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New Brat Project......??


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hey all, im aaron...new to the forum...

 

as you may have guessed...

 

anyway, im gonna be picking up a brat really soon, and im looking on making it much faster than stock.....ive shopped around for motors and read all kinds of great posts on here to find out what my options are....

 

i guess like anyone else, im looking for the "best bang for the buck"...

 

i think im either going to tune an ea82t, or, do a complete wrx ej20t swap....

 

but i really want to know if its possible to make an ea82 perform like a wrx..?

 

its alot cheaper, and i can use most if not all the brats stock driveline...i think...

 

anyway, all opinions and comments are most welcome....

 

btw, i used to rock an old 82 gl.....i loved that car!

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hey man

just out of curiosity, did you pick up that brat that was advertised in one of the florida papers for $700. it needed a motor but comes with a 40k replacement?

 

oh, and by FAR your best bet is to go ej22. its a fairly easy swap and is a RELIABLE source for 115hp. they are pretty zippy and known to last 300k+ not to mention they are non-interference, and are a dime a dozen to buy.......

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hey man

just out of curiosity, did you pick up that brat that was advertised in one of the florida papers for $700. it needed a motor but comes with a 40k replacement?

 

oh, and by FAR your best bet is to go ej22. its a fairly easy swap and is a RELIABLE source for 115hp. they are pretty zippy and known to last 300k+ not to mention they are non-interference, and are a dime a dozen to buy.......

 

i just saw the one for 700.00...

 

im gonna call tomorrow, but i have a guy whos buddys father has one in his yard...so im feeling that out as well......

 

i can have the ea82t shipped to my door for 600.00.....

and as long as it works with the driveline in the car i may do that....i need turbo....lol:cool:

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with the ea82t be prepared for premature head failure, as well as it not having as much power as an ej22. you can mod it to be equal to an ej22, but it will never be as reliable or replaceable, it will be more costly as well. it would take crazy mods to get it even close to a wrx......

 

what does the ad say in the paper you are talking about? just wondering if its the same.

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that sure is it!

 

i spoke to the guy. says its been sitting for years, he hasn`t seen it in a long time. only rust is where it was dented on the front fender. has jump seats and topper. its not a 91, but is a gen 2 style. there is no motor in it, but it comes with a 40k motor that he got from his buddy after the guy rolled his beautiful 8? hatchback. didn`t sound too bad, but its just a bit far away for me.

 

sorry to really bad mouth the ea82t, but from what i have seen they just aren`t too great. so many of them pop up with bad motors or electrical probs, along with ones that have had new motors put in already. you would want a 5sp d/r trans, which the brat has a 4sp. ideally you would want a rx or wagon parts car so you have the trans/rear lsd diff/eng/wiring/computers. those are tough to find, but you can easilly find a ej22 parts rig (best years=90-96 legacy or impreza) a ej22t wouldn`t be bad, but then you'd need to find one. just my 2 cents

 

Jon

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yea its 941

 

didn`t sound like he'd take less but he may. he said he was in no rush to sell it and was holding out for whatever he could get.

 

if your thinking about the ej20g contact suberdave on this board. he has experience with those swaps. i think there are certain phases of that motor that are better than others. i could be wrong tho.....

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I think the ea82 turbo was rated at 111hp. A plain ej18 from a impreza is 114 I thought and ej22 from a 90-94 legacy 131hp. So even with the turbo you would be playing catch-up. The ea82 heads are just 2 valve heads and dont flow very well. All ej motors are 4 valve. They also leak oil from everywhere and most have cracked heads by now.

 

I would look on creigslist, you should be able to find a wrecking running 90-94 legacy for under 500$. Also if it matters, the legacys are rated more mpg than the older less powerful motors that were in lighter cars.

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wow, i think i read your "brat wanted" ad on tampa CL last night, heh..

 

EA-82 is not worth messing with, just pick up an EJ. I regularly check craigslist in all florida cities for "subaru" and often find wrecked legacies for under a grand.. i think theres a wrecked impreza in your area of the state somewhere for about 500 right now. My point is, EJ donor vehicles ARE easy to come by here; something that the older generation vehicles are NOT.

 

Good luck in your search, if i find a BRAT in the state I will post in this thread or PM you.

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Back to the original posting

 

don't waste your money on that 600 dollar EA82T.

 

You will be doing the same amount of work for a car that is going to give you severe limitations.

 

Do a search for high powered EA82Ts or pm WJM or subarutex. They have all tried to squeeze power out of the EA82T and have now picked up the EJ banner.

 

Take the 600 bucks and buy a rear-ended EJ (legacy or Impreza) EJ swap will be about the same amount as work as an EA82T swap. Like 75subie said EJ22 are cheap. Heck you can even get an EJ25 for cheap from a swapper. The best thing about the lower end EJ motors is that they readily accept stuff from the WRX.

 

I have a BRAT w/an EJ18 in it. Love it. Power is a 50% increase from stock and it's reliable. No worries about overheating and pooping head gaskets and the t-belts are really easy to work with. Plus I can bolt on any EJ dual port exhaust headers (borla etc). And now that I have all of the hard work done. I can easily drop in a EJ22 or an EJ25. (BTW I went w/a EJ18 b/c I got two of them for $100.00 w/harness and ECU :banana:)

 

Go w/an EJ and your will not regret it.

 

If you are not mechanically inclined or have limited tools, I would go with the adapters that are available here.

 

Most of all have fun and welcome to the subaru world!!:headbang:

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GREAT INPUT GUYS!!!!

 

thank you, i think ill be doing the ej swap after all, you talked me into it.....i just need to figure out the driveline that will work the best.....i still would like to go turbo, ej20t's are all over in florida......

 

well see i guess....still waiting on a word from the brat owner though.....

 

i am very mechanically inclined, and have access to all the tools id need, i just dont know if i wanna have to be cutting axles and driveshafts.....

 

oh well one thing at a time i suppose......

 

1.find the car....im still on #1..lol

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