Poop. May have spun a bearing in the 81 Brat due to oil starvation. If I did, is it worth it to tear up the engine and fix, or should I just source a new one at the pick n pull? If I replace, I want to keep the simpleness of the non-ECU, weber-carbbed engine. My local one has these to offer, no idea the condition:

 

83 GL (EA81, simple swapout, right?)

84 GL x2 (EA81 again)

88 GL x2 (EA82 maybe? Would that fit in a gen1 brat body?)

 

Opinions welcomed.

Was it running well before it spun a bearing? Might want to consider fixing the one you have - unless the block has a hole in it now. I can't even tell you how many EA81's I have pulled from P-N-P looking for good cores to rebuild. They are getting SO OLD now that most of the ones left out in the wild have been SEVERELY abused.

Yes, it was running well, but is there a source for rebuild parts anymore?

Have a machine shop grind the crankshaft if nessesary and have them order new bearings for it. Then put it all back together yourself.

If you rebuild your own you know what you have. Dont take a basket case out of the junkyard.

Was it running well before it spun a bearing? Might want to consider fixing the one you have - unless the block has a hole in it now. I can't even tell you how many EA81's I have pulled from P-N-P looking for good cores to rebuild. They are getting SO OLD now that most of the ones left out in the wild have been SEVERELY abused.

+1

Ive taken down 3 of them, and all three were useless. Rusted, pitted cams, horribly scored liners. destroyed pistons...

Since yours is useless anyways might as well tear it down.

If it's a trashed rod bearing, you could get a new rod, grind the crank, and rebuild.

 

If it spun the bearing in the case........sadly, the case is likely junk. Grind down the crank all you want, but the hole in the case is now too big to hold a new bearing. I've seen undersize I.D. bearings, but no oversize O.D. so line boring the case is no go unless you can get some custom bearings.

 

That's another reason most people are goin EJ.

 

If you're set on keepin an EA81......find a decent runner, tear it down and rebuild it BEFORE it spins a bearing.

 

 

OOOOHHH!!

 

I did just remember...I know a guy local here in Corvallis who has a stock of about 150 EA81 blocks (he used to build HiPo Aircraft engine from them) Last I talked to him he said $100 bucks for a good bare block.

 

PM me if you want his #.

That's another reason most people are goin EJ.

Yea Im pretty fed up with the EA's. Im spending half my free time scouring ebay and craigs in search of a good one, loosing auctions to aircraft guys.

EJ is the way to go. The EA engines are quaint but there's no real benefit to keeping them. You can do a carbed EJ22 if you want one badly enough. It's been done. Most people don't bother because the MPFI is a better system.

 

GD

But aren't all ejs ohc? I don't think those will fit in the 70s brat frame. Perhaps some research is in order, but I need to tear down the shorty to see the damage.

They will fit if you cut and box in the frame rails a bit. Not that hard to do. I have seen people put EA82's in the first gen body's and they are wider than the EJ's.

 

GD

And everytime i see a thread too EJ it, the price of a real and stock BRAT just shot up a little.

And everytime i see a thread too EJ it, the price of a real and stock BRAT just shot up a little.

 

A properly done swap is not going to hurt the value. Though 95% of the swaps I've seen aren't properly done.

 

A stock Brat has a lot of drawbacks. The 4 speed's suck. The EA81 is underpowered and getting more difficult to find parts for.... etc. There's no reason that a properly done swap would hurt the value - the Brat still looks the same on the outside.

 

GD

@GD

 

I would think that a properly done swap might even increase the value as it brings technology to the car that is at least 10 years newer. I'm in the middle of an EJ swap right now and even when it's very well thought out and planned for it is a LOT of work to get all the small details handled properly. Not to mention every little detail adds to the $$$ of the swap.

It's a lot of work - especially the first and second and third times you do it . We have a process down fairly well now. But yeah it's never as cheap as people sometimes like to purport it as being around here - not to do the job the right way anyhow.

 

GD

Is there any reason I should need to remove the rocker arm in order to remove the whole head?

Yes, the bolts that hold them on are also holding the heads on (they are part of the tourqing sequences). They get removed 1st.

And everytime i see a thread too EJ it, the price of a real and stock BRAT just shot up a little.

 

+1

 

Especially longer term.

Mine is a rust bucket that wasn't worth the $900 I paid for it, so I'm not worried about value.

Well, poop again. Called about half a dozen machine/engine shops in the local area and nobody wants to work on an EA81. Anyone in Albuquerque know a shop that will do it?

I have 40 crank and rod asemblys for ea81s hung onto them for airplane guys if you need one all good all std size.

Thanks, I may need a rod (found one slightly bent), but it's the case I really need, since no one around here will machine it for me. Ideally I'd like to find an EJ81 pushrod shorty; but sans that, I'm going to have to go pull something from the junk yard and make it fit.