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1980 Subaru automatic tranny, only 26,000 miles


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Hey everyone, first post to the board, though I've read quite a bit. I just bought a 1980 EA-81 and transmission from a junk yard with only 26,000 miles. They didn't know what they had! I'm going to be using this motor for a hovercraft, so all I need off the transmission is the flywheel and bell housing (to mount starter, which I still need if anyone has one for sale). Since the milage is SO low and I know it would be about impossible to find an AT with that low of miles, I hate to tear it up just for those parts, especially since I could get the same stuff off a junk tranny.

 

The part number on the housing is T81MA-M1. I'm asking $200, but I'll let it go for less if you can get me a replacement bell housing and flywheel (or your old tranny). I'm in the St. Louis area and make frequent trips to Indiana as well. I could ship it if you want, but it will probably be somewhat expensive due to the weight. Let me know if you're interested!

 

Thanks,

Jason Kuehn

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Shadow:

Believe it or not, soobs are probably the single most popular engine used for automotive powered hovercraft. We use them all the time. This is my personal first time with one, but I have lots of friends that have used them. I'm just getting sick of two cycles so I'm converting my race craft over. It will be the first soob powered racer as far as I know.

 

No, the prop is not direct drive, and from what I'm told the MT parts are a better choice for this app, but the AT will work. Since you pointed it out, I'll do some more asking around to seee if I'd be better off finding a manual trans to work with. I know for sure people have used the AT's I just don't know if they've they've been more prone to problems than the MT people.

 

If you're curious, an everflex coupling goes between the flywheel and the bottom pulley of a 3V belt drive system, so that absorbs the vibration. Here is a set of pictures from a soob craft. There aren't any good close-ups of the back of the engine, but you'll get the idea.

http://www.hoverclub.net/2003/2003-05-24-hovering-at-bobs/index.html

 

SUBARU3:

I don't know if this will fit on a 71, but I'm sure there are people on this board that can probably tell you serial numbers for EA-71 trannys off the top of their head, so hopefully one of them will read this post and tell you if it will fit!

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SUBARU3:

Found this by accident while browsing another board just now.

 

Actualy there is atleast 3 distinct 4/6cyl bellhousing patterns that subaru has used. The old EA-71 uses one pattern, the EA-81/82 uses a different one, and the EJ the 3rd. I haven't checked to see if the early 1.1L and 1.3L are the same as the 1.6L but they apear to be.

 

Note that there IS an engine side belhousing so that you can mate a EA-71 to a EA-82 tranny. EA-71/81/82 ER-27 all use a belhousing 1/2 that bolts onto the back of the motor before the flywheel/flexplate is installed.

 

The EJ/EG motors use a integrated engine side belhousing 1/2 and It is NOT compatible with the older trannies. And the older motors are not compatible with the new trannies.

 

This was at http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread/t-230538.html

 

Looks like you could use it if you swapped engine bell housings.

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Yeah that 18SPW is alot of fun to fly. In fact, I hold the 'unofficial altitude record' in that craft. I was flying it once on a day that was WAY too gusty to be flying in. Right at about 45mph, which was just under liftoff speed on that particular craft, right as I started to pull back on the stick I got a huge gust of headwind. The thing went straight up and leveled off at about 30 feet! I about wet myself (10 feet is pretty much the absolute max your supposed to be able to go) but luckily I was able to get it down safely. Needless to say, that was the end of flying for that day!

 

Braking isn't nearly as big a deal as it seems like it would be. 95% of the time you're going to be over water anyway, so if you did have to stop suddenly for some reason, you could just cut the lift and turn it into a boat, which will stop you really fast and won't hurt a thing. You can do the same thing on land, but it will sometimes tear your skirt. It's never really a problem though. Just plan ahead a little bit and you won't need to stop so quickly! :)

 

As for speed, hovercraft are extremely efficient. The most popular UH craft next to the 18sp is the 14 and 13p. They use only a single 25 horse motor and can easily do 50mph.

 

If you ever think you might be interested in building something, let me know. I race for Universal Hovercraft and I'm a chairman with the Hoverclub of America, so I can hook you up with information.

 

The website I was going to give you yesterday, but was down, is now back up. This guy has LOTS of pictures of his 18SP, with lots of the soob setup. Check if out if you're interested.

 

http://www.zbcreations.com/our18sp.htm

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