Mr B

For initial break in you want use a mineral oil. Rings will not bed in on a full synthetic, Were bores cross hatch honed. Get 2 or 3 oil filters and dump oil after first 100 miles and check for unwanted debris, cut filter open too .

SFSM > http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/Impreza/ Make sure cleaned block proper & check the block restrictor gallery to head EXTRA carefully. Also check cams & caps on sourced heads plus all valve collets look seated correct & valve ports for cracks & seats for condition.

XV is a looker, well toyed out & practical, not overly spacious but better than a saloon. supercharge it and add some chassis bracing, brake upgrade & you have something interesting & different. Shame they didn't do a 2.2l (2.2 engine was great compared to 2.5 series) as the 2l is a bit weak for awd suv, 2.2 would of been nice blown either by tc or sc .

You can leave it as is You could pull plug from mainbrain just in case fault has any parasitic power drain . It no harder remove other wires really, just case of trace them through & rejoin originals when been a cut splice & disconnect & insulate ones that been standard splice . big chunk of wiring is what goes to siren, ultrasonics & keypad, pull all that out & not huge amount left - door switch feed, bonnet switch, central locking trigger, acc ignition trigger, indicator feed trigger left&right, power, earth . We don't remove many as can fix most issues quickly for £60 to £100 with spare used system parts or mainboard relay swap or siren battery refresh .

Won't do any harm if simply cut & isolate power to mainbrain but quite easy (little bit time consuming do neatly) follow wiring from main brain & disconnect everything, pulling wiring, sensors, siren, bonnet switch, keypad .

Good job ... That all you need do get it running & usable ... You either look at it further in terms of checking power to main alarm brain & board inside & either source another used alarm in uk (breakers sell them as set with a fob or pin code so can code your key fobs to it) or completely remove it & go without or install different make perhaps ! if you search on here for M30 alarm or alarm problems you should find a few posts I done on the M30 inc instructions on reprogramming keys & relay faults in main brain . least you got the rumble back :-)

If it the Subaru sigma system it very easy remove or bypass or repair using second hand alarm units plugged in and programmed to your fobs. Confirm alarm type. Pic of remote and sensors on car (you have keypad ?) Also supply fault details , do doors unlock/lock via fob , dash lights on when ignition on etc ....

Nokian WR A4 Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme S Michelin alpin A4 For performance car doing high miles in wet & cold climates more than ice/snow I would be Nokian wr a4 or michelin alpin a4 . you'll get your moneys worth & if store sensibly during summer will last few years. For lesser performance subarus some good options from hankook kumho & even star performer winter-suv are good (tested those on sf forester over winter) for low cost option .

One reason why I prefer standard bolts over standard size studs when not going silly on build, basically if keep standard rods we also build with standard bolts & good smooth finish on block & head faces you should be able rework to larger head fittings and hopefully not at your expense, would imagine if company in a transition during your build things might of been careless ! Is bad situation on a 6k rebuild especially close to standard tune one . fingers crossed you not out of pocket but I expect it won't be easy resolve with company as most these tuners sellout/setiup new due to debts & court cases under old business .

Yeh they are good but not really need if not funding a big hp build. cosworth are good and if could get a price same as savage would be worth it otherwise cometic would be fine, ICP do cometic individual or as part of complete head seal/gasket set (about £220 for set, £90 pair of head-gaskets) they good quality viton coated embossed mls gaskets. Standard head bolts are fine for standard & low tune and as they not excessive stretch torque to yeild can be reused if pass inspection. Lot of myths on fine thread no good but reason they use fine thread is it doesn't work loose easily, also fine thread creates more load for same torque over a coarse thread so something be aware of when choosing fastener spec & torque. Proper fitted oem bolts on quality smooth finished heads/block work well,arp stud set around £175 and does allow more clamping torque over standard but not a lot & stud length in block is not best . rcm do some good stud kits when going serious, if going do studs do 12mm - RCM 14/12mm studs get my vote, good design but not cheap and needs block machining. If you not aiming go full out don't waste money on expensive HG or head studs, use it towards good forge pistons & good machine work & quality gaskets. No point spending £160 on head gaskets good for 600hp but running standard rods. Balance all parts so budget evenly spread giving balanced quality/power handling & keeping you well within the budget .

As he only wants standard power or close to & budget tight I can't see him wanting go rods. Does make sense do it all in one hit when can & aiming well into 400s, ej25 rods & lower oiling are not the worst produced & with no max rpm increase they will handle 400+, biggest load on rod is not from combustion hp but from directional load at bottom of stroke, lighter pistons & sensible rpm keeps loads sensible . Pistons on other hand are real gamble even at light tuning .

Get your heads reviewed for line honing and surface refinishing . You going spend £100 on rings so it only £350 more for forge pistons complete with new rings & pins too. Rods fine if staying stock or close to . want be sure bores A1 or will need oversize anyway, standard cast crack easy even with minimal det so forged pistons is good investment at any build level.

most of those marks will be impact damage from debris as piston cycling, can ruin a good head too ... Set of forged good way go & not overly costly, standards if A1 & bore A1 can be fine for budget standard build (only saving potentially£350) but good RR check & breather improvement would be a must . Lean running heat & det soon kills 1st cast piston ringland .

cometic gaskets are also very good value for standard rebuild, rubber coated & better stopper design in recent years. most of your regular mentioned parts outlets deal/stock cometic head sets & block sets.. I also see new ej257 short blocks are available reduced at 1,750 ...

mix the sti intercooler with better thermal shield & controlled water injection & you have a very capable tmic . Controlled WI systems are superb bits of kit . Front mounts are indeed the common package but don't overlook all choices & balance parts to your builds requirement .

ej20 can be sleeved that size but it not common route due to cost & hassle over sourcing a ej257 short block . Would be concerned on what getting as don't seem know too much so how good are the pistons ! If stay cheap say £150 they might be worth a gamble, you got add new rings to cost, I would get some good images of skirts & crowns & image with measures too .If in doubt or bids go high go new as not worth messing about for couple hundred quid .

Injectors themselves not hard but whole system takes a little while as has water tank & pump plus controller, wiring & control switch/water level indicator.

400+ is the middle point between the 2, tmic solutions can handle it if that way you want go, Lot of sti's run around the 380 to 420 on standard tmic but I would use water injection and thermal barriers with it or upgrade tmic core to keep thermal stress minimal & safety & tuning potential good .

360 to 400max at close 400 they really can start struggle on hot day or heavily heat soaked car, bar & plate larger core solutions & ones with new scoop designs can handle closer to 500hp if have to but ideally want water injection to run with it so intake temps are kept very safe allowing push ignition mapping more . Modern controlled water injection uses very little water so you would only fill up when filling fuel for example. over 400hp then front mounts tend be best solution and cost to potential hp handling is way cheaper . What power do you require & what changes to the car do you want make !? It not just about cutting/trimming, some people don't like loosing the design feature & function of the top mount & scoop or like fact car can be returned totally stock with simple nut, bolt, screw removal . Horses for coarses and personal choice within reason .

360 to 400max at close 400 they really can start struggle on hot day or heavily heat soaked car, bar & plate larger core solutions & ones with new scoop designs can handle closer to 500hp but ideally want water injection to run with it so intake temps are kept very safe allowing push ignition mapping more . What power do you require & what changes to the car do you want make !?

A good bar & plate top mount can work well . splitter fins & aftermarket scoops can help airflow. Lag/throttle response is not a misconception, V design front mount concepts were products of massive R&D and designed to reduce pipe run lengths & amount of bends . Indeed you can have more safety scope with front & front can exceed capabilities of a tmic but tmic is still very capable .

It's best if it needed . If you can cool efficent enough for power with a top mount then they can be best performance solution . Some people fit them at power level that pointless . Also have a lot of owners who don't want trim anything for front mount & keep car as stock as possible . Both solutions are best when used in right scenario .

they should be ones . Want know what size they are, standard or oversize ?? would need work out compression too as don't build an engine without doing so to a specific comp ratio goal . Price in set of rings at say £120 .

Top mount has 2 benefits. more direct better flowing pipe route less chance of damage from stones or parking nudges or grounding issue. Water spray can be useful & if have aftermarket ecu it maybe controlled on throttle rpm etc. You can get stand alone controllers which help make most of water spray system . we see a road car at 460ish hp on recored top mount with water spray and water injection and intake temp drops are excellent and heat soak minimal due to thermal solutions under the hood . Newage STI tmic can handle mid 400hp easily & custom cores with water injection 500hp, classics benefit from fmic more as design limitations make it hard work improving the tmic without big changes & bigger money than decent fmic . Thermal control under hood is important too so adding thermal barriers & improving airflow will reduce heatsoak for top mounts . Ice in the water spray bottle does wonders too & great for drag runs when setup with controller . Top mounts on sti newage tend be well underrated . turbo sunny had same issue but modern bar & plate max sized recored unit on those with water injection can do serious decent power and airflow on sunny core is awful compared to the impreza .

Quality top mounts can work fine and good choice in lot of instances balanced on power & usage & maintain standard characteristic/functions, another top option is chargecooler . no point having front mount if power & usage will be cooled enough buy a top mount implementation, top mounts work better than given credit & more so for uk climate .