Ross

you dont need to worry about things like con rods. They will be just fine unless your planning on running at over 9000-10000 rpm. As for boring, theres not much room for that. I think if your going to the trouble of making custom inlet and exhausts, you should get some heads from sub4. They are twin spark and have non siamese ports. Not too expensive just for the heads, and they are a New Zealand company so not too far from you. Would be a good project, the ea81 is certainly strong enough for much more power than it comes with.

Wow, you pay a lot for subies over there! In New Zealand you could get a mint brumby for $2000, and a pretty good one for $1000! oh, gen 2 brumbies started in 81 or 82 i think, and they had the 1800 from the start. Late gen 1s also had the 1800 with dual range.

Wiring would be a farily large task: you would need the entire ea82t loom including the one under the dash. The ea81t should put out a fair amount of power if some mods are done - i'm in the middle of rebuilding one myself. Depends on how much is wrong with your ea81t though. If block, and especially heads are ok, then i think you should rebuild it.

Hmm, sounds very much like a problem of mine - suspension tight, alignment good, still pulls. Does yours pull all the time? Mine sometimes tracks straight, although not very often. Do you have a shake/vibration at highway speeds? Mine feels like a very badly balanced wheel. I believe my problem lies in the front output shafts of the gearbox. When I wiggle the inner CV, it moves up and down considerably. Part of this slop is between the splines and part is the output shaft moving in the gearbox. try wiggling your inner cv and see how tight it is. If its loose, that might be your problem, if not, ignore all this!

Yeah, got it out, but she doesn't look too flash!

I would suggest that if your going to the trouble of removing the engine/gearbox, you may as well use a new clutch. They are not very expensive.

hmmm, i was hoping not to have to resort to that. Oh well, i hope oil strainers arn't too expensive. thanks.

The title says it all really, my oil strainer is stuck and will not come out. Any techniques for getting it out? Cheers.

Yes, its very hard to find parts for a car no one has heard of! I was suprised yesturday to find that ea81t head gaskets are only NZ$30 (US$21) each! Have to wait 2-3 weeks for them to arrive from Japan though.... If your looking for sensors, enigne management parts, try old fuel injected nissans, I got a free Knock sensor off one from a mate - exactly the same part! Subaru dealer couldn't even get one.

Does anyone else have an '83 ea81t? Wondering if the oil cooler/power windows/gold was just an '84 thing? Or it may be a diffference between US models and Japanese models. Mine also has a analogue gauge with no boost gauge or volt meter. Just has turbo light at the bottom of the tach.

You may want to get one - its not just to let the turbo spool down. Their main purpose is to let the turbo cool down with oil running through so that oil doesn't burn and stick to the bearings. This can take a few minutes. Some newer cars don't need them, as the oil will still flow through the turbo by convection (apparently! ) after you shut the engine off. Dont think an ea82t would be like this though.

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=32393&highlight=ea81+headlight+washers Theres some pics there.

Im keeping an eye on the wreckers yards for them. Im yet to see another ea81 with them.

Die grinder if you have one.

Mine has the water cooled turbo, but no oil cooler. Where was the oil cooler piped off? Mine also does not have the gold trim, just chrome badges, maybe a gold stripe though(looks yellow now). Mine has head light washers. Different swaybar too.

Unfortunately, not all turbos had the oil cooler. The suspension sure is nice on the road though.

What other parts other than head gaskets should be repalced with only oem parts? Got some head gaskets ordered, theyll be here in two weeks or so. Rings and Bearings are nice and cheap from the parts store, anyone had any bad experiences with non oem parts like these? Cheers.

Keep it, lift it. If its a 4wd, you can adjust the rear ride hieght: Under the rear seat in the middle theres a rubber bung - take it out, then turn the bolt under it to adjust rear suspension.

The manual may not be a US one. Octane can be measured in two ways, Both japan and New Zealand measure it differently to the US. ie our regular is 91, premium is 96.

You using standard oem head gaskets?

What do you guys have to set your timing at with those compressions?

So is ea81t. 8.7:1 is what it will have with N/A pistons.

If its detachable face: Make cable to go between unit and face plate, then you can mount the face plate where it should be, and the rest where it will fit. I havn't finished doing this yet, its been put on the back burner while this ea81t is reconditioned. Ill post some pics when its done.

Since its being taken apart, seems it would be a good time to look into stuff like this. So, has/is anyone running n/a pistons with the turbo ea81? what sort of results? i figure 8.7:1 isn't that high....

Check out what i found when i removed the sump of the ea81t. Along with these chunks of aluminium there was bits of a large rubber seal and lots of black grime. The rings in this engine have been done (so they guy who owned it said - he's probably right, it burns no oil), but i think they may have been done without separating the crank case. Ill start pulling the engine tomorrow, to recond the whole thing. Is that a solid lifter i see there??