Dante

I'm sure the first part of your post is right, but I don't know about the second. The guy's statement was in the context of a bunch of performance mods (see my ea81 "bang for the buck" thread). Remember, the 1.5" ID is for the primaries. The 2" from there back was my idea based on other stuff I had read. I am way out of my depth here, but a lot of the stuff I have read says not to go too big too soon or you hurt scavenging. those sources say to run 1 7/8" or 2" to the muffler (a better one) and 2" or larger from there back. OTOH, I've read the stock exhaust is so poor it really doesn't scavenge very well at all anyway, so maybe better designed larger primaries would work better on a built car. I'm looking for answers, not answering them... :cornfuzz:

Here's what one ea81 builder I spoke with said: "Header primary length is critical to this engine, you need 1.625 od tubing (1.5 id) off the head 28" long into a collector from there on your 2" will work."

Good question. I also forgot about their lift kits. I bet there's a market for some of those, too. They also sell a nice airbag compatible brush guard and sump guard for Foresters...

I wasn't really questioning your knowledge, eyesore. I just wanted everyone to know I had not confirmed it. It makes sense. I'm kind of intrigued with the US distributor idea. If there isn't one, I wonder if I could get a decent wholesale price and distribute them to US Subie owners out of my garage... OTOH, the market for $120 wheels for cars that cost less than three grand would be a small niche at best. Still, If I could sell 50 or 100 wheels and make enough to cover my set and my time and trouble.... Hmm....

I'm not holding my breath, but I thought it would be worth asking.

Here are those e-mails from Ron: Dante Please let me address some of your questions; 1) The use of this [Weber] carb is a good idea but the short comming is the intake. The cross sectional area of this intake is very high inertia and will restrict hp. 2) This is a falsafication! The ea71 piston has the same compression height as the ea81 but the block is 1" shorter. The ea82 piston is the same as used in the ea81 but has 2 large eyebrows in it. I make the forged hp pistons , which is 88 grams lighter, but have retained the compression height and deck the block for higher compressions. Note; this engine will require 100 octane at 9.5:1 compression. 3)can do. This [port/head work] is where the hp is made. 4) can do [cam] to match the heads 5) Header primary length is critical to this engine, you need 1.625 od tubing (1.5 id) off the head 28" long into a collector from there on your 2" will work. 6) This [lower temp. thermostat] is a good idea but the engine makes best power at 170. 7) Recurve the distributor and you will pick up 13 ft. lbs. torque. Please don't bore and hone the engine block without a deck plate, this is absolutely a must!!!! Ron RAM Performance Your Welcome! 1) I build and intake system which comes with the weber, water system, intake. This bolt-on system is $1059.If you would like to build your own water system and supply your weber, just the intake will cost $350. 2) your welcome. The highest comp. ratio on pumped gas is 8.89:1 and still build 115 hp. 130 ft.lbs. 3) I recommend for your application the stage 1 port. I also recommend guides and stainless valves (1.660\1.400). 4) Yes, this is the price for a new RAM cam. You will need to send your lifters for refacing this cost is 67.00 5) I can build it [header] for you but this will require some photos and specs. If you have a mig welder I can send a pipe kit with collector and flanges.This tubing is stainless and will require finish tig welding. 6)your welcome 8) that is correct, [new recurve distributor is $360] if you buy a car and it has a nippondenso distributor I can recurve yours and it will cost 160. Yes it is a good buy and I do offer core values. Ron NOTE: I am just posting this for the information of other members. Please don't give Ron a bag of sh*t if you disagree with something. I want to be able to work with him when I find my car.

Maybe they just changed the price. I just got that e-mail the day I posted or the day before. Even if what eyesore says about the shipping costs is true, the wheels will still cost around $120 US each plus shipping (total wheels/$170 US sea freight) OTOH if members bouth enough wheels, the sea freight would become negligable if what eyesore says is correct. 50/170 = $0.29... No matter how you cut it, you are looking at $480 and change for a set of four and $600 and change for a set of five... UPDATE: I sent Carol the following message. I'll post her reply when I get it: Thank you for your prompt response, Carol, and for the information. I am a member of the Subaru Internet Bulletin Board at http://www.usmb.net. Several of the members have asked if we could get a discount on the wheels or at least save on shipping if several of us ordered as a group. Is that possible? Thanks again for your time! Dante P.S. Do you have any US distributors?

IIRC at least one member has cut out the cat and welded pipe in its place. I think he also did something to the pipes just ahead of where they go into the cat to make them flow better...

I shot an e-mail to Ron at http://www.ramengines.com and asked him a few questions. When I find the right car, I'll buy a cam and probably some other products and/or services from him. Anyway, he was nice enought to respond and had some interesting things to say. I'll try to cut-and-paste his e-mail, but here's the jist of it: 1. The stock intake manifold sucks (I think we all know that). I followed-up by asking him if there are any affordable alternatives that will install easily and work well in a car. 2. I don't want to start a flame war or for anyone to give Ron a bunch of B.S., but FWIW he questioned the EA71/EA81SPFI piston info. He decks the block to get higher compression. 3. He also mentioned the importance of proper header lengths to maximize performance. I followed-up by asking him if anyone makes an affordable header for these cars and, if not, how much it would cost to have one made. 4. He also said something about "recurving" the distributor. He said that was good for 13 ft/lb of torque. That's all I can remember off the top of my head. Again, I'll try to cut and past the response when I get to my other PC. I'd rather have an ea81 (hence the subject). Just my $0.02. To each his own.

Well, it appears two of us are interested (of course I still have to find that perfect '84 4WD Wagon ). If a few more people express interest, then I will e-mail them again.

Yea, you can get a set of forged alloy wheels (although probably not in 4x140) cheaper :brolleye:

FWIW I got the response below from Scorpion Automotive in Australia: Their site says "Due to the unavailability of 14" wheels designed for use on Subarus, we have developed a 14" x 6" steel wheel featuring standard 55p off-set, 8mm spoke laser cut centres, correct location on hub spigot and powder coating in your choice of colour." Someone onthe board said they were no longer available, so I asked. Hi Dante, Yes we still do the wheels. The cost of each wheel is Aust$175 which converts to approx. US$120 each. As for shipping, to airfreight (3-4 days) Aust$470 (approx. US$320), to economy airfreight (2-3 weeks) Aust$389 (approx US$270) and to seafreight (2-3 months) Aust$245 (approx US$170). Thanks for your enquiry Carol Unfortunately, that works out to $770 US for five with the cheapest shipping

Akira had the ea82 (or maybe ea82T) y-pipe on his ea81 performance mod wish list. What does that do? Sounds like rewelding the stock y-pipe like you two did and replacing both cats with a better flowing 3-way cat and muffler(I'm in an emissions testing arrea) might be the way to go for me.

He's got the dual carb manifold (lucky bastage ). If you know the manufacturer and model number of the stock carbs, you should be able to look up the appropriate Weber conversion. I'd poke around the Redline Weber website and see if you can find the stock carbs on a conversion table...

Thanks everyone! Here's a list I found on Akira's page. Looks similar to mine, except for a few items. modify the Hitachi then 32/36 Webber Carb or Webber 38 1600cc pistons or EA82 SPFI pistons custom manifold EA82 SPFI exhaust manifold (no cat) exhaust Manifold wrap Ported heads bigger radiator (it will fit in with the lift) 170 degree thermostat on/off switch for hot air pipe 2WD distributer new spark plugs with bigger gap The SPFI pistons will give me just the CR I want for decent performance with cheap regular unleaded. If I use them I should not have to shave the head. I can just clean up the ports when I do the pistons. I didn't know about the SPFI exhaust manifold. Will it bolt right up? What is the upside?

I've come accross a couple dual carb options while researching ea81 performance mods. RAM Performance sells a Twin carb Mikuni Intake system for $849.95. The FAQ at www.subspeed.com suggest the Weber 34 ICT, or similar, for the single port heads, but say require the fabrication of custom manifolds to mount. (I wonder if you could adapt them to the Asian market OEM dual carb manifold?)

Hopefully, I'll be building an '84. That's the year I'd prefer anyway. If I get an '84, I'll probably only clean up the ports when I put in ea71 pistons...

I've been reading up on ea81 preformance modifications. http://www.subspeed.com/FAQ.htm says "A properly designed header and low restriction exhaust system of the appropriate diameter will go a long way toward performance." I searched the "Older Sube" forum for "header" and related terms and saw one reference to a custom header or y-pipe. It looks like most people are running the stock y-pipe/catalytic converter combination. It looks like a few people have cut the cat of the stock y-pipe and replaced the cat with pipe. A few people have made up dual exhausts, but I understand the y-pipe helps torque... Are these all the options for the normally aspirated ea81? Is there any compelling reason to replace the stock y-pipe with a custom header/y-pipe? Or, is it best to cut the front cat off the stock y-pipe and replace the back cat with a better flowing 3-way (which I understand is legal everywhere except california)? Thanks in advance for any info you can give me.

What are the best performance mods for the ea81 in order of hp or torque added per dollar (or hour spent)? Here is what is on my list (in no particular order): Weber and K&N or Piper Cross filter EA71 pistons UPDATE: Or ea82 SPFI pistons UPDATE: EA82 SPFI exhaust manifold? Exhaust mods (less restrictive muffler and 2" pipe from the restriction in front of the muffler back and maybe drill the cat or replace with 3-way) New or reprofiled cam Port/Head work (e.g. bigger valves, port, polish and/or shave) Upgrade ignition components (coil, wires, 2WD distributor, plugs) Replace belt-driven fan with electric one (said to free-up hp) Lower-temp thermostat (said to increase responsiveness and permit use of lower-grade fuel) Anything else?

I'm in Seattle. I like the ea81 better because of the lack of an OHC--it's simpler and lighter, that's why the aviation guys like them. I also like the ea81 4WD wagons better because they have more ground clearance without lifting them or cutting the wheel wells. I kind of like the funky old-school styling, too.

Thanks for the info, JonOfScio. That's one of the reasons I'm shopping for an ea81--simplicity.

I'm looking for a nice ea81 4WD dual-range wagon to drive to trailheads, explore off pavement, and to drive when one of our other vehicles is in for service or for the occasional dump or home-and-garden store run. I'm probably looking at two or three thousand miles a year, tops. A decent set of 13" snow tires would probably work fine for me. On the other hand I can afford these, they would be nice to have while tearing up gravel roads, and the tread life would not be a big issue for me because it would take me a long time for me to put even 20,000 miles on the car.

Intake manifold questions: Is the ea81 manifold heated for emissions reasons? I saw a heated exhaust manifold for an MG and the copy said it was heated for emissions reasons. here's some more info on heated intake manifolds If so, can you just plug the coolant passage? Or is it actually important for cooling the block? Would plugging them improve performance? Can you get the Asian dual-carb manifolds in the US? I saw a couple posts about getting them off engines from Japan. If so, what are the benefits? Somebody mentioned something about spinning the tires in 3rd and 4th in another thread--sounds good to me K&N questions What is the biggest K&N filter that will actually benefit an ea81? The filters that come with the weber conversions look pretty small. Someone chose to run a K&N about the same size as stock, and with a drop base plate, you could run one of the big round ones if doing so would actually improve performance. Thanks :-)LINK

Good point. Now what do I do about the stock ea81 manifold? I guess I could buy Ram's twin Mikuni or single Weber setup, or SUB4's but they cost too much IMO. Is it worth the trouble to go to an ea82 manifold? I guess I could just decide how much I am willing to pay and then tell Ram exactly what I want and how much I can spend...

Thanks--I e-mailed Eric because he runs the wheel and tire forum at http://www.vwvortex.com. He said they stock the harder compound, but will order the soft one for you if you want it. I suspect anyone on this board who wants these tires would want the longer-lasting hard compound.