Jump to content
Ultimate Subaru Message Board

82 gl performance boost


Recommended Posts

I just purchased an automatic 82 subaru gl 2d hatchback with 86k miles for 400 dollars...so i guess im the new guy,heh. Well i was wondering how i could make the car faster. What engines can i put in the car. I was looking through the web and found this webpage that talked alot about engine types(http://www.autospeed.com/cms/article.html?&A=0231) but i didnt talk about compatibilty. I was wondering if i could put a ej20(t or even tt :brow: ) in an 82 :headbang:, hehehe, but that might not be possible. Well basically i want to make the car reach 175-200hp with as much torque as possible, so experts help a newbie out. All possible solutions accepted, example change tranny to accomadate the engine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1. Dump the automatic.

 

2. As for engine - this depends on how much work you want to do. If you really, really want the EJ20T (although, I would go with the EJ22G personally - if you can find one), it can be done. You'll basically need a whole donor car to do it, as you'll need it's tranny as well, and all the wireing too. Custom engine mounts, and custom axles will have to be fabricated to make it hook up to the existing suspension, and the cars fuel system would have to be upgraded to handle the pressure of the fuel injection pump.

 

The best solution in my opinion, is have a better cam ground for your EA81 - rebuild it with 1600 pistons, and put a Weber carb, and free flow exhaust on. The EA81 with a few mods is good up to 150 HP or so - which is about double what it has stock. Also much easier to do than an engine swap with a new car. Install an EA82 5 speed tranny (4WD or AWD - depending on what you want), and get rid of as much wieght as possible.....

 

GD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow that was quick. I can tell this is a good site to come to with any problems. Ill post my progress with the car in the appropiate section. Thanks a bunch folks. :headbang: Hey admins, i think generaldisorder needs a promotion. What manufacter do you suggest for the ground cam? And if i get the five speed awd i would have to change the differential(looked at torsen didnt see any prices?? Any suggestions??) Would you point me in the direction of a how to modify your subaru book(for example how would i know which weber carb would be good for my subaru engine type for example) or just list all the mods that you referred to in you post aside from the mods you suggested and good places to find the parts you suggest. Sorry if i seem to be rushing, just want to get this car project going, hehehehe. :burnout:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's no books on the subject that I know of - you just have to hang around places like this, and do a little tinkering in the garage.

 

As for cam's - a lot of people around here use Delta Cam up in Washinton.... I'm sure if you search the board here you'll find their info. It's about $80 for a cam for an EA81 I think...

 

Carbs - you can do a lot of stuff, but the easiest is a Weber 32/36 DGEV. It comes as a kit (kit number K730), or you can just buy a carb from ebay, and buy the adaptor plate seperate from Redline.... call around for pricing - any import performance shop could order you the kit, or just the adaptor. Price's on the Kit range from $300, to $400, and the adaptor plate by itself is about $40. You can often pick up the carbs on ebay for $100 or so.... might need rejetting tho. You need to start with the Hitachi manifold, as the carter/weber manifold that some 82's used isn't compatible with the adaptor plate.

 

As for the 1600 pistons.... only way I know to get them is from a used 1600 engine. They can still be found in the junk yards now and then.

 

Depends on the tranny weather you change the diff or not. Changing it is a 20 minute job, so no problem there. A 5 speed from an RX would be a 3.7, but a 5 speed from an XT6 would be a 3.9 - which is what you already have.

 

You should do some searches on this board - there's lots of stuff you can do to your car - too much for me to list here. Rear disc brakes comes to mind as something you probably would enjoy....

 

GD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Once again - this depends on the 5 speed. The AWD (full time 4 wheel drive) 5 speeds are different than what Jerry's kit was designed around. And installation is VERY possible without his kit. People were doing it for a long time before his kit existed. But depending on the car, and the tranny that are involved, it may indeed make the install easier. It is not, however, "NEEDED".

 

GD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Again thanks for all the input, much appreciated. Now I need to ask a few questions before i go off to work on the car.

 

1. Which manifolds, both intake and exhaust should i get? (board postings suggested taking them off a ea82???)

2. I want to convert the car to AWD using Torsen diffs, where can i get the donar transfer case from and let me know of any pitfalls in performing a AWD conversion?

3. I want to use cold air induction on the motor to help get more air into the engine, any suggestions?

4. How would I setup an electric fan to the radiator and where to get such a fan? (suggested somewhere in the forum, said it would free up some hp???)

5. Where do i get the rear disk breaks from, can I get them of another sub or do i have to pay for some after market set?

 

I'm also puting in fuel injection, thanks for all your help on the carb though. Any suggestions also on high performance suspension parts/systems that will fit my model.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Prior to the release of the EJ motor was the tough-as-nails EA flat four. It came in both naturally aspirated and non intercooled turbo form to make up to 101kW at 5600 rpm (the turbo engine, that is). While these engines aren't outright screamers, they were very successful in the rally scene in the all-wheel-drive RX sedan - probably due to their reliability.

 

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!! :banana::grin::headbang:

 

Anyhow....if you are using the stock EA81, use the EA82 SPFI manifolds, they fold a little better.

 

Cold air? Miles Fox has some interesting solutions....if its going to be carbed, a simple hood scoop above the carb would do...but for offroading, a snorkle would be great.

 

I wire up my fans thru a toggle switch. I used the stock fans...the drivers side I used an EA81 drivers side fan. Nice and slim.

 

Rear disks can be found on the turbo gen 3 (EA82T) subes. I dont know which gen 2 or 1 subes came with them.

 

Before I go to any more sugestions....are you offroading, street perofrmance or a combination? Or autocrossing or some other kind of racing?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well im going to focus on street performance, no offroading for me. Going to use a fuel injection setup, no carb for me. I want to make the car accelerate fast and handle corners really well. No scoop for me either, I want to keep all engine mods under the hood, aka a sleeper car :D .

Any suggestions on the remaining questions:

 

2. I want to convert the car to AWD using Torsen diffs, where can i get the donar transfer case from and let me know of any pitfalls in performing a AWD conversion?

6. Any suggestions also on high performance suspension parts/systems that will fit my model.

 

Again thanks for the prompt response to my questions. Sorry about the fan question, should have looked under the hood to see if it already had one, assumed it didn't.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Torsen diffs don't exist as far as I know. You do know that the front diff is part of the transmission right? You might be able to rig something up in the back, but it's dobutfull for the front.

 

Suspension is similar - you just have to experiment, or weld up a suspension from some other subaru....

 

GD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You should be able to do it with an EA82 - but it's not as easy, or as cheap. You have two cam's, so you will have to have a custom set of cam's made. The SPFI pistons are already 9.5:1, so your good there. Deck the heads to bring the compression up a little more, and put on a weber and a free-flow exhaust.... should be pretty powerful. Still have those silly timing belts, and those problematic lifters tho.... why not just get an EA81???

 

GD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You want and EA82T then, or an EJ engine. DEFINATLY the RX or XT/XT6 FT4WD.

 

I dont know anything about torsen diffs...

If the springs on the front struts are the same as the front springs on an EA82 sube, I can get you some springs.

 

AWD conversion? Is it 4wd or 2wd right now? If its 2wd...converting a gen 2 sube is marginally more difficult than a gen 3. Ive converted my GL-10 wagon from 2wd auto to FT4WD manual. It was rather easy. The onyl hard part was installing the transmission with no jack, no lift, no shop floor, and I was by myself. Otherwise, if its already a 4wd...then it should not be hard to install an gen 3 trans. I think that the drive tunnel is also way narrower on the gen 2s as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jerry makes a kit that works with the FT4wd 5spd trans. I have one and he is running one too. The shifters for the standard 5 spd kit are the same and the trans mounts are almost the same just slightly different on one side.

 

Be warned that if you do this trans the splines on the outer stubs for the front axles are not available and you have to order custom axles from an axle reman company like I did from www.cvaxles.com.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

an ea82 will fit in there, and if you dont mind wiring, make it a turbo!

 

ditch the auto and find your favorite 5spd. if its a full time or from a turbo, you will have to as everyone says make custom axles. or do an ea82 suspension conversion and use 25spline turbo axles. or even xt6 5 lugs and its axles.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well no need for an engine swap the engine only has 86k on it. GeneralDisorder make alot of great suggestions that would let my ea81 engine hit 150+hp and if i get the AWD setup figured out with good suspension, I could make sure all the power generated by the engine gets transfered to the ground.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hiya, welcome to the board!

 

As for a cold-air intake, a picture is worth a thousand words. I later added an air duct from underneath the bumper as well as a heat shield, which helped even more. The filter is an Australian-made Unifilter, just like they use in the World Rally Championship, and the hose is a radiator hose from NAPA that fits a CAT or a big V8 or something.

intake001.sized.jpg

For converting to rear discs, you can get all the parts from an ea82 turbo car. I can't remember the exact list, but I think it's the hub/rotor, gravel shield, and caliper. There's surely some other stuff, but I can't remember it.

 

How are you going to convert to fuel injection? Grab an SPFI system from an ea82? Convert to Bosch CIS?

 

I don't know if this is feasible or not, but you might look into welding/bolting on a rear swaybar from an RX or ea82 turbowagon, as well as swapping the front one if it fits. I've never tried this, so I don't know if it would work, but it might be worth a shot.

 

You know, we really should write a book covering all the subaru modifications that people have come up with over the years. Just having information like which parts can interchange between different cars would be invaluable. Even if we just made it like the USRM, but with everything organized and in the same format, ready to print out and put in a binder, that can be purchased for a small donation to the board.:brow:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Snowman. But what is cooling the incoming air to the engine???? Sorry i cant see it, i guess the picture is trying to talk someone else. Well Im going to use Bosch fuel injection and get a new ecu to control it, but that is in the later stages of the project. I'll document all my modifications and make like a journal/book and then convert it to pdf and put in it the designated section on the board. When I get done ill maybe make a quicktime video too, hehehe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"I later added an air duct from underneath the bumper as well as a heat shield, which helped even more."

 

The cool air was taken in from in front of the bumper and dumped out onto the pod filter while the car was moving. Not a true ram-air or cold-air, but it avoided all the problems of sucking in water and such, with a negligable difference in power compared to those setups. To make it more effective, I also made a heat shield that I put between the filter and the engine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...