spikedbeetle

Ha ha, That isn't my house. I just went over there to make some noise because there was almost no one around to bother. The car was running a little on the warm side. 210-225. I put some water wetter in the coolant, added some duct work and bypassed the automatic fan switch and hooked it up to the same toggle switch as my other fan. I turned on both fans as I was getting on the freeway. I drove it at 65-70mph for 15 min. It only ever got up to 205 then cooled back down to 195 as I got off the freeway. 70+ degrees outside today.

Well, over 500 miles later it's still running good. I have tried to make it to the drag strip a couple of times, but the track is down for maintenance and weather every time I can go. Here is a clip of 0-70mph. And here it is with the VW exhaust tips.

I am excited to see what kind of power difference you notice. Maybe you menyioned it already, but what is your current plan for the manifold or manifolds? I had thought if I were to do this all over again. I would probably buy a couple of aluminum blocks from an online metal supplier. I found a place that would sell a 3" x 3" cube for $30 or so. I would have the intake part drilled at a machine shop. Then I would drill and tap everything else into them. 150 sounds about right. I used 3eyedwagon's calculations. My carbs came out to 165 at 5000 rpm. Can't wait to see what you come up with!

I used a pair of single barrel 40mm carbs on my EA81. They seem to work great. I could have done a couple things different to make it better. I also found this video online of a suby motor with a lot of carb and dual port heads. I say go for it! Video: http://www.streetfire.net/video/subaru-ej18-with-dual-webers-in-a-volkswagen-beetl_92098.htm Mine:

Well, I couldn't find my special socket for the #1 stud. I tightened all the others by a couple of ft lbs. Do you think this will be okay or should I make a new "special" socket? I got the car out in the sunlight and was able to see the green better. here are the pics. This is how the last gaskets started.

I SEE MORE ANTI-FREEZE! I saw one little crystal deposit looking thing. If I shine a good light on the gasket, I can see a little green. At this point it is small enough I don't think I could get a picture of it. I took a piece of red construction paper and held it up to the gasket to see if it would soak anything up. I was just checking to see if I was mistaken, but i was not. The paper darkened a little along the edge. I think I will add a few ft lbs to the heads and just drive it until it quits. I had my fluid at about 220 or so, could my engine have been overheated? I have been stepping on the gas pretty hard, but I was told this should be fine with fresh head gaskets. Another crazy thought I have had is that I have been running an electric water temp gauge. I noticed the new seepage while installing a mechanical gauge to prevent corrosion. Could the electric gauge have caused corrosion of the gasket? Any opinions or suggestions?

Okay, so The original PCV valve and vacuum is best, but with what I have done to my engine, the draft tube seems to be the simplest solution. Thanks for all the opinions and help.

So, it looks like it will be a draft tube of some kind. I read something about how in the '60's race cars used a one way valve of sorts tapped into the exhaust to suck out excess pressure. Have you heard of these? Would something like this be any better than a draft tube, and would it work on a daily driver?

Okay GD. I see your point and it makes sence to remove unburned gas vapors from the crank case. I do not want to mess with my intake manifolds at this point. They are sealed and working well. Would this plan need a pcv valve or be fine without one? Does it look a good plan? do you have any other suggestions?

I just did some reading on PCV valves, but still have questions. This car does not need to pass emissions. There is no need for a PCV valve. So as far as crank case ventillation, should my dual breather caps work fine or should I pull crank case air through one or both carbs? Thanks

This is almost exactly what I did. I put two mini breathers on and got rid of the PCV all together. I do have an air cleaner base that I am currently not using for one of my carbs on my dual carb setup that has a line for a crank case breather. Do you think it work work well if I left a mini breather on one valve cover and ran a line from the other valve cover through an inline PCV and then into the air cleaner? Would that create the through cross flow that the engine needs to work properly? Here is how it sits now.

Thanks to everyone for your help and suggestions. I took it for it's longest drive since installing the subaru motor. I found why my water temp guage was not reading and fixed it. The car ran at 190 all the way to work this morning. After running a few errands, My drive home was twice as long as my drive to work. It ran at a steady 220 or so. It looks like I will be building some duct work, reversing the fan and installing the second fan after all. So it is just a few minor things left. I am going to have the safety inspection done tomorrow. The car runs good and strong.

Well, I got everything reassembled and running again. There is a slight ticking sound now. Probably where I smashed the thing around the lifter. Other than that I feel okay about how everything is working right now. I need to tune the carbs just a touch. I am still having one problem I had before. I had been getting a temp reading of 190. This was in September. I didn't drive it for while. Then in January just before I replaced the head gaskets, I was getting a reading of 120-125. I drilled a couple of small holes in my thermostat to let any possible air pockets get out. I tested my thermostat in some water on the stove top. It opened just like it is supposed to. My engine feels hot to the touch after running for a while. I am just not sure if it's too hot or not. I think my fan switch is still working. I doubt it is being overcooled, but I guess it's a possibility since the outside temperature is about 30-40 degrees cooler now than in September. If I can find someone with an infared temp gun, what temps should I look for and where?

I was able to have my torque wrench checked. It is very close to accurate. It may be off by a pound. I also got my head back. Turns out I did bend a valve. I guess the best thing to do at this point is to take the other head off and clean everything really good. Then reassemble with oil on the studs, nuts, and washers this time. Is there an easy way to make sure I get all of the green out of the oil pan that spilled in when the heads came off? It wasn't a lot. Right now I am thinking I will have to pull the pan again to clean it uot right. Is there a recommended break in time before I can really step on the gas? This question is for the head gaskets and a fresh valve job. Thanks. Hopefully this is it and the next time I post, It will be running strong again.

I will look into the other style torque wrench. I am worried about mine. I at least need to compare it. I have had it for 5 years and didn't know I was supposed to store it with everything loosened. I didn't see any bubbles when I drained it, but I can't see into my tank where it sits in the car. I forgot to mention that my electric fan would still come on. It is set for 185 -190. There is a temp switch in the radiator. Maybe I need to rethink my cooling system design. My temp sending unit is at the highest point just below the thermostat. I will try to post a picture later. If I drill a small hole in the thermostat to let any air pockets out and up to the top of the system where it can get out, that should fix the temp reading problem and give still work right?

I dropped the head off today at lunch. They are going to look at the valves and fix the valve stem seal that was defective. I asked the shop what they would charge to put the heads on. They said they wont assemble subaru engines...I guess that means I am going to have to do it myself whether I want to or not. I haven't found anyone who can measure or test my torque wrench however. Autozone said I could rent one, but they don't know how accurate theirs will be either. I have a dumb question. I never had to worry about coolant before when it was air cooled and all... How does a thermostat work? Does it open with heat or pressure? The first few times I drove the car the temp would get up to 190 and stabilize. The last two times I drove it the temp reading was only 125. Would this be exhaust in the coolant?

Well, I was stressed out all night. Still am. I got up at 4:am and loosened the nuts on the second head. I removed the top four. The ones that would be dry. I oiled them up really good and the threads on the studs. I torqued everything back down to what my wrench said was 55 ft lbs. I am going to take the first head in to the machine shop to have the valves checked and have the bad seal replaced. I will have them check for warpage to see if I screwed that up. I also plan to have them check my torque wrench to see if it is accurate. If everything checks out, I will reassemble everything. If it continues to leak or seep coolant out the top, I will probably take the whole engine in to the shop. That is the plan right now.

Nothing has been stripped. I guess if I bolt them on this time around, I wil lgo lower on the torque. I looked at my papers again. It had two numbers for each step. I guess I thout it was a range, but in reality was ft lbs. and N. something. Wouldn't being overtorqued as much as I was hide possible uneven torquing due to dry studs? Or would uneven torque still cause a leak? I will oil everything up this time if I do it.

I was able to get the heads off in the car, but I think I am going to just pull it and take the whole thing into the machine shop for assembly. At this point I would rather spend a little more to have someone with the right knowlege and tools put it together than to spend a little at a time until I get it right. That would be the smart thing anyway.

Here are the pics of one gasket and head. I had the head off and back on yesterday, then realized that one of the valve seals was messed up. So I took the head off again to take it back to the machine shop. Can I re-use the gasket that I put on yesterday again? I didn't fire it up or anything. I just torqued it down to 71 ft lbs. I also got some antifreeze on it. Do I have to get another?

You should be able to remove anything vacuum related and block it off except the line goint to the disty. If that is what you mean.

I was most worried about this area when I started the project, but No leaks from this end. I am just going to leave the intakes on the heads since they seem to be sealed up nicely. I made the intakes with a hack-saw, dremmel tool, and drill press. I stuck them together with mig and oxy-acetyline. It is a fun carb setup. They help spin the tires just fine. I am curious to see what kind of power they add. I do know that it is a LOT faster than my brother's beetle with a completely stock ea81. I would be interested to see what a setup like this would do in a Subaru. Does anyone know an inexpensive dyno in central-to-north Utah? American fork-to-Spanish fork area more specifically. I will take it drag racing this summer, but those #'s won't help you guys a lot since my car is lighter weight. I can have a set of manifolds made for about $300. They will not look like these, but will work the same. They would be made with aluminum blocks and brass fittings. A new set of carbs is about $350-$400. I built the throttle linkage as well, but you can buy something similar. The total height on my setup is 13 inches from the top of the air cleaners to the top of the head. I don't know how much room there is under a Subaru hood. The intakes could be made an inch shorter and the air cleaner wingnuts and bolts could be changed to save another inch. to make it all 10.5-11 inches high.

Here is the Special tool.

Well, I started taking my engine apart. So far everything seems good. I really hope it was just my original torque readings on my heads that were off. Here is a view straight down my intakes.

I have built many tools. Mostly for VW's. I built a valve spring compressor with an old rocker shaft a kickstand and a bearing race from a bicycle, a case splitter from an old oil pump, a wrench from flat-bar. This is the only one I have a picture of and it is Subaru specific. It is for the EA81 head bolt that is behind the rocker shaft.