EA82 into EA81 shift linkage conversion...

[Squidfisher]

Hey everyone! Long time no post.

 

I hear tell there's someone on the USMB who sells a conversion kit to adapt an EA82 5sp d/r into an EA81 car. Is that true? If so, who is it and how do we hook up?

 

Finally getting around to stuffing the EA82T and 5sp into my '83 wagon. All prayers appreciated.

[GeneralDisorder]

bratsrus1

 

His name is Jerry - great guy, and great kit. It's actually a cross-member that he makes. The linkage is trivial really.

 

You are going to need to notch at least the drivers side frame rail to clear the EA82 properly. Just so you know. And the exhaust will need to clear the engine cross-member.

 

GD

[Squidfisher]

Thanks for the info! I hope Jerry sees this and contacts me.

 

I test fit the engine in last week, and I'm going to do a lot more than I guess is normally done. I've read about guys doing the conversion and just pounding the frame rails in with a 2"x4" and a sledge. I'm going to remove the crossmember mount on the frame rail and lift block altogether and build my own cross member mount. I want access to be able to change valve cover gaskets without yanking the engine.

 

If I understand right, the '84 turbo crossmember has the cutout for the turbo up pipe. Is that correct? I've got major contact between the p/s line junction block and the up-pipe on the pass. side, and I thought an easy cure would be getting the EA81T crossmember with its corresponding p/s lines. Am I right?

 

The hillholder valve is also in direct contact with the distributor, so I'm re-routing the brakelines as well.

[GeneralDisorder]

I notched the frame rail with a die grinder and then welded it all back up.

 

The HH does need to be pushed back.

 

I wouldn't worry about the valve cover gaskets. A bit of notching should allow for their removal.

 

So you have a lift in it already? That will make things interesting, and frankly you may want to reconsider Jerry's kit. It should be a pretty simple matter to fit the tranny if you don't have to clear the tunnel. Building mounts is rather easy if you don't have to worry about very very close tollerances as you normally do on unlifted EA81's with the 5 speed.

 

Why are you using a turbo on a lifted rig? That's really not ideal at all.

 

GD

[Squidfisher]

Why not a turbo in a lifted wagon? I don't wanna stoplight race, I just want the thing to be able to move at 8500' elevation. I've got the 27" Swampers on it, and the carbed EA81 is worthless at high elevation. That gawd-forsaken 4sp as well. I have to shift down to 3rd for overpasses on the freeway.

I also augmented the lift, which I found kinda lacking in its out-of-the box form. I adapted rear struts off of an '86 and used Nissan Skyline springs on the front from King Springs in Australia. Stiffened everything up quite nicely. It still bottoms out too much in the dunes, but I don't know what else to do without re-designing the front suspension, the nose-heavy pig... The lift worked out to be around 5" all the way around. I just gotta change out the front right axle once a year or so. Thank gawd for Napa's lifetime warranty axles. Interestingly, it's always the right inner joint...

[GeneralDisorder]

1. Turbo's produce power at higher RPM. Their low compression, and need to spool the turbo make for pitiful low-rpm torque.

 

2. The EA82T specifically is prone to overheating, and cooling issues - especially when you don't have adequate airflow over the radiator. IE: hard driveing, and slow vehicle speeds.

 

3. The EA82T in stock form has only marginally more power than an NA motor, and again it's up high in the RPM range. The EA82T is 115 HP, and the EA82 SPFI is 90 - MPFI is 95. The EA81 is 74. Again though the most important factor for lifted rigs is torque - which can be substantially increased on the NA models by replacing the stock Hitachi carbs with either a Weber, or SPFI. The torque can be further increased by swapping to a Delta cam, and by recurving the distributor. These changes are MUCH easier and cheaper with carbed EA81's and EA82's but can be accomplished with the SPFI system by going with MegaSquirt. With the turbo it's a lot more difficult as you have a low-compression short block that doesn't handle mods well at all.

 

4. The whole Turbo system of the EA82T makes it more complex, and thus prone to "issues" off-road. They are finicky, and there's just too many potential problems that would be extremely difficult if not impossible to fix on a trail.

 

5. The EA82's timing belt system is prone to failure at regular intervals. The belts last 60,000 if you are lucky, and the added complexity of having two tensioners, an idler, and extra cam seals that can fail (bearings + water, dirt, dust, etc) is not desireable on the trail. Add to that they difficulty with doing simple things like replacing the water pump and oil pump (both require t-belt removal) and you have a recipe for disaster.

 

Basically it's far better - considering the labor involved with adding the complete injection system and turbo to an 83 - to build a higher output EA81.

 

Your 4 speed sucks because you have the 83/84 tranny. They changed 3rd and 4th gear after 82 to make them taller. The 81/82 4 speed is much better with large tires - as is the 5 speed.

 

I run both - I have a lifted wagon with a built EA81 and a 5 speed, and I have an EA82 sedan as a daily. I also have an EA82 SPFI powered Brat with a 5 speed that's basically just a street plaything. It will get an EJ swap at some point but I had the SPFI engine laying around . There is NO WAY I would run the EA82 in any form off road - most especially the Turbo. It's just asking for too many problems and the extra power is deceptive because it's the wrong *type* of power for that application. They can be fun on the street but you don't ever want to be far from AAA rescue

 

GD

[Pooparu]

My personal experience with the EA turbo motors is that they're garbage and everything starts to fall apart on them after 100,000 miles. If I were you I'd go with the SPFI EA82. Hands down the best running and most reliable motor I've ever had. All though my EJ22 swap isn't finished yet so we'll see. I used jerry's kit on my 82 hatch and the thing kicks butt. It worked great and everything just bolted right in. If you're going to do the swap get a hold of Jerry. I think his USMB name isbratsrus1.

[Squidfisher]

I'll probably be a long way from AAA access when it does break, but I'm gonna install a helicopter engine to the top as a backup, so I'll just whirly my way home.

 

Kidding.

 

On an aside, you have an excellent command of written English, and for that you should be commended. I get paid to write, and it's very frustrating to see how the masses spell and/or use syntax. You use the correct "their" when required. Awesome!

 

As for the extra complexity of the EA82T, I wholeheartedly agree, but am not worried. Masochism, maybe. I will most likely have to use my skills as a ASE Master Tech a few times, but oh well. Every time I leave town on my old Harley I'm not really certain I'll get back. That's part of the fun. Like I said, probably masochism.

 

As far a the HP v. torque issue, I normally would agree as well. I had the opportunity to use a customer's '87 GL10 turbo wagon as a test-bed for some mods to see what worked and what didn't, and with the little stuff I did I was very happy. Even in the lower RPM range the difference between his and mine was substantial, and I deemed it worth the effort.

 

If I understand correctly, the nasty 4sp I have has overdrive 3rd and 4th. Is that true? That's the way it feels. If that's true, that sounds like something Ford would do. hehe

 

Thanks for the convo.

[GeneralDisorder]

On an aside, you have an excellent command of written English, and for that you should be commended. I get paid to write, and it's very frustrating to see how the masses spell and/or use syntax. You use the correct "their" when required. Awesome!

 

Thanks. Just something I picked up I suppose. Got any job openings? Always got A's in college writing. I'm a stickler for accuracy and detail. Check out my SPFI conversion write up :

 

http://home.comcast.net/~trilinear/EA81_SPFI.html

 

As for the extra complexity of the EA82T, I wholeheartedly agree, but am not worried. Masochism, maybe. I will most likely have to use my skills as a ASE Master Tech a few times, but oh well. Every time I leave town on my old Harley I'm not really certain I'll get back. That's part of the fun. Like I said, probably masochism.

 

Well - bring a couple buckets of extra parts, and watch those head gaskets and heads.... I honed my mechanical skills in the Army as a generator tech, and as a kid playing with farm implements. But there's no substitute for experience when it comes to early Subaru's - they are a slightly different breed. I've owned over 20 now - including both an EA81T and 2 EA82T's. Didn't like either of those variants.

 

As far a the HP v. torque issue, I normally would agree as well. I had the opportunity to use a customer's '87 GL10 turbo wagon as a test-bed for some mods to see what worked and what didn't, and with the little stuff I did I was very happy. Even in the lower RPM range the difference between his and mine was substantial, and I deemed it worth the effort.

 

As many others here have found, even small amounts of modifications to the EA82T will almost always end in catastrophic failure - usually alarmingly quickly. Cracked heads, blown headgaskets and collapsed ring lands are common. As well as blown rods.

 

If I understand correctly, the nasty 4sp I have has overdrive 3rd and 4th. Is that true? That's the way it feels. If that's true, that sounds like something Ford would do. hehe

 

Yep - that's basically the size of it. the 5 speed just gives you back what you lost when they changed the ratio's. 3rd and 4th on the 5 speed is basically the same as 3rd and 4th on the 81/82 4 speed. 5 is nearly useless with big tires.

 

GD