Well the dinosaur board with custom tiny LEDs got assembled then other things for in the way.   All parts arrived for another project after a typically painful aliexpress not accepting returns for mislabelled products. the first of a series of 10 moisture sensor on leads with a central temperature, pressure and humidity combo for plant monitoring. Which connects to apple HomeKit so can be used in automation and remote monitoring.   So far nothing seems to remove the glue for the metal blocks. Acetone, glue remover etc all do ore damage to the case than the glue. The plan is still to have the shift lights by the end of November along with another ECU canbus expansion. But that might not be on a custom pcb by then just early prototype multi board. But the main code will be done which will make it fully functional.

Changed the lug nuts to spiked ones, 2 mins later swapped them back 😂. Definitely doesn’t work on the newer models.

(In the weekend): ooh aah

What did you end up buying? That said, I think you'll be lucky to find a FWD 2.0 these days but the FWD 1.5 is still as common as a sparrow.   I am looking at getting a 2.0 after 2x 1.5 Gen 2 and Gen 3 impreza.   Has anyone has experience with the 2.0 SOHC FWD? Is it much more grungy than a 1.5? I have tried a 2.0SOHC AWD and didn't seem that much better?   Other option is a first generation Axela instead, but prefer the look of a the Impreza.

AVCS only moves the outer sprocket rotation slightly compared to the camshaft. Even if it’s dead the cam should still spin as freely as the others. And if turning using the cam removal tool or turning from the camshaft bolt the AVCS part is irrelevant.   The AVCS has a position sensor and solenoid so the ecu knows its position if it was lagging or failed. Even then I’m not sure it’d hit a valve if fully out, plus the ecu would have been in limp mode. Any resistance is bad bearings or bend valve etc.     The chance of belt snap for a hard to turn by hand cam seems low. it is possible but unlikely there was oiling issue. That could cause a belt to snap but then the cams are usually rock solid stuck and hand turning them you’d notice then crack like a stuck bolt before they turned more freely.   Much more likely it’s from post belt snap and valve to piston. As @boon said any valve contact should show on the piston. if there is any then no chance it was avcs. Don’t all Gates belts have their logo on them so if it didn’t then it’s was likely a cheap copy.