My '84 Brat finally passed without major repairs but it just barely made it. The reason I'm posting is for you Washington State people (where the emission nazis don't care what's under the hood....just the sniffer results) there is hope for a pretty non-standard engine to make it through.

 

My Brat has a newly rebuilt EA81 engine with under 3000 miles on the clock. It came with a hefty Delta cam (don't ask me which one since I don't know) and I installed my weber and old manifold from the previous engine. The EGR is still present but not actuated by vacuum at all; I'll put a plate there when I get around to it. All the emission stuff was de-activated when I first took it through. It failed big time for HCs at idle: 1293 ppm (limit is 220). It passed everything else. I had the valves readjusted since there seemed to be an issue there and re-activated the Air Suction Valve with manifold vacuum. That got the HCs down into the 600 ppm range. After reading up on webers (thanks Svengali and oddcomp) and bugging a number of people (thanks to Bow Wow in Lynnwood and Carbs Unlimited in Fife), I changed the primary idle jet from a #45 to a #55. I "tuned" it by ear as best I could (our local emissions guru was out with an injury); it failed again, but the HCs were almost there at 253; but the CO at idle now failed at 2.63% (limit 1.2%) also. Today I went back to our emissions guru (he's back at work again:) and he tweaked the mixture a bit and retarded the spark somewhat. The car passed....not with flying colors, but in this case an inch is as good as a mile.

Final results:

Cruise HC: 150 (limit 170)

Cruise CO: 0.37% (limit 1.2%)

Idle HC: 192 (limit 220)

Idle CO: 1.12% (limit 1.2%)

There seems to be a very slight engine miss which is not helping any and I'll troubleshoot that some more now that I can drive it again. But there is hope for those of us who want a hotter engine and still need to pass emissions. I'll only need to do this one more time in two years and then my Brat will be exempt from further testing:) .

YEESSSS!!! Congrats Ed! Glad you finally got that sucker done! I have a feeling Dan will be going through the same deal with his brat. On a side note, I think emmissions is a great thing, not because it sucks all our money or saves the environment, but think of how poorly the carb and tuning of the engine before compaired to now! I ber you're going to get more power and better mileage now than ever before. You should also get that puppy dynoed so we can have some numbers for your build.

Galen, yes the car has significantly more power than before and I'm getting phenomenal gas mileage (>30 mpg on the highway). A dyno would be cool but I can think of better things to spend my money on for the car other than having a piece of paper telling me what I already know (i.e. that it goes faster!). ---Ed---

YEESSSS!!! Congrats Ed! Glad you finally got that sucker done! I have a feeling Dan will be going through the same deal with his brat. On a side note, I think emmissions is a great thing, not because it sucks all our money or saves the environment, but think of how poorly the carb and tuning of the engine before compaired to now! I ber you're going to get more power and better mileage now than ever before. You should also get that puppy dynoed so we can have some numbers for your build.

Glad to hear the engine is stronger! I'll put this on the table. In a year, when the VRI gets strightened out (Messy rooms and all), bring the brat up here and I'll see if I can't get you on the dyno for free. I just want to see some numbers!

You're on. I'm curious too, but not enough to spend the going rate for a dyno test.

Glad to hear the engine is stronger! I'll put this on the table. In a year, when the VRI gets strightened out (Messy rooms and all), bring the brat up here and I'll see if I can't get you on the dyno for free. I just want to see some numbers!

Man, I'm starting to worry about my Brat not passing the emission test next year. I have recently swapped my carb to a weber and have similar setup as Ed's. But the worse thing about my Brat than Ed's is that my engine is not working properly and still a stock whereas Ed's is nearly perfect condition after rebuild and have a emission guru he can ask for advice.

 

Oh well Hopefully I will be done with my Brat project before my lic tab expires and bring the Brat over here to Michigan hoping the emission test will be less strict.

Dan

Dan, I wouldn't be too concerned. My engine might be new and working very well, but the Delta cam may have a lot to do with it having trouble passing emissions. I had the same weber and manifold on the old engine and it passed emissions just fine. Also, the emissions guru is available to you in south Seattle also; he charges $39.95 plus tax and if you don't pass, you don't pay.

Man, I'm starting to worry about my Brat not passing the emission test next year. I have recently swapped my carb to a weber and have similar setup as Ed's. But the worse thing about my Brat than Ed's is that my engine is not working properly and still a stock whereas Ed's is nearly perfect condition after rebuild and have a emission guru he can ask for advice.

 

Oh well Hopefully I will be done with my Brat project before my lic tab expires and bring the Brat over here to Michigan hoping the emission test will be less strict.

Dan

So Ed, why is your brat gonna be exempt from emissions in 2 yrs? What's gonna be the cut off year then?

I believe the exemption from emissions testing is 25 years from the date of manufacture; my next test is due in 2006 and after that 2008; so it'll be exempt after that. I'm not sure of that; might be 20 or 22 years. I'll check into it again when I need to.

So Ed, why is your brat gonna be exempt from emissions in 2 yrs? What's gonna be the cut off year then?

Congrats. I want my car to be as minimaly polluting as practical, but I have had nothing but headaches and low respect for the emissions testing beaurocracy.

... I changed the primary idle jet from a #45 to a #55...

Umm.. I was unaware that Weber 2-stage 2-bbls (as opposed to DCOE-series) used idle jets. Do you mean Primary Air bleed/jet? Not wanting to be picky; I suspect that others will follow your lead to better running and lower pollution, and I want to make sure that the right term is used.

Way to go! I'm happy for you!

Umm.. I was unaware that Weber 2-stage 2-bbls (as opposed to DCOE-series) used idle jets. Do you mean Primary Air bleed/jet? Not wanting to be picky; I suspect that others will follow your lead to better running and lower pollution, and I want to make sure that the right term is used.

You are correct they are primary and secondary air bleed jets.

Thanks, but this was an old thread that cameltoe dredged up from somewhere. The recent emissions test was for my new Brat and altho I passed was not quite as happy.

Way to go! I'm happy for you!

Thanks, but this was an old thread that cameltoe dredged up from somewhere....

Gee, I am SOOO embarassed.

Hey now dont misuse my name without permission like that Ed... :)

I'll try to be more careful....but it IS an old thread started early this year.

Hey now dont misuse my name without permission like that Ed... :)

I wouldn't want somebody calling me "Cameltoe" either.