Jellef Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Hi all, This is my first post! This fourm is really a great service to us subaru lovers. Well, I have recently purchased an 84 turbo brat (only 113k miles on it!!!) in pretty good shape for a killer price and i am a little disapointed with the power it puts out. I am considering a few options for swaps. #1 Keep the ea81T and swap out the 3AT and put in a 5spd DR #2 Drop the Ea81T an put in an Ea82T #3 Drop in an EJ (prefirably the EJ20T) Is there anyway to get more power out of my ea81T safely and relitivly cheaply? I am new to subaru modding and i want to keep it relitivly simple. Please let me know what will be the greatest benifit to ease of project ratio. Thanks!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Start with #1. The 3AT is notorious for eating power. If that's not enough - carefully donate the EA81T to someone that will love it, and drop in an EJ22. The EJ20T is nice, but you'll end up with so much power you will have to upgrade suspension, brakes and a whole host of other stuff. You'll likely break the 5 spd D/R with over 200 HP, and so you would want the EJ AWD tranny - axle issues (custom), etc, etc. Plus the EJ22 is more common, cheaper, simpler to wire and route exhaust for. 135 HP is more than enough to feel very quick in a Brat. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Start with #1. The 3AT is notorious for eating power. If that's not enough - carefully donate the EA81T to someone that will love it, and drop in an EJ22. The EJ20T is nice, but you'll end up with so much power you will have to upgrade suspension, brakes and a whole host of other stuff. You'll likely break the 5 spd D/R with over 200 HP, and so you would want the EJ AWD tranny - axle issues (custom), etc, etc. Plus the EJ22 is more common, cheaper, simpler to wire and route exhaust for. 135 HP is more than enough to feel very quick in a Brat. GD Good advice. I don't have the loathing of the 3AT that many/most here have, but it would help your quest for performance. EA81Ts are uncommon, so please DO get it to someone who will love it for what it is. The EA82T is signicantly wider than the EA81T and makes for a tight fit in the earlier chassis, whereas the EJ22 is closer in width to the EA81T. BUT... the EJ22 is also significantly heavier (IIRC, 100+lbs), so you may need to think about that in regards to suspension and brakes. (Turbo Brat, so it already has vented front disks, right?) Might consider rear disk brake conversion. Unless you have a serious death-wish the EJ22 should give you more than enough power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jellef Posted August 13, 2006 Author Share Posted August 13, 2006 Thanks for the advice! I think i am going to bite off more than i can chew if i do any engine swap at this point. Why is the ea81T so appriciated by some? I found an 86 gl sw for free in the Bremerton area, now i just have to find help to get it to seattle. The new tranny would make it significantly better offroad, right? I would like to do some light offroading in the future, what do you recommend i do to my brat to make it a well balanced commuter / offroader? I was thinking new tires , maybe a slight lift, and the new d/r tranny? The ground clearance is 8.1" stock adjustable to 9.1" on the brat, is this enough for some fun offroad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 If you off-road a turbo brat, you will make a lot of folks very angry They are exceedingly rare (only made for two years), and if you value it at all, keep it on the street if it's in good shape as you say. The EA81T is a good engine - but not good for off-road. Turbo's are low compression, and haven't got the needed low end torque for crawling about - forcing you to keep the RPM's up in the 2500 - 3000 range for any decent power. This wears out clutches, and makes you take running starts at obsticles - furthering the chances of causeing body damage, and suspension damage. If you really want to off-road sell the Brat and with the proceeds you can easily buy a wagon (or even better, a hatchback), a lift, and tires. You'll have the same wheelbase (or less in the hatch), same drivetrain (except non-turbo) and same capabilities, while also having a dry place to put passengers, camping stuff, tools, equipments, etc. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jellef Posted August 13, 2006 Author Share Posted August 13, 2006 Thank you GD. You are right, i do want to see this car live a long life. I mainly intend to use it on dirt roads that lead to hiking trails. Would i be disgraceing the car if i put in the 5spd d/r? I will consider a second car for offroading, would you recommend the hatch over an xt6? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 No - the 5 speed is a nice addition to the Turbo Brat.... no one likes the automatics they came with. EA81T's only came with the 3AT, so a well done install of a 5 speed is usually welcome. Being it's a nice vehicle - you may want to get a 5 speed install kit from Jerry (bratsrus1 on the board here). He lives around yakima and makes a complete install kit that will make the interior look completely factory (for a manual trans EA81). You will still need to aquire the consoles and such, but they aren't rare. A well preserved low-mileage Turbo Brat would easily command $5,000+ on ebay and they are only going up it seems.... so whatever you do be kind to it. The XT6 is not a good off-road choice - it has no low range, the engine is powerfull, but has timing belts, and is pretty expensive to work on. You would have to design your own lift for it, and it would have to be fairly large as they sit very low in stock form. The EA81 hatch is pretty much the ultimate subaru off-road vehicle to start with - it has the shortest wheelbase, and the best departure angle. Easy to lift, simple to work on - no timing belts to worry about. With a 5 speed or even the stock 4 speed D/R they do quite well off-road. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jellef Posted August 14, 2006 Author Share Posted August 14, 2006 ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jellef Posted August 15, 2006 Author Share Posted August 15, 2006 thanks gd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jellef Posted August 15, 2006 Author Share Posted August 15, 2006 ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phizinza Posted August 15, 2006 Share Posted August 15, 2006 #3 Drop in an EJ (prefirably the EJ20T)The Turbo'd EJ's really have too much power for any of the EA gearboxes.. A EJ22 has 138hp, and a EA82T has 115hp. So I'd say if you were to put in a EJ, go for a non turbo one, as it won't blow up your trans, and it will be more powerful then any stock/ish EA. But, I would keep your EA81T just for the reason that the engine belongs in that car. Oh and one more thing... DON'T PUT A EA82 IN!!! I hate 'em. EA81 FTW! pushies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry DeMoss Posted August 15, 2006 Share Posted August 15, 2006 Oh and one more thing... DON'T PUT A EA82 IN!!! I hate 'em. EA81 FTW! pushies! Agreed!I love the ea81 just for that reason.Also being the under dog and having most people think it looks like a puny little engine is pretty nice when you really know its potential. I really like the looks of that turbo brat!I would do the 5speed swap and definately keep the ea81t just for originality sake.I think it will have alot better power delivery/driveability after the manual swap and you do rear disks on it,as others just stated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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