F-you credit card!
I just ordered a new STi shortblock from Subaru. Should be in on Thursday. Got it at the wholesale price which is still a bit more than the online price, but even with tax I'm still coming in reasonably when you consider shipping from elsewhere.
And the reason for this of course is that I got the news that my old block is not going to be salvageable. The crank has seen too much damage from the latest bearing failure, and the cylinders are too scored (from the previous wear on them that couldn't be totally honed out because it was already bored, plus what appears to be some wash-down wear from idling too rich in open loop early on).
As far as what caused the bearing failure, AIMS believes it was debris from the previous build still in the oil. Even though I clean the bejesus out of the oil/water heat exchanger, apparently that is *not* a part that can be reused on a block after a bearing lets go. Robert over at AIMS has seen it a bunch of times... reuse the heat exchanger or oil cooler, and you get about 500 to 1000 miles into the new motor and there it goes. He even warned me about not reusing the "oil cooler", which I took to heart and tossed out my old oil cooler while thinking nothing of the heat exchanger which is also sort of an "oil cooler" as well.
So, I'm gonna get this thing back together with a fresh OEM block, switch back to 91 octane, crank down the boost to 18psi, and target the retune for around 300-325awhp. Then I have to make the hard decision about whether or not to sell the damn thing.