jackofevil

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4513806383&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT Moved to the Marketplace forum.

I have been reading this thread with interest, as I want a little more bang from my 88 d/r hatch. Sadly, I am not a gearhead at all. What does it mean to recurve the distributor? I bookmarked the Philbin website for future reference, but what do I do...send them a disty and ask them to recurve it, maybe specifying what octane I want to run? Someone else mentioned advancing the timing...is that the effect caused by the disty recurve, or is it something else entirely? Yet another post mentioned installing EA71 pistons, which I guess would also involve a fairly major disassembly, and new gaskets throughout. Assuming I had that done, is the piston swapout all there is to it, or do you have to adjust anything else to capitalize on the newly increased compression? So, currently I'm saving up for a Weber carb/K&N filter setup, an Accel Superstock 8140 coil, and Magnecore wires. Tentatively, once I know more about these arcane concepts, it'll be a disty recurve and EA71 pistons. I'd like to know more about what those mods do, how, and why, before I go there. Thanks so much for any clarification you can provide, and thanks especially to the nice fellow who told me that the guys at Ram Air deal with aviation mods...silly me!

So, how did this project turn out? I have an '88 EA81 d/r 4spd hatch that's dying for more power, and I'm not mechanically inclined. After six years as a Huey mechanic for the Army, I've turned enough wrenches to make me sick. Although I do find it amusing that the engine in my car is used by the aviation community...I can't escape! So, do I spend over a grand for the Weber carb from RAM performance... http://www.ramengines.com/_wsn/page3.html Or do I go to one of those Japanese engine import houses and ask them nicely for an EJ22 swap? As much as I love my Soob, I just want a tad more oomph without going all crazy-like... Chris