Knucklehead Saloon Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 I'm sick of fighting with the 20 legged ally and rubber octopus trying to get it to run right. After 26 years of duty its time to retire the old thing. Bolting up the 32/36 in 16 hrs from now on an ea81 brumby, any tips and advice from the brains trust here greatly appreciated. Cheers Richo. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lrgvanman Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 I have one on my ea81, there when I bought it. Best of luck and I think you'll love it when it's dialed in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knucklehead Saloon Posted October 30, 2017 Author Share Posted October 30, 2017 Thanks mate !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceageg Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 Read up on the conversion threads here and you should be set. The only real question mark is how much of the emissions crap you have to keep for your local laws. You may need to make a run or two to the parts house to get various hoses and fittings to patchwork it back together. The kit comes with (judging by the older pictures the kit may not have in the past) a couple of plastic fittings to attach your crank case vent tubes to the airbox housing. The only other thing I needed to modify from my kit was the cam/wheel that the throttle cable connects to. I had to take the old one off of the craptachi and put it on the weber or I couldn't get to wide open throttle. I also had to shim things around for alignment to keep the primary/secondary linkage from binding with the old wheel. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BratshitCrazy Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 I did this about two months ago. Best decision ever. Fortunately I don't have to deal with emissions where I live, so that was nice. I now have a huge collection of oddly shaped little vacuum hoses. The only tricky part was adapting the original air cleaner (optional, since you can use the chrome box thing that comes w/ the carb), but even that wasn't really that hard with a little cutting and welding. Also, as far as tuning goes, the car started up the first time I tried. All I had to do was fiddle with the idle speed a little. Oh, actually, there was one unexpected issue. My kit didn't come with a throttle cable bracket. I tried to re-bend mine stock bracket, which almost worked (and probably would have if I had fiddled with it some more), but in the end I just made one out of a piece of steel bar from the Home Depot. The original cable works just fine, but the OEM bracket leaves the end of the cable too far away from the throttle linkage on the carb to make the connection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BratshitCrazy Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 Also - there's another post on this board that reminded me of something. There was some kind of coolant passage in the manifold that allowed coolant to make contact with the underside of the stock carb. The weber adapter/gasket covers it up, so I just went with that rather than plugging the hole. So far so good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BratshitCrazy Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 BTW both my posts refer to an EA81. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knucklehead Saloon Posted October 30, 2017 Author Share Posted October 30, 2017 Thanks a ton iceageg and bratshitcrazy !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapper 157 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/161649-ea81-weber-conversion-writeup/?hl=%2Bweber+%2Bconversion Here is my write up on the EA81 conversion... for an even more in depth guide and directions on exhaust mods, see Jezeks thread here:http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/71510-ideas-on-swaping-a-weber-carb-on-ea82%C2%B4s/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceageg Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 (edited) . . .actually, there was one unexpected issue. My kit didn't come with a throttle cable bracket . . . I forgot about that point. I had the same issue and was able to bend the stock bracket with relative ease. That thread of Sapper 157's is the main one to read up on. There are a couple of others that have different solutions to various emissions requirements if you need ideas. Just a quick search away. Edited October 31, 2017 by iceageg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knucklehead Saloon Posted October 31, 2017 Author Share Posted October 31, 2017 Awesome info and thanks! I did the swap yesterday and my brumby is running soooo much better ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knucklehead Saloon Posted October 31, 2017 Author Share Posted October 31, 2017 I took a bunch of photos as I was going too. Do we need another ea81 weber conversion writeup ? I did do a couple of things differently with great results. I made a throttle cable bracket extender, was able to use the stock weber cable linkage and get full travel and also deleted the pcv completely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapper 157 Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 (edited) I took a bunch of photos as I was going too. Do we need another ea81 weber conversion writeup ? I did do a couple of things differently with great results. I made a throttle cable bracket extender, was able to use the stock weber cable linkage and get full travel and also deleted the pcv completely. You can just add on to this thread and I can pin it into mine if you’d like... the only thing I would be concerned about is why you deleted your PCV system... that is a system essential to proper engine operation, as it vents harmful fumes out if the crankcase. Jezek gives a better explanation in his thread: “The engine needs an air Flow in and out of the Crankcase, not only to facilitate the crank's spin movement and release the pressure of the internals, but the purpose of this system, is mainly to take the harmful acid vapors Outside from the engine's internals, by routing those harmful acid vapors thru the P.C.V. valve at the intake Manifold, making possible that said vapors could be sucked by vacuum and Burned along the Air / Fuel Mixture on the Cylinders during their normal cycles.” I would suggest routing your PCV system as both write ups suggest... otherwise prolonged operation without a PCV system could lead to decreased engine life Edited November 1, 2017 by Sapper 157 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knucklehead Saloon Posted November 1, 2017 Author Share Posted November 1, 2017 Its just vented atmosphere through mini air filters. Engines have been running that setup from the 1920s through to the 1970s. As long as displaced air from piston movement has some way to vent out it wont hurt the motor one bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagons Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 No offense but this isn't 1920 lol. Engineers did hours and years of r&d to improve engine efficiency. The pcv system is there for a reason. Breather filters do not do the same thing as a pcv system does. PCV systems are designed to create a vacuum and "pull" crankcase pressures and harmful vapors out and bring good clean air in. Only using breathers can actually damage the engine at a fast rate. Oil pumps can cause cavitation, as now gasses are mixing with oil and causing the oil to foam up and no oil to be pumped. The engine can run hotter than optimized for meaning less fuel economy, higher emissions and a crappy running car. Take all this with a grain of salt because right now I am only a keyboard warrior and not an engineer. Improving efficiency is what a Weber swap does. Why cheap out and make it worse? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charles_thomas Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 (edited) As much as I dislike the 'engineer's knew blah blah blah...' Speech, I am going to have to agree with Wagons point on the PCV valve. You are absolutely Correct that on most inline engines, and some V8/V6 engines it does not matter, BUT: On these H4s one side is intake, the other is exhaust. Your flow will stall if you dont vent it right, or recirculate if you connect them. There are several good write-ups on it, hidden under the search button. So, vent one side with a filter or what have you, and stick the other to vacuum. (I have forgotten which one is which.) Otherwise you will experience exactly what Wagons is saying Edited November 1, 2017 by charles_thomas 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knucklehead Saloon Posted November 2, 2017 Author Share Posted November 2, 2017 Ok cool, thanks for the info. I'll hook the right hand side up to vacuum. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knucklehead Saloon Posted November 2, 2017 Author Share Posted November 2, 2017 Some additional info for anyone wanting to do a weber swap on an ea81. Grab your new intake manifold adapter and locktite in the new studs Strip old carb off. You can see by the next pic that coolant was leaking past the old carb base plate gasket. Clean up the intake manifold mating surface with a razor blade first to remove any trace of the old gasket. Be sure to stuff a clean shop rag down the hole before you start. Next grab some scotchbrite (or in my case Wifey's dishwashing scourer), and polish the mating surface as best you can. Leave the studs in for now to get the new gasket exactly located. Smear a thin coat if automotive rtv sealant over one side of the gasket. Locate the gasket on the manifold rtv side down. Screw 2 of the original carb mounting nuts onto one of the studs. Lock the 2 nuts together and remove the stud using the lower nut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knucklehead Saloon Posted November 2, 2017 Author Share Posted November 2, 2017 Continue on and remove the other 3 studs the same way. In the redline kit I bought the intake manifold adapter was smaller on the secondry barrel side than the intake manifold hole. Not so good for top end power. Line it up on the manifold and mark it with a sharpie where you need to remove material to port match it. Crack out your pencil grinder with a high speed steel bit and start reshaping. Be careful not to remove too much material in one go. Grind some ally away, clean the adapter, line up on the manifold and re-mark with the sharpie. Continue this process until you have the adapter the same size as the hole its going to sit on. After its roughed out to the right size, finish with an 80 grit sandpaper roll, blending all the curves you cut together in the process. Make it nice and smooth inside. Do not polish finish or power loss will occur!! Polishing anything in the intake tract causes both reduced flow from thicker wall sheer lamination and also fuel suspension dropout. Next I bolted down the adapter to the manifold with the supplied bolts and locktite. Then I dropped on the base gasket and sat the carb on top without bolting it down (in case I had to remove it again) to see what I was going to do about the stock cable bracket which is now way too low. After having a good look at the weber throttle linkage and the stock cable mount, I came up with this cheap and easy solution to allow correct cable alignment and keep the weber linkage (and still get full throttle travel). I made a simple 80mm long cable bracket extension from ally angle iron with 2 strategically placed holes, one on each end. The lower hole allows the angle iron to bolt to the stock mounting point and the upper hole is used to bolt on the existing cable bracket. I flipped the stock cable bracket back to front to get it to lock into the angle iron extension and also give a better cable angle to the carb. After installation I tweaked the bracket top with a 12" shifting spanner to get the cable angle pretty well spot on. Next job was bolting down the carb, installing the supplied choke cable (I bought the manual choke version of the kit) and connecting up the throttle cable and fuel line. The car fired up straight away and once warmed up I set the idle mixture and idle speed following the instructions supplied with the kit. I really recommend this mod, the engine idles better, revs faster and has a noticeable power increase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapper 157 Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 (edited) Really good info and awesome mods to an already good conversion. I’ll pin this thread in my conversion thread. . Also, personally I put all my gaskets on dry, as I have had bad experiences with rtv and have found that it simply cannot hold up to constant exposure to gasoline. But that is more of a personal preference than a deal breaker though. Edited November 3, 2017 by Sapper 157 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knucklehead Saloon Posted November 3, 2017 Author Share Posted November 3, 2017 Thanks mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceageg Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 Really good info and awesome mods to an already good conversion. I’ll pin this thread in my conversion thread. . Also, personally I put all my gaskets on dry, as I have had bad experiences with rtv and have found that it simply cannot hold up to constant exposure to gasoline. But that is more of a personal preference than a deal breaker though. RTV is awesome stuff and I use it often, but gasoline melts RTV. Should probably avoid it on fuel system components. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knucklehead Saloon Posted November 4, 2017 Author Share Posted November 4, 2017 I used it primarily for blocking the coolant passage off, didn't want a repeat episode of what I discovered when I pulled the hitachi off the manifold. Do you think the gas will erode the rtv sandwiched between the gasket and manifold adapter ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapper 157 Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 I used it primarily for blocking the coolant passage off, didn't want a repeat episode of what I discovered when I pulled the hitachi off the manifold. Do you think the gas will erode the rtv sandwiched between the gasket and manifold adapter ? Yup. I can almost guarantee it will. That is exactly what happened to my adapter. I tried using RTV, and it would just melt it and cause a vac leak. my write up used to say to use RTV on that gasket a while back but when I kept having those issues with it I decided to switch to JB Weld, which has worked much better. It actually says on most newer RTV bottles something like “don’t use on carburetor, gas tank, or fuel pump gaskets.” Out if curiosity why didn’t you use JB weld? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knucklehead Saloon Posted November 4, 2017 Author Share Posted November 4, 2017 I already had the rtv gasket maker on hand. No big deal though. Its only 4 nuts and a new gasket (which I already have) to fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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