My Grandfather was on the original design team for the Brat and he has had his 1984 Turbo Brat for as long as I can remember. He is getting older and cannot take care of it and it has been passed to me. It was given to him by Subaru and still has the test drive books and everything in it. The body and interior are in pretty great condition, the engine with only 85,000 miles, has seen better days. It is currently in a secret, undisclosed garage in Seattle waiting out the winter until I can bring it down to it's new home in Southern California. I'm fairly sure that the engine is going to need to be rebuilt or completely changed out and I'm not sure I have the confidence to attempt that on my own. My question to you brat heads is whether or not I should get the work done in Seattle (Are there better Brat engine folks up north) or tow it down here and have it rebuilt or swapped in Orange County. Do you guys have contacts on the go-to folks for this kind of work in these locations. Thanks for your time, I love looking through all the projects going on.

Why, do you thing a 85k mile engine needs to be rebuilt?

I don't get it.

 

Would like to know more about the "test drive books"

I'll post some photos of the test drive books when I'm back up in Seattle. I wasn't there, but apparently the engine overheated in spectacular fashion. At the latest compression check Cyl#1 60lbs Cyl#2 75lbs Cyl#3 75lbs Cyl#4 60lbs. The leak down test came up with #1 75% #2 75% #3 60% & #4 60%. I'd like to keep the engine and not swap it out for sentimental reasons. From the things I've read these test results indicate a pretty big problem that might result in needing an engine rebuild or overhaul.

That's a nice looking BRAT with a great history. Those wheels are RARE!

Thanks Tundrabrat, I'm ridiculously excited to get it up and running and driving around again.

Cool ride and a great history. Grandad will be tickled to see it going again I bet! Would the engine # be a good addition to the EA-81 sticky? That may even be a pre production car hunh?

Well, by your description in the first post, I think its no good.

You should sell it to me, I'm local to where it is stored even.

 

Engine rebuilds/reseals on ea81s are not that tricky. If you have any mechanical history, some tools, and a haynes manual; you're golden. Plus if you come up with blanks or questions, you have this amazing board of experts here to help you.

 

Thats an awesome looking Brat. The turbo ones are deffinately hard to find and those wheels on it even harder to find.

Best of luck, and I'll be watching to see how this turns out.

Thanks guys, Uber I think you're right I should tow it home and take rebuild it myself. There will definitely be a certain amount of satisfaction fixing it in my own garage.

If you go through Portland on the way down stop by GD's and have him look at it! You'll get some sound advice.

An EA81 Turbo is not what I would call an easy and simple rebuild if you are not well versed in Subaru engines already. A non-turbo EA81 is the height of simplicity and is an easy task by comparison. The EA81T is a rare engine with many hard to find parts and strange vintage systems that were part computerized and part mechanical. The fuel system and ignition system are seperate and only loosely integrated.....

 

If you want to bring it by my shop on the way down from WA I would be happy to check it out. Sounds like it needs to NOT be driven though. If it was severely overheated and that's what caused the low compression numbers you need to pull the engine and do a complete rebuild before driving it. I do that kind of work and have lots of satisfied customers if you are interested. You can PM me, etc.

 

GD

I can suggest a local mechanic who could do the rebuild for you at a reasonable cost. Drop me a PM with an email address and I'll be glad to pass it on.

On the contrary, an EA-81T is considerably simplier than a non-turbo EA81.

No silly carburetor,no complicated air bleeds,no ASV,no FPCU etc......

 

The fact that ignition control is seperate from the fuel ECU is of no consequence.

 

My greatest rebuild part finding fear would be the relative scarcity of EA-81T heads in case one was needed.They are out there too,if you know where to look.Pretty much all the other rebuild parts(cam excluded) are the same as a non-turbo EA81.

Edited January 28, 201214 yr by naru

I demand a ton of more pictures in high resolution.

On the contrary, an EA-81T is considerably simplier than a non-turbo EA81.

No silly carburetor,no complicated air bleeds,no ASV,no FPCU etc......

 

That all depends on how you handle it I suppose. The answer for most people on the carbed models is to just rip all that off and install a Weber.

 

Don't really have any simple options like that for most folks. Sure there's MegaSquirt, etc but not everyone is comfortable with software and wiring, and all that. You and I may be - but we are also completely comfortable with the ASV's, the FPCU, and all that junk also. None of it is a big mystery to me.

 

The fact that ignition control is seperate from the fuel ECU is of no consequence.

 

It is for people that don't know how the system works. And parts availability is very slim for both systems. The entire fuel and ignition systems are composed of parts that were made for only two years.

 

With a non-turbo you can just throw it all away and buy a Weber. Can't easily do that with a turbo.

 

My greatest rebuild part finding fear would be the relative scarcity of EA-81T heads in case one was needed.They are out there too,if you know where to look.Pretty much all the other rebuild parts(cam excluded) are the same as a non-turbo EA81.

 

Heads can be rebuilt. They are mechanical and unlikely to be damaged beyond repair. A little TIG welding perhaps - some resurfacing/valve job/cleaning of course. Nothing that can't be handled.

 

It's the scarcity of the stock electronics, injectors, turbo, etc - that's the biggest problem. For that stuff you could be searching for a while or your other choice is to rip it ALL out and go with somethign like MS.

 

At any rate - if you aren't familair with this stuff and comfortable with primitive and rare FI systems I wouldn't reccomemend doing the rebuild yourself. The *engine* itself is *similar* to the EA81 but there are many differences - the pulleys are all unique as is the water pump, power steering pump, rack and pinion, and a whole lot of other things. LOTS of rare and hard to find parts in that machine.

 

GD

I'm sure you have thought of this, but whatever you do, Keep track of the original motor. A car with that much history should be kept original or have the ability to be restored to original.

 

Bill

I'm sure you have thought of this, but whatever you do, Keep track of the original motor. A car with that much history should be kept original or have the ability to be restored to original.

 

Bill

 

You're right, I want to keep it as close to original as possible.

 

Thanks so much for the info GD. I'm going to try to find some literature to wrap my mind about all this. Is there any that you guys suggest? Has someone done this already and posted it up with beautiful pictures? I've searched through the boards and have only found stuff on the standard EA81, but I know these threads run deep.

I demand a ton of more pictures in high resolution.

 

I do apologize for the lack of awesome photos. When I get back up to Seattle in a few weeks, I'll do the full photo walk around.

You're right, I want to keep it as close to original as possible.

 

Thanks so much for the info GD. I'm going to try to find some literature to wrap my mind about all this. Is there any that you guys suggest? Has someone done this already and posted it up with beautiful pictures? I've searched through the boards and have only found stuff on the standard EA81, but I know these threads run deep.

 

I think any of the common manuals are OK for a standard engine rebuild.

For the finer points of wiring etc.,you want a FSM.

 

At the risk of repeating myself,for rebuild procedures,turbo/non-turbo EA-81s are IDENTICAL.If you found stuff on the standard EA81,you found it.

 

Don`t let GD scare you.The few semi-unique fuel injection parts are extremely robust and don`t require replacement in a rebuild.Simple too.The ignition system is also simple and wear items can be salvaged from 85-86 EA-82Ts.

 

Last time I checked,water pumps were readily availible.

Pulleys don`t need replacing.

Power steering pump is the same as an EA-82.

Steering rack is the same as any EA-81 power rack w/a car build date later than 4/83.

 

FWIW,my daily driver is an 84 turbowagon,

If you can get your hands on a Haynes "SUBARU 1600 & 1800", make sure to get the 1980 thru 1989 edition. It is geared more towards ea81's. The 1980 thru 1994 edition is the re-publish and is geared toward ea82's, which will be very unhelpful to you.