[ScottyS]

It looks like I will be pulling the motor and possibly doing a rebuild. Sperry has the following comments in light of efforts of his own:

Well, the first thing I'll say is: if you end up needing a short block, just buy an STi one, sell the EJ22T to the highest bidder even if it's broken. Basically, the EJ22T block is the best block Subaru's ever made: closed deck, oil squirters, etc. Even if it needs to be sleeved, it will probably sell for $1000 as a starting point for someone building a monster motor.

Likely, the motor just needs to be honed for new rings (or perhaps bored, but that will mean new oversized pistons), and new bearings. That is assuming you've got bottom end noise. If the top end is the problem, it's probably just in need of a valve job.

Over at AIMS, the hone/rings will cost you probably $600 if you pull the motor yourself. A valve job on the heads is probably another $600. But I'm just guessing. You'll want to give them a call and talk to Robert if you're interested in having them do the work.

As far as labor... if you can pull the motor yourself, pull off all the accessories and wiring, and pull the heads off... then reverse the process once the shortblock and heads are spruced up at a machine shop, you've just saved yourself $2000 to $3000. And to do that, you really don't need much more than basic hand tools and a engine hoist, with the exception of dealing with the A/C lines (which if you carefully follow the FSM, you should be able to leave charged and work around, but on an old car, they'll likely leak during the process so you'll need to purge and charge them after the swap's done).