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EA81 Carb to SPFI Conversion Log


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Starting this thread to use it as a log for my conversion!

I recently starting acquiring parts from the fuel injected EA82 motor to convert my EA81. I'm going to be using GeneralDisorder's guide that he wrote to help me along the way.

 

So far I have sourced an intake manifold w/ the throttle body, air intake boot, a wiring harness, and also ECU. I've already began taking off the current intake manifold on the EA81. Got all the bolts out except for the bolt that holds the bracket to the accelerator cable lol.... going to try at it again today since I let it soak in some pb blaster.

I live in Washington so a carburetor just ain't going to cut it here in the cold and on hills. Fuel injection all the way baby!

 

Please post any tips or tricks you might have or know about this conversion. I want to make the SPFI system as top notch as I can, whether it be really nice fuel pumps, or even a custom ECU if people have suggestions (like the megasquirt, etc)

Edited by Subuhrue
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Oem gaskets.

Best thing I ever found for getting steel bolts out of aluminum castings is this :  heat the casting to near normal operating temperature.   Use a heat gun and or a space heater and a thermometer.   Then carefully begin working the bolt loose,  rocking it looser & tighter gradually.   Adding penetrant doesn't hurt,  but the heat is the key.

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I have done the EA81 SPFI conversion a couple of times now. In my opinion it is a waste of time. They never seem to run right. This was on a fresh engine with shaved large valve heads, delta cam, etc. It always seemed too lean to me. I hope it works out for you, I won't do it again. I will either go multi-port (yes I have EA81 multi-port heads) or an EJ swap which is the route I ended up going. Good Luck! Please post your progress if you go for it.

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GD does a guide that is complimentary to anything EA82?

I am watching this thread

Our market never got spfi Subaru of any kInd but I did the intake swap to make use of the fuelie throttle body to mount an Impco propane mixer. Very successful result. I then started to make one suit EA82 turbo components on EA81...shelved any EA81 activity for a while though

You .may need to modify coolant hose outlets near distributor. GD likely covered this for you. I used 1/8 taper tap, 8 mm drill bit and numerous brass bits to get goodfunctional results

b

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3 hours ago, jono said:

GD does a guide that is complimentary to anything EA82?

I am watching this thread

Our market never got spfi Subaru of any kInd but I did the intake swap to make use of the fuelie throttle body to mount an Impco propane mixer. Very successful result. I then started to make one suit EA82 turbo components on EA81...shelved any EA81 activity for a while though

You .may need to modify coolant hose outlets near distributor. GD likely covered this for you. I used 1/8 taper tap, 8 mm drill bit and numerous brass bits to get goodfunctional results

b

Yes I have the guide downloaded luckily! I will follow it it as closely as possible. Wish there were more EA81T or EA82T out there with the MPFI, I would much rather have that.

Thanks for the tip jono!

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On 12/1/2018 at 4:30 AM, carfreak85 said:

@GeneralDisorder is going to chime in here at any moment that an EJ-swap is superior to the SPFI conversion because parts are still available, or something like that.

He’ll say the EJ conversion isn’t worth it these days and to sell up to get a Gen2 or 3 platform where parts are interchangeable and still supported blah blah blah...

I too am doing the spfi conversion. In. Very. Slow. Steps. If you can call them steps. 

Hold up atm is motivation to add some wiring and sort some nuts to put the throttle body back on the inlet manifold. Also I’m after the “toilet bowl” gasket as the one I have is enlarged :( 

Cheers 

Bennie

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17 hours ago, Crazyeights said:

Looking Great! Thanks for sharing your progress! :)

Thank you! The progress will be slow as I source parts and have time to work on it.

 

15 hours ago, el_freddo said:

He’ll say the EJ conversion isn’t worth it these days and to sell up to get a Gen2 or 3 platform where parts are interchangeable and still supported blah blah blah...

I too am doing the spfi conversion. In. Very. Slow. Steps. If you can call them steps. 

Hold up atm is motivation to add some wiring and sort some nuts to put the throttle body back on the inlet manifold. Also I’m after the “toilet bowl” gasket as the one I have is enlarged :( 

Cheers 

Bennie

Haha, GD is a boss, but I must not listen to him on this one and listen to the PDF he wrote about SPFI lol!

Where are you at with your conversion so far? I just sourced pretty much everything I need, now it's time to order it. Please keep tuning in to this thread and sharing you two cents as well, I am sure we will be able to help each other out along the way!

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think I recall there is a difference in clearance of manifolds between EA82 and EA81 and think I had to remove material from the underside of the spfi inlet manifold to clear the EA81 block. In the middle section.  So when you place untouched spfi inlet on the EA81 heads it may not sit flush on the heads mating surfaces both sides until some weight is shed

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@Subuhrue - I’ll be checking in don’t stress about that!

I’ve got my main wiring loom installed after checking a few wires that didn’t marry up on their labels compared to the wiring diagram. Ecu is going into the glove box (right hand drive so this works well).

I’ve got my inlet manifold gaskets, O2 sensor and everything else I need including an already modified dizzy with the EA81 drive gear fitted. 

What I feel I need is that toilet bowl gasket. Mine is enlarged.  If you happen to find one can you grab me one as well and I’ll sort something out with you?  

I also need to source some nuts to fit the throttle body back onto the intake and get a thermostat housing (at m&d’s an hr away). Then it’s a case of putting it all in, fitting efi rated flexible fuel hose, O2 sensor and see if she’ll fire up ;)

Just have to see out the end of the school year first and get a few other projects out of the way... it never ends! 

Cheers 

Bennie

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@jono - Okay good to know! I will take a thorough look at this when I receive the EA82 intake manifold. Thanks!

 

@el_freddo - Right on man. Do you have a picture of the toilet bowl gasket you are referring to? Not sure I know what you are talking about! B) I'm with you on sourcing those nuts as well, I would prefer to put new ones back on, same with the intake manifold bolts.

Is there an aftermarket distributor that isn't trash and that is purchasable that will not require a modification? Just curious.

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This is the “toilet bowl” gasket:

NS6WkD.jpg

 

As you can see the gasket isn’t sitting right. On the underside of the throttle body there’s a groove this O ring style gasket sits in, mine doesn’t really sit as it should. 

I’m not after new nuts - I got the manifold separate to the rest of the kit so any extra weight was stripped off for the international shipping.  I’ve just let this part of the project slide atm.

As for after market dizzy, no idea there sorry!

Cheers 

Bennie

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