How to remove a WRX engine ... or maybe what not to do | Redline Updates - Hagerty Media

Is the hood on the WRX supposed to be quick release? No, but that doesn’t stop it from flying off as Davin hucks around the blue Subie. By the end of the day, of course, the engine will be separated from the car, since the boxer four is due for the full Redline Rebuild treatment. Will it come out easily or prove itself a real pain?

This WRX wagon must have lived a storied life before Davin plucked it out of the CoPart salvage yard last week. With some luck and brute force, he is able to get the car running and driving, which tells him that, though the engine doesn’t need life support, it is hardly the picture of mechanical health. Once the car is up on the lift, however, the engine becomes the least of his worries: Entire sections of the subframe are completely rotted away.

On a WRX, the engine must be extracted from the bottom, which means Davin makes liberal use of the lift before setting the whole front end of the car on one of his worktables and unbolting the final fasteners. The body lifts right off the engine and transmission before those two are divorced and the engine finally reaches an engine stand. Now the real disassembly of the grimy engine can begin. Davin manages to keep all his knuckles unscathed getting the engine out, but will he get it all the way apart without some minor injuries? Maybe, but you’ll have to watch next week’s Redline update to find out. Be sure to subscribe to the Hagerty YouTube channel to never miss an update or time lapse.

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