Dirk Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Hey Caboobaroo! This is great stuff! Just one question. You say I need a dizzy from an EA81. Is this correct or is it a type error? Thanks man. http://offroadingsubarus.com/distributor_conversion.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Beast I Drive Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 You need a disty from an ea81 and also the steel plate that bolts to the block under the disty, I've converted a couple ea71s this way. -Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Yup. I used a 2wd EA81 disty since the vacuum advance curve is a little better then the 4wd curve. Disty and plate like Bill said. And its been a "couple" years since I did this conversion so I don't remember too much about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi subbie Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 (edited) I ran into a problem with my old 1988 Subaru 1600DL a year or so ago. It had ellectronic ignition. The distribrator cap was buggered. I searched every where for a cap and No one could find one. Even tryed Subaru with no luck. In fact I had to convert to points ignition :-\ The cap was like a Ea82T cap but it was sat on the distributer about a 1/4 of a turn out.. ( Its a little hard to explain ) I tryed caps out of every subaru I had wrecked and nothing was the same. It used screws to hold the cap on. I was thinking of replacing the disty on my GSR with ellectronic but wouldnt want to end up with not able to pic up replacement cap etc Edited March 5, 2010 by kiwi subbie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted March 6, 2010 Author Share Posted March 6, 2010 Yup. I used a 2wd EA81 disty since the vacuum advance curve is a little better then the 4wd curve. Disty and plate like Bill said. And its been a "couple" years since I did this conversion so I don't remember too much about it. Sweet. Thanks Man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted March 6, 2010 Author Share Posted March 6, 2010 I was thinking of replacing the disty on my GSR with ellectronic but wouldnt want to end up with not able to pic up replacement cap etc Check this out as an alternative http://www.freewebs.com/pertronix/ I would buy one myself but last I spoke to him the unit cost $300 odd dollars. The conversion explained above seems pretty straight forward and there are enough scrap EA81s to get the parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted October 20, 2010 Author Share Posted October 20, 2010 Yippee! Finally I have tracked down an EA81 electronic dizzy! However it is in need of a re-build. The bushings were so worn that the paddle wheel was touching its corresponding parts. So I hope it isn't toasted. Can anyone tell me what the gap is supposed to be between the paddle wheel and its 'connectors' Also clearance between the shaft and its magnet. Cheers. Dirk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keltik Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Sorry i cant help you with the clearances dirk, but im interested in which coil your going to use. Im going from points ignition on my EA71 to optical/electronic on my EJ22 and im guessing im going to need to change the coil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted October 23, 2010 Author Share Posted October 23, 2010 Yup! You need an un-resisted coil. The are about $40 od bucks or just grab one from a wrekers. I'm told high performance coils are not worth the extra cash for this type of application. Cheers. Dirk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted October 24, 2010 Author Share Posted October 24, 2010 Air gap should be about .014 inchs. Info courtesy of Larry Owens! Should have looked there first! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted November 16, 2010 Author Share Posted November 16, 2010 Sweet! Conversion was uneventful and successful! New cap and rotor from auto-electricians no problems. Engine runs sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 Glad it worked out for you. It had been so long since I had done this conversion, I was kind of rusty on what all I did but glad it helped you out a little! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kostamojen Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Is this the wrong one? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Distributor-Subaru-1981-81-1-6L-2WD-Electronic-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem2c3e45b8bcQQitemZ190023317692QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories I'm looking to buy a distributor now for my car, but the 83+ FWD electronic ones are rather expensive... I did pull one off a car awhile ago, but I'm really not sure if its any good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted May 18, 2011 Author Share Posted May 18, 2011 Yeah mate, that looks like the fella. Awsome find. I would say deffinately worth it for the peace of mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kostamojen Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Alright, I inspected the one I pulled out of an '83 FWD awhile ago. Everything seems to be in-spec in terms of the bearing, gear and such, and it cleaned up pretty good so I think I'm going to try it out. However, I need a new Cap, Rotor, Seal for the cap, and O-ring for the distributor... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 UPDATE I have collected almost a dozen of these distributors over the last year and a bit. It may interest you to know that no two are exactly the same although most parts are interchangable. This means that you can have heaps of fun rebuilding and tuning! I still don't have a reliable tach or dialback timing light so all my tuning is subject to test driving, listening and feeling. Its a long process but quite enjoyable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coxy Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 I ran into a problem with my old 1988 Subaru 1600DL a year or so ago. It had ellectronic ignition. The distribrator cap was buggered. I searched every where for a cap and No one could find one. Even tryed Subaru with no luck. In fact I had to convert to points ignition :-\ The cap was like a Ea82T cap but it was sat on the distributer about a 1/4 of a turn out.. ( Its a little hard to explain ) I tryed caps out of every subaru I had wrecked and nothing was the same. It used screws to hold the cap on. I was thinking of replacing the disty on my GSR with ellectronic but wouldnt want to end up with not able to pic up replacement cap etc Try Nissan-Datsun and Mazda for alternate rotor buttons and caps as well as some honda's they all use either mitsubishi or Hitachi distributors on different models,My EA81 Wagon had electronics and used Datto 1600 or 1200 caps and rotor buttons. My current brat runs a custom Nissan factory Mitsubishi CDI ignition because I had a couple of Spares left over from My Stanza Rally car(Violet HA10) that had all the Group 2 factory Gear,Simple mod to fit a subaru. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlindSight Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Anyone have a picture of what they did with the extra wires after the conversion? I am using a 78 harness that had a points system in my 79 brat that came with an electronic system and the guy who sold me the harness had cut all of these wires so can't figure out where they all should go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disom93 Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 I have a 80 brat electronic ignition ea71 what all eould i need to put a ea81 dissty on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 This may help. Sorry I was in a bit of a rush. http://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=hTkkLg_EM1Q Cheers. Dirk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 Ooops. Lets try that agin shall we? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disom93 Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Did the link ever work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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