Rebuild time!!!

[chook]

Consistent bubbles in my overflow tank and a couple of overheating moments leads me to believe I've done a head gasket. Time to pull the old girl off the road and do some surgery.
What would you guys recommend for a 2.5lt with 2.0 lt heads?

I was thinking head studs, cosworth head gasket, forged pistons, valve springs and retainers and toying with the idea of a set of cams.

Any suggestions on parts, distributers and brands would be great.
Cheers.
Chook.

[alexeiwoody]

Sure it's not a coolant leak?

Have you tried sticking your coolant overflow hose onto your windshield and seeing if it sprays on boost?

Otherwise sorry to hear man! E85 strikes again

Arp 625 ca, cosworth headgaskets, new engine gaskets where needed...That should help keep the ethanol under wraps. Everything else....sky is the limit

Highly recommend Cosworth pistons for a sexy quiet engine.

[Sean82]

Depending on power goals I'd do:

Cosworth pistons
OEM gasket (why pay more? They work fine)
Bearings
ARP-2000 series head studs.

If you're after crazy power, go for Cosworth/Tomei/ARP 625 studs instead.

[chook]

Sure it's not a coolant leak?

Have you tried sticking your coolant overflow hose onto your windshield and seeing if it sprays on boost?

Otherwise sorry to hear man! E85 strikes again

Arp 625 ca, cosworth headgaskets, new engine gaskets where needed...That should help keep the ethanol under wraps. Everything else....sky is the limit

Highly recommend Cosworth pistons for a sexy quiet engine.

I'm pretty sure it's not a coolant leak, the coolant level doesn't drop except of course when it overheated.
Will look into it though cheers.

Depending on power goals I'd do:

Cosworth pistons
OEM gasket (why pay more? They work fine)
Bearings
ARP-2000 series head studs.

If you're after crazy power, go for Cosworth/Tomei/ARP 625 studs instead.

I'd like an engine capable of 350awkw but I'd keep it tuned around 300, thank you for the suggestions.
Where is the best place to pick this stuff up?

[owen]

Where abouts are you located? Everybody is out of stock for Cosworth hg so I went with the Tomei 1mm, and ARP bolts. I can also get Permaseal MSL-R within a 1 day turnaround.

[chook]

Hey Owen, I'm in Canberra.
Cheers

[owen]

Hey Owen, I'm in Canberra.
Cheers

Ahh shit. Sorry mate you're on your own. If you really get stuck I can help you order the parts in and you can arrange shipping. Try places like G88 first.

[chook]

Ha no worries bud thanks anyways.

[dr20t]

Tomei = cosworth as far as my research shows

Chook just check it definitely is a blown hg before going to the expense dude

If you really want / have to rebuild:

Sleeve
Proper sized pistons forged with adequate wall clearance to suit (ie get the machinist to bore it to suit the new pistons with a minimum clearance of 5 thou - will be noisy on startup though)
Ej257 nitrided new black crank
King / acl bearings
Stock ej257 rods or if budget allows pauter rods
272 cams (get your head chambersredone to suit the larger bore this time)
Arp 625 studs
Arp 2000 rod bolts
New oem case bolts
Tomei 0.73mm headgaskets

Or any variation of the above depending on budget

Main points I would make though are:
1. Don't use drop in pistons
2. Pick a place that has done numerous big power EJ motors for your machining (I'd say only a handful i would trust who use a proper torque plate)
3. If you can stretch the budget get some custom forged pistons and rods not off the shelf to suit. If you do this just msg / call me for specs on the pistons to order
4. Clearance the bottom end - you will use a few sets of new oem Subaru bearings to do this properly before final fitting your aftermarket bearings
5. Cc your head and total combustion chamber volume for true static compression before you fit it up
6. Did I mention don't use drop in pistons and make sure the machinist knows the block will warp when any machining is done??

Good luck mate

Mick

[chook]

Awesome stuff Mick, thanks for that.
I've got my new work car now so the SUBY can spend some te at the mech's for a leak down test and other various witch like trickery tests to see what's up.
It only gets hot when really pushing it, but it's the bubbles in the overflow that really worry me. Oh and every now and again I can hear a noise when sitting inside the car like running water just on the other side if the firewall.

[SH30RB]

Oh and every now and again I can hear a noise when sitting inside the car like running water just on the other side if the firewall.

Sorry to hear Cam!

I think my HG has just packed it in too, although it's a bit harder for me to examine as I am in Perth for the next few months without my car

But I am in a similar basket to you, if it definitely is the HG, deciding whether to "build" the engine

[owen]

When was the last time you bled the system completely? Could it be an air lock? Callum's gen 3 would make that waterfall noise every time he started it. HG was fine, and it would stop doing it after he bled the cooling system for a few days. It was weird as...

[kiahatsiu]

Waterfall behind the dash is most likely an airlock. Bleed that cooling system!

[senator]

Chook

Chat to Serge from Flat four performance in the QLD….. you might need to PM coyote so he can let you know the secret to tracking Serge down (no website). But it will be worth it.

Serge builds and supplies, or can just supply the right parts for your build and of course you get great advice from the best boxer engine builder around.

Saved me a lot of pissing about when organising my build, he shipped a shorted block and all the required parts within 2 days to my engine builder in Sydney.

[chook]

When was the last time you bled the system completely? Could it be an air lock? Callum's gen 3 would make that waterfall noise every time he started it. HG was fine, and it would stop doing it after he bled the cooling system for a few days. It was weird as...

I did bleed it when it first showed signs of getting hot and it seemed to get better for a little while.
But didn't bleed it over a few days!

Chook

Chat to Serge from Flat four performance in the QLD….. you might need to PM coyote so he can let you know the secret to tracking Serge down (no website). But it will be worth it.

Serge builds and supplies, or can just supply the right parts for your build and of course you get great advice from the best boxer engine builder around.

Saved me a lot of pissing about when organising my build, he shipped a shorted block and all the required parts within 2 days to my engine builder in Sydney.

Fantastic thanks for the hot tip mate will get onto that!