'81 GL advice

[sario]

There is a 1981 subaru GL for sale in my home town, $150. The exterior and interior are supposed to be in "good" shape, but it doesn't run. I'm thinking it could be a fun project car. I'm looking for any advice any one is willing to give. Thanks!

 

 

How hard are parts to find for this car?

 

Would it be hard to lift?

 

What about motor swaps?

[GeneralDisorder]

If it's an EA81 with a 4 speed D/R then it's a great car with a legendary engine. The transmissions are less than fabulous but we just swap those out for the later 5 speeds.

 

Yes you can lift it and lift kits are availible through several sources.

 

Parts are getting harder to find. Mostly this board and other places on the internet are the best sources. There are some Subaru wrecking yards here in the NW. But a lot of parts don't have to specifically come from an EA81. There are lots of options when it comes to parts and there's actually very few times when *only* another EA81 part will do. Engine parts are still plentiful and availible though many channels including the dealerships.

 

Motor swaps have been done. I've helped install an EJ22 into that body. It's possible though time consuming as anything newer is going to be fuel injected and that's a whole lot of wireing and plumbing that most people don't want to do.

 

GD

[sario]

Thanks for the info. I hope this car is like the guy told me on the phone!

 

 

If it's a good motor I would probably stick with the stock one then. Could you recommend a place for motor rebuild parts?

 

It would be neat to put a fuel injected motor in, and while the wiring doesn't intimidate me, i do a lot of control wiring for a living, the plumbing and mounting does.

[GeneralDisorder]

Thanks for the info. I hope this car is like the guy told me on the phone!

 

 

If it's a good motor I would probably stick with the stock one then. Could you recommend a place for motor rebuild parts?

 

It probably doesn't need a rebuild. In any case used engines are cheaper. Buying rebuild parts is sort of a peice here and there kind of deal. I don't know anyone that sells kits that have all the pieces I would use though a lot of the stuff I use is Fel-Pro and Sealed Power, etc.

 

It would be neat to put a fuel injected motor in, and while the wiring doesn't intimidate me, i do a lot of control wiring for a living, the plumbing and mounting does.

 

Actually - if you want FI you can bolt on the throttle body injection from the later EA82 engine's. Here's my write up on it:

 

http://home.comcast.net/~trilinear/EA81_SPFI.html

 

GD

[Gloyale]

81's are kinda funny animals.

 

I would suggest getting it, and plan on getting a weber.

 

The SPFI and EJ conversions are great....and a good plan for the future. IN my experience though there is a lot about the 81's that make them less than desirable for FI conversion....notably the lack of a VSS in the dash, the lack of a return line to the tank.(you can use the vent line, but it's undersized), and lastly an odd fusible link setup at the battery and old glass tube fusebaox mean lot's of electrical upgrades to make it all work well. It can definately be done, but if you can throw a weber on it for less than 500 you'll be happier and driving it sooner.

 

A buck fifty is a steal on a solid EA 4wd body....I'd grab it and as I said throw a weber on it.

 

For FI, the 82+ rigs are easier.

[GeneralDisorder]

For FI, the 82+ rigs are easier.

 

There is always Mega-Squirt. More expensive than the stock computer, true - but if you must have injection it will do the job - and changing out to an EJ later on would be that much easier since you just reconfigure the MS and change a few wiring connectors.

 

GD

[sario]

There is always Mega-Squirt. More expensive than the stock computer, true - but if you must have injection it will do the job - and changing out to an EJ later on would be that much easier since you just reconfigure the MS and change a few wiring connectors.

 

GD

 

DOn't tempt me with the Mega-squirt. I once an 69 Nova with a mega-squirt injected 502..... I mean wow that was neat!

[GeneralDisorder]

You should get it for the price being asked. You will not find a simpler, more reliable, go-anywhere machine than a 4WD EA81. My '83 hatch has somewhere around 260k on it and I drive it daily.

 

The EA81 is BY FAR the easiest engine to work on that you could imagine. It takes 15 minutes to change the water pump/alternator/starter/front main/belts, etc. Any of those single jobs can be done it minutes. Swapped out to a Weber 32/36 carb and they run very hard for only putting out 74 HP. The SPFI is nice - but unless you are planning to do some serious off-angle wheeling it's not that much of an upgrade over a Weber - though it has it's advantages being it's designed for a 90 HP engine and capable of at least 100 HP with supporting mods like a cam and port/polish and exhaust.

 

GD