Thinking about buying a 1978 Wagon w/ the EA71 engine and am curious about an "easy" engine swap for a little more juice, as I live at 9000'+ elevation in the mtns., both turbo and non-turbo apps, subaru and non-subaru; suggestions.

 

If there isn't much you can do with relative ease, anybody know where I can find a throttle cable for this vehicle?

check the parts stores. if they dont have an exact fit, get something close enough to work......

I put an EA81 in my 1978 brat just fine with very little modifications. The power gain wasn't that great, but I managed to juice it up a little with a webber carb and ignition system. The main reason I did it was for the mods and a D/R 4wd transmission. It's much more capable now.

 

 

 

Thinking about buying a 1978 Wagon w/ the EA71 engine and am curious about an "easy" engine swap for a little more juice, as I live at 9000'+ elevation in the mtns., both turbo and non-turbo apps, subaru and non-subaru; suggestions.

 

If there isn't much you can do with relative ease, anybody know where I can find a throttle cable for this vehicle?

keep the ea71 unless you can find a ea71t

 

"upgrading" to a ea81 is hardly worth the 4 hp gain

 

switch to a weber and electronic dist.

if you want more power while you are at it, install an xt6 alt.

EA82T would go nicely in there. There was a fellow on here awhile ago that put an EA82T engine into his '79 Brat. It was very powerful, especially since there is a little more upgradeable parts for it, plus the forced induction will help with the higher elevation.

It depends on your definition of "easy". Like has been said, you could put in an EA81 1.8L engine, but the power gain really is minimal. An EA82T 1.8L has been done, which gets you up around 115 hp with no other mods, but at that point, it's really not any more work to install an EJ22 2.2L, which makes 130 hp, and is much more reliable and long-lasting than the EA82T (sorry guys, somebody had to say it). The EA81 is virtually a direct bolt-in with little or no fuel or electrical modifications. The other two engines require installing the ECM and engine control wiring harness, as well as a high pressure fuel pump. The EJ22 also requires an adapter plate and different flywheel to bolt up to the tranny.

With any newer engine swap, you'll need to swap the tranny, no matter what. You can go ahead and put an EJ22 in there with the AWD tranmission but its a lot of work and time, but in the long run, you'll have tons of power and the luxury of the AWD setup.

i suggest buying another EA71 and gettin it stroked, thats the power a 70 some should have. and a turbo for fun, not near as much as a EJ and youll have ur stock just incase you get a little throttle happy n blow somthin (it can happen : ] . if i get 84+ brat ill put a EJ in it but unitl then my 79 is going to modded with a turbo srtoker and some high end ignition units. ; )

i suggest buying another EA71 and gettin it stroked, thats the power a 70 some should have. and a turbo for fun, not near as much as a EJ and youll have ur stock just incase you get a little throttle happy n blow somthin (it can happen : ] . if i get 84+ brat ill put a EJ in it but unitl then my 79 is going to modded with a turbo srtoker and some high end ignition units. ; )

 

Good luck with that. Its a lot harder then you might think, seeing I've blown two engines in my turbo RX already. Unless you plan on putting a fuel injection setup on it, you'll have a heck of a time getting the carb to work properly , even with a draw though setup... Also, where would you be getting a stroker kit for an EA71? Planning on dumping a ton of money on some Ram Engine stuff are you?

nope they make kits, and you can have em made. it will work when you boly up a pro tuned weber on that stroker = one mean machine.

 

Good luck with that. Its a lot harder then you might think, seeing I've blown two engines in my turbo RX already. Unless you plan on putting a fuel injection setup on it, you'll have a heck of a time getting the carb to work properly , even with a draw though setup... Also, where would you be getting a stroker kit for an EA71? Planning on dumping a ton of money on some Ram Engine stuff are you?