bcmohr

Hey guys, I finally have all the hard parts to put my EA81 back together. Except I can't find any torque specs for the case bolts or head bolts. Does anyone have them for an 85 GL 1.8? I'd really love to get my car on the road this month. I've searched everywhere on this forum that makes sense and found nothing, even the Old Subaru book seems to come up short on torque specs. Theres so much bad info on the rest of the net regarding these cars, I dare not use anything I find there. Thanks in advance. Whether you have a trusted link or can just type it up. I need to torque my case halves together and torque my heads on, thanks. Brian

Um, maybe. Cant say your name and profile pic ring a bell.

More pics to come!

I have some more work to do yet, have to get the heads planed, turn the seats, blast off all of the gunk and then they'll be ready to bolt onto the NOS 1.8 block. Looking good so far. These build so much faster than the V8 fords, chevys and olds motors Im used to.

Heres how the valves came out. The valves are 1.65 IN and 1.375 EX, larger than I thought they'd be which is good, something needs to flow in the little motor. I turned the intakes valves at 45 and 20 degrees The exhaust valves are 45 and 30 degrees All but one valve was in great shape, just a little bit of hammering on an intake valve that cleaned out quick.

Next came some pretty work. I figured there would be all sorts of casting under these valves to hog out and blend in. I was wrong. Being that this is my first EA81 build, had to learn a little as I went. I sure wish that the intake runners were siamesed together instead of the exhaust Theres no good way to get flow through these heads and not much material to change the flow characteristics. Theres a tiny pile of shavings from doing one head, thats probably 90% of the material that I took out. Then it was time to cut the valves and smooth out the combustion chambers so when I add the turbo, there are no hot spots.

I got the heads into the shop today and tore them down. They were in pretty good shape, one cylinder looks like it might have been running lean. The springs are dual springs and in great shape.

Ok, so I have just every part I need to get this project actually running. Special thanks to Wallaby and Vapor Trail for the engine parts. The heads arrived on Tuesday looking like this

Thanks for the heads up fellas. I just do a WTB ad for a set. Brian

Hey guys. I'm just sorting out the last of my project pieces here. I have an EA81 shortblock, essentially ready to go. The EA71 that I bought a while back, I thought might offer the remainder of the parts I need, like heads. After taking the well worn EA71 apart tonight and attempting to test fit the heads on the EA81 block, I noticed that they don't fit. By a real quick measurement, I'd say that the outter most two head studs are about .135" further away on the EA81 than the EA71. Why is this? No idea. It amazes me how much extra time, money, and tooling, subaru wasted back in the day by making such similiar motors not compatible. In any rate, has anyone ever successfully modified EA71 heads to fit an EA81 block? I would have just sized out the stud holes already if not for the waterjacket appearing to be different as well. I'm not even sure if the oil drain back cavern will be sealed between the head and block if I do this. if someone has already had good results trying this, I'd love to know about it. If this is a fools errand than I'm on the hunt for a set of EA81 heads now as well, in case anyone reading this has a spare set. As always, thanks guys. Brian

Thats what Im hoping to do. I just need to find one now.

Ok, so maybe I was fed some bad info from the seller of the engine? Well that happpens. The starter relief is at the 12 o'clock position on this 1600 and yes the original was an EA81, I got that twisted up. So, the census is: find a 'fat case' or make my own adapter plate? Is this older motor worth anything? If so I dont want to waste it on an oddball project. If not, I'll start measuring for that plate. Thanks again for the input.

Hi there guys. I'm new here, just found out about this forum. I just bought my 3rd subaru, went for an older one this time. I have an 85' GL 4wd hatchback. Heres what Im looking for information on. The motor that the car was built with was an EA-82 and that motor stayed with the seller. I then found an EA-71 localy from an 86 wagon. Both my car and the donor car are manuals. for whatever reason the bolt patterns between these two motors is very different. I've looked at the adapter plate kits from SJR and I don't think I see what I need. Without making my own adapter plate is there a way to put these two together? I'm open to options, options based on the tranny that is in the car stays in the car. I don't really want to go to an EJ motor, yet I don't know all of my options. Thanks guys.