GeneralDisorder

He asked for our opinion. If you want to give him more than $100 for it, that's your loss. I bought my current DD for $100, and the one before that for $100. Neither had rod knocks, and the current one is a 4WD D/R 5 speed, the other was a 4WD auto. I drove both home. I gave my educated opinion based on the 4+ years I've been on this board. If he didn't want to hear it, then he shouldn't have asked. Sometimes the truth sucks. GD

Run a D-Check and bring us codes. If you aren't sure how, do a search here for it, or download the 89 FSM fragment that's floating around and read up on it. GD

There aren't any tranny's that will do that other than the 4 speed auto's. So yes, I guess you could say you are asking too much. Check local junk yards. 85 to 89 5 speed, dual range is what you are after. GD

Sounds like he already tried jumping it, etc. That normally involves a lot of wiggling and messing about with the terminals. Being an EA82, it's more likely the ign. circuit or the starter itself. In my experience anyway. GD

It's either the starter, or the ignition switch wireing. Use a bit of wire to jump from the positive terminal of the starter (big, 12mm nut) to the solenoid blade (other wire going to the starter). If it turns over, then you likely have fualty wireing in the ignition circuit. Pretty common actually - the fix is to use the existing circuit to run a relay and give the solenoid full battery power. If it still doesn't turn over, it's time for a new starter. Or tear it apart and clean the solenoid contacts. GD

You have to build custom axles - 2WD EA81 axles + Legacy 25 spline DOJ. Downsides: 3.7:1 rear end, and crappy low range (1.2:1). Basically a really stupid combo for a Brat. GD

Right - but all the later turbo's I've seen had AC, and they use the square AC compressor..... I still think belt alignment might be an issue. GD

I don't think there's much difference in weight frankly with the SPFI pulley. It's actually pretty heavy. Each pound on the crank is like 2.7 HP.... but unless you go with aluminium, I doubt you would gain much. Then there's the alignment issue.... doesn't the turbo use a different hub depth for the water pump? I don't think the SPFI pulley would line up. GD

The ECU wireing and such will be completely seperate from the painless kit anyway. The only place they will interact is power supply lines from the fuseable links. GD

Not worth the trouble - you wouldn't gain even .5 HP from it. Lighten the flywheel if you want to do something productive. GD

All mid to late 80's STD hatchback's had the "fat-case" EA71 with the side starter bell-housing. That's common knowledge. GD

Larger gap = hotter, larger spark. Always. But that has to be tempered by the strength of the ignition system - the coil's voltage output, and the ignitor's ability to switch on that much current. Too hot for one or the other will cause damage. Also the hotter the spark is, the more you will burn the plugs each time it fires. It's a balancing act, and really all you want is a 99.8% or higher probability of igniting the fuel. Once you acheive that, hotter spark is a waste of time. The engine's power comes from the controled burn of the fuel, not from the spark - it's only job is to start the burn. It either works or doesn't. Use the recommended gap of .40 - .45 GD

Not worth the effort for 30 HP. Get an EJ22 instead. More power than the EA82 turbo, simpler wiring, and will fit easier. Not to mention reliable - which the EA82T aint GD

That's not an EA81 - it's an EA71, and the EA82 won't fit in there without major headaches. You will have to notch the frame rails out by at least 2" on both sides and reinforce them. GD

You have to make custom axles - Legacy/Imp/XT6 axles are too long. You have to cut the shaft and weld on the inner portion of an EA81/EA82 axle with some tubing as a sleeve for strength. GD

I'm not sure why, but mine didn't turn out that way. I had to cut the rail to make it fit, as well as move the HH back. I should get a pic I suppose, but it's still so close on the drivers side that I really should remove a bit more from it - I removed about 1/2" x 3" section, and it's still only maybe 1/8" or less away from the rail... Perhaps it's partially because I did the 5 speed at the same time, and the 5 speed is tilted back slightly to clear the tunnel. It's not a lot tho, so it can't account for all of the difference. I also had to slot the holes in the crossmember like the folks that do the EJ swap have done. The mounts were haveing none of it trying to shove them into the stock slots. I also pulled it a bit to the passenger side to try and gain a bit more room on the drivers side..... but really you shouldn't do that - it needs to sit centered or the axle's and tranny will be all crooked. That was my experience anyway. I beleive it's best to say that the fit is EXTREEMELY tight. To the point that slight variations in your overall install (engine mount rubber deterioration, tranny alignment, etc, etc) *may* require some cutting to be sure the engine won't smack the rail under acceleration. Passenger side is no problem for two reasons - 1. The cylinders are physically farther forward, and 2. The distributor makes the drivers side extend farther backward. There would be NO problem at all if the disty was on the passenger side cam like the EJ was designed. GD

It's really not bad. Takes about 6 hours the first time you do it (heater core was my first, and almost always is what prompts removal [or the control valve on the EA81's]). GD

Sadly the 80/81 with the 1600 single range isn't very desireable. Due to the nature of folks looking for EA81's, they are almost always looking for off-road capable toys. Being that it's got no D/R, and isn't capable of supporting one without changing both the engine and tranny..... its essencially a body to most of the would be buyers. The color is also ugly as hell But being that it runs nice and looks halfway decent, I would say you could probably command $200 to $400 to the right buyer. Probably not what you want to hear, but you'll get all kinds of repsponses from folks to the effect of: "yah, dat's nice, and it's way worth $1000..... wish I had the moneys for dat one! WOOT!".... .....yeah that's the basic theme. When it comes to money where the oral cavity resides - you'll find a lot smaller audience I'm afraid. GD

The original setup used two spring roll pins - one inside the other, and then a cotter pin inside both of those. The problem is that the roll pins flex and wear out the hole in the trans shift rod - which isn't easily replaceable. Most people drill it larger, cut slots in the shifter tube, and bolt it down as hard as they can. Sadly, even that has come loose for us eventually. There's no good fix IMO but to weld the sucker solid and replace the whole stinkin tranny with a 5 speed when it's shot. I abhor the 4 speed's - I've got THREE blown 4's in my garage. Once you go 5, you won't want anything else - trust me. And my 5 speed Brat looks 100% stock inside plus I can actually maintain 25 MPH at a decent RPM GD

Fortunately, the glass didn't become structural on the soobs till the EA82 series. So really an EA81 is just as strong with NO windsheild as without due to the way it was built. I would say that patching it and making sure the rust doesn't come back should be sufficient. Won't hurt the glass any as it's set apart from the frame by a big thick rubber gasket. Just don't let some shop "goo" it in place - it wasn't designed for that, and should be installed with it's proper gasket and sealant, not the hot shot goo they use on EA82's and newer. GD

The 4 speeds have a weak linkage - causes them to blow reverse gear (the 5's reverse is also weak, but the linkage is superior enough that it's rarely a problem as it's easier to get it fully engaged. Partial engagement due to sloppy linkage is the cause of reverse failure). And they suffer from 3rd gear syncro failure much past 100k miles. Add to this the lack of a decent mid range gear (3rd on the 5 speed), and a low range that's only 1.45:1 to the 5's 1.59:1 and the 5 is far, far better suited to any conceivable swap. GD

The thing bolted to the hood release is the fuel pump control unit. It shouldn't affect dash power - only power to the fuel pump. The ECU also shouldn't effect dash power - I removed the one in my 84 wagon when I put on a Weber and it doesn't effect anything..... at least not on the digi-dash car it didn't, and it didn't in my feedback EA82 either.... GD

I would be down for a set of the desert fox for my wagon.... probably basically the same as the set you would be making for a Brat as they are the same overall length. SWEET! And I have a wagon and Brat that he can measure off for those conversions! GD

Sorry - pay no attention to our resident moron..... Anyway. To answer - you will have to cut the frame rail on the drivers side to fit the engine - the back of the valve cover where the distributor is will need about 3/4" deep x 3" long removed from the frame rail. You also need a lower radiator hose from a 92 to 94 Loyale (it's the "s" shape you'll need), and the upper hose will be a 90 Loyale lower hose cut down to fit. Wireing is going to suck - you'll pretty much be on your own, but you'll want the entire front harness from a donor, and then build a piggyback MPFI harness from it and just supply it with power and splice into the required lines from the EA81 harness. MegaSquirt would be easier. Other than that, it will fit ok. You will also want to use the 5 speed from an EA82 as the EA81 4 speed isn't going to cut it. GD

It just includes the dowel pin - that's the only difference. If there were other differences it would have been noted in the diagram. It's enough to see that the part numbers are the same for pre-87, and post 90 to infer that information. Plus the fact that the diagram has different pulley's labeled for turbo and non - if such a difference existed in the sprocket it would be noted. Thus we can safely assume that it doesn't matter unless you need a dowel pin. GD