for that kind of cash when they are the reason we're in the engine buying market to begin with. That and I don't even get a kiss from anyone there after I've bent over and grabbed my ankles.

So the tech who services my car actually diagnosed the Subie this time. As good as he is, the best deal he could find was a low mileage engine for $2700 and another $2500 to install it. Better than the dealer, but still out of our budget at this moment. His opinion: park the little bugger in a bad neighbourhood and leave the key in the ignition. Not bad, but we still owe on our little Subie. We must fix it.

We my tech says that if I can find a better deal on an engine he will install it. That's one hell of a tech. Most shops won't do that for you. I let him know I'll keep him posted.

So for the last 3 weeks I've been engine hunting. Not much out there on Craigslist for what I was looking for. It seems that the 1998 model year and the 2000 and up model year of the Forester has a DOHC (dual over head cam) engine. For the model year 1999 (our model) it was a SOHC (single over head cam). Apparently the SOHC is pretty hard to find. There were plenty of the DOHC engines out there and most places wanted pretty hefty price for them. Most wrecking/recycling yards wanted $2500 and up for them. Most of the rebuilder shops that had them totally rebuilt were starting at $3800.

Why is the Subaru flat four waterboxer so expensive?! This just puzzles me. Volkswagen has been making a flat four engine for years. Ferdinand Porsche first put it in the Beetle prototype for Hitler in 1932. It's basic design hasn't changed much since then and it's evolution into a water cooled engine hasn't changed much either. Why can the Germans do it for so much less than the Japanese?

I joined an online forum for Forester owners to get some tips and pointers. They've been pretty helpful. I can say that I will be keeping the old engine. Apparently the SOHC engine is the best one to stick a turbo on. That will be fun.

NOTE TO SELF: do suspension mods to Forester before installing turbo engine.

So then I started thinking about one of my former employers of my youth. They may have what I'm looking for.

I haven't always been a travel agent. I worked for 9 years for two area dealerships in VW and SAAB parts and even a stint at the Subaru dealership in parts that I detest so much.

The VW dealer has a recycling yard and they have been handling Japanese parts as part of their line up for about 10 years now. So after a little search of their system on line, they have an EJ25 SOHC. No price and no mileage listed though. Email to follow my search. Waiting for an answer.

After about 2 days I get the reply. $1700 and it has 160k on it. Youch!! That's a lot of money for an engine with that many miles. Well at least it has been tested. They just pulled it out of the car. The compression in all four cylinders is at the high end of good. I call the boneyard and tell them to wrap it up and ship it to me. DOH!!! They can't ship it since I'm not sending it to a shop. Damn. I have to pick it up. It's 25 miles north of where I live. No worries. I have that avenue covered. For my troubles of having to pick it up, the yard has taken $100 off the price. That will be pretty helpful since it will cover most of the core charge. The core is $125. I'm keeping the old engine and rebuilding it for the trouble it's been to find one of these buggers.

Well here it is. Sitting in my friends garage on a cart waiting to be installed. Three weeks of headache:
It sure doesn't look like much right now. Hell it hardly weighs anything. I've got a friend that can pick this thing up like it was a cottonball. Of course when you're 6'7" and 290, you can pick up a lot of things without effort. I've witnessed him lifting the back end of cars for fun.

Well I'll have to make sure that I document the removal of the old engine and the installation of the new one. A blog for a later time.