Subaru nerds, assemble! EJ22 question.

Warning: this is not about 600 hp turbo charged engines. Subaru engine conversations always seem to end up at 600 hp turbos, but that's not what's going on here.

I'm building a "frankenmotor", an EJ25 block with EJ22 heads*. Specifically, heads from a 1996 Legacy (I think). They came out of my Vanagon and I sent them off to get checked and cleaned. Due to a move and an incredible lack of urgency on the part of the machine shop, they sat down there for a year. And now I'm thinking that at least one of my heads got switched. Neither of them appear to have casting numbers, but one has a light "webbing" on it while the other does not.

The right hand head in particular. I have a "crankshaft support" that I took off before I shipped off the heads, but it won't fit the one I have. There's some sort of fitting on the back of the cam that looks like it's meant to drive something. I can probably machine off part of that support, but now I'm worried I've got some completely unrelated head from a 2.5 or something random. Ports look to be the same at least.

So, Subaru nerds. Should I be concerned?

The back of the cam.

My cam support plate thingy. Too deep to be installed in the head.

* the idea is that you get a very high torque motor out of this, suitable for a motorhome like a Westfalia

Looks like the correct cam blocking plate to me. You'll need an o-ring on it. It does appear that the cam is not sitting deep enough for the cover to be installed though.  Can you get the cam gear on? See step 6 for a depth pict: https://www.busaru.com/aircooledvanagon/128-engineprep

EJ25s are all DOHC, as far as I'm aware. The other common configuration was the 22 SOHC, then the much less common 20 SOHC (JDM turbo application, I think?). 

I'm betting that if your heads were switched, it was for "like items", kind of like a core exchange. I'm with HFmaxi on the cam depth analysis, but I'm less confident about the consistency of EJ22 castings through the years of production.

If you need parts, let me know, I have an EJ22 stash bin.

In reply to JohnInKansas :

Most EJ25s in the wild are SOHC.  Only pre-1999 and turbos are DOHC.  (I think the Legacy carried DOHC a year after the 2.5RS went SOHC)

Thanks guys. The machine shop is heavily - HEAVILY - into Subarus, so a like for like swap is quite possible.  Still, all I wanted was my own heads checked and cleaned.

I thought the "Phase 2" EJ25 was SOHC. Late 90's to mid 00's. But if nobody else is concerned about that or if they look different, I'm cool with that. 

The cam gear is very closer to the head, that was another concern. So it sounds like I need to move that cam forward in the head somehow. I'll take a look at that. I'm picking up the o-rings tomorrow.

That VW install guide may come in handy as I transfer parts over to the new engine, thanks.

Thanks for the offer of parts, but I have a full EJ22 and a full EJ25 to use for parts so I should be good. If not, I shall return!

In reply to Knurled. :

I stand corrected. All my experience is with 90's models.

There are SOHC 2.5 heads but they look like a phase 2 ej22 head which is different in the spark plug tube comes through the valve cover. The style here is either off an ej18 or ej22. You could easily pop the valve cover off and see i there is a difference in the cam followers side to side but that is as obvious as its going to get iirc.

That cam plate looks like it's controlling end thrust on the cam. Lightly smack the camshaft further to the front and if it moves at all there's a good chance it will move enough to then install the plate. If the valvetrain is already installed it'll have some resistance to sliding if one of the valvesprings is being compressed any, but i wouldn't worry about disassembling it just to slide the cam. I'd just smack it lightly and it'll probably slide forward. 

I like the fact that "hit it with a hammer" is a legit solution :)

The manual does say that if the end play in the cam is out of spec, change the cam support (the plate). So this is a good theory.

It could just be caught up on the cam seal or maybe a cam lobe caught a lifter (unlikely if they are into subies). Maybe try pushing vs hammering to reduce the risk of popping the seal out. It's really easy to take the lifter assembly off.

I put the seal in, so that's probably not it. I'll dig in tonight.

Hammer for the win! I gave it a light tap with the handle end of the little sledge (it’s wood and the right size) and the cam slid forward nicely. I’ll pick up the o rings tomorrow and we’ll be good. Thanks for the help and reassurance, folks!