yeah engine should be the same, you'll need to swap the flywheels and maybe some sensors but other than that it should work. car-part.com is also a good place to look for used parts

 

As headgaskets are a very common problem, unless you severely overheated it you're better off replacing your headgaskets and doing a minor overhaul (timing belt, idlers, water pump, etc.) then replacing the engine with a used one. . . as the used one will most likely need all that stuff anyway.

As far as interchange goes, any 1999-2003 Forester 2.5 or 2000-2004 Legacy or Outback 2.5 long block will work fine. You will need to change cam and crank sprockets if you run a 2002-2004 engine, and the later ones (2003-2004) are EGR so you'll either need to block off the port in the head and run your intake or swap the computer as well. Car-part.com will tell you some foolishness like it's 2001 only but that's not really the case (keeping in mind the notes at the beginning of this paragraph). As far as bolting up goes, any EJ series engine will bolt to any EJ series trans. . . so that's not really a concern.

 

Alrighty, thanks for the info. But since its going to be a '00 engine going into an '01, what exactly would I also need to swap over if anything?

 

Nice Legacy GT wagons, (blue might be an OBXT) in the background. Too bad, no coin for those? They look nice.

 

I pulled the pic off the internet but that would be quite a swell replacement

 

Not much, really. Just what Dodik mentioned. . . swap flexplate for flywheel. Intake is probably the same. . . just eyeball it.

Timing belt on the 5 speed motor will have an extra little guide strap over the crank pulley. . swap that too. It's not normally seen on the automatic motors, but it's a little extra insurance against the timing belt skipping on the crank gear. An almost unheard of problem, but hey, it's there, it's an improvement, might as well use it.