picked up an 86 gl wagon a little while back.. ea82 carbed motor of course..

 

my question is just how gutless should this thing be? i mean i know its gonna be but 0-60 time is about 1 minute.. even to keep up with traffic from a light in normal in town driving you gotta have your foot on the floor and run it balls to the wall just to keep up.. this morning a school bus out accelerated me.. i'm talkin one of the big flat nose busses..

 

i've had ea81 carbed vehicles before and none of them were this gutless..

 

this is the first ea82 carbed car i have had, thats why i'm asking..

 

i know she's runnin on all 4, i know the secondaries work (you can hear them)

the car runs as smooth as can be, gets about 25 mpg, etc..

 

any input on this?

My EA82 goes pretty hard. Its a 5 speed manual though, the three speed will take a bit out of it. But it should go way better then a EA81. What sort of bus are we talking about... it should leave a bus for dead!

My EA82 was pretty gutless in general when it was carbed, but if it was reved up past 4k rpm, it took off quickly - carbed EA82's aren't that fast, but you should be able to get well under a minute for your 0-60 time - bad carb? or ignition issues? how's your timing set?

Hey Moose

 

Which tranny dose it have? My '87 carbed wagon with the 3AT is VERY slow, its go a lot-o-miles, burns some oil, but runs pretty well. She'll only do about 55mph up the hills and gets about 20mpg.

 

Carb + 3AT = not so Subarific

 

Gary

shoulda posted it, 5-speed, dual range 4wd.. the bus was one of those 50 foot + flat nose school busses..

 

this car will barely do 75 downhill with a tail wind.. my old carbed ea81's would run 100mph on the flats..

 

 

its just a plain out dog for some reason.. prolly gonna fool with the timing some tonight.. it leaks a little, doesn't burn any, get in it when its cold, pump it twice and she fires right up every time.. carb was rebuilt about 3-4 years ago by the previous owners local shop.. so i don't suspect anything there..

shoulda posted it, 5-speed, dual range 4wd.. the bus was one of those 50 foot + flat nose school busses..

 

this car will barely do 75 downhill with a tail wind.. my old carbed ea81's would run 100mph on the flats..

 

 

its just a plain out dog for some reason.. prolly gonna fool with the timing some tonight.. it leaks a little, doesn't burn any, get in it when its cold, pump it twice and she fires right up every time.. carb was rebuilt about 3-4 years ago by the previous owners local shop.. so i don't suspect anything there..

 

sounds like possibly a dead clutch to me.

sounds like possibly a dead clutch to me.

 

OK, now I'm scratching my head.... why would a 'dead clutch' cause a car to be gutless? Doesn't a dead clutch just slip and cause shifting difficulties?

 

Personally, I say time for a complete tune-up if that hasn't already been covered. And maybe try running super in it. My car is a dog (EA82 w/Hitachi carb), but it's a complete useless dog without super in it!

Sounds just like my '86. Exact same as yours (carbed, d/r wagon, ~25mpg) and 150k miles.

I have given her a full tune-up and bumped the timing to about 13 degrees. She runs like a top, but accelerates like a dog.

I've just grown to accept it and keep my foot on the floor most of the time.

are there any published times or road tests from back in the day for refrence?

not a dead clutch, i can bark all 4 in 4 low on dry pavement.. nothing wrong with the clutch.. shifts good to..

 

guess i'm gonna get some plugs and bump the timing a bit.. if i have to run super in it, i'm just gonna park it and drive the svx.. it has to have super lol

 

anyone got a used weber and adaptor plate layin around? that'll make her move a little bit better..

 

better yet i'm gonna mod the hitachi to work as a manual 2 barrell instead of vacuum operated 2 barrell.. done this on old nissans, makes a huge difference..

It's possible the cat converter is partially plugged and not allowing the engine to breath. My .03 worth....

OK, now I'm scratching my head.... why would a 'dead clutch' cause a car to be gutless? Doesn't a dead clutch just slip and cause shifting difficulties?

 

if it never fully grabs, you're going to constantly slip.

all the exhaust is new, from the heads to the tailpipe

 

 

btw my clutch does not slip...

Hey,

I've got a 87 carbbed D/R five speed in Colorado... It's not the slowest thing I've ever driven, but damn, its close. The trick to beating cars if you really wanna race them in your 80s wagon is to wait till it snows and put it in lo:drunk: Just kidding, kinda......

just an update.. changed the plugs, old ones looked new, lol.. anyways, before and after the new plugs you could rev it then let it idle and it would have a miss on #2.. new plugs didn't help..

 

so i advanced teh timing, by how much i dunno, i'm gonna guess its at about 15+, anyways it runs nice and smooth now.. no matter if ya rev it or not.. accelerates a little better, not quite as gutless..

Well, if its any consolation, my old carbed EA82 whooped my SPFI car any day. Someone did a writeup with pictures about mechanically actuating the secondaries on the hitachi carb.