I can't imagine how much time GD spent working out the details and preparing the documents, but Many Thanks!

 

I have had the conversion complete enough to drive the car for the last few days. It's an 83 GL 4DW Wagon that used to have the 2 barrel on it. I have owned the car for about 8 years now and I had no idea that an EA81 could make that much more power. I wonder what the actual difference in numbers is?

 

It is a lot of work and the wiring looks pretty intimidating at first. GD's documents are well written though and you can't get lost if you stick to them. The first thing that I did was to take the PDF of the service manual wiring schematic down to FedEx Kinkos and have it printed on an 11x17 so I could read it:D I mocked the harness up on the bench complete with ECU, intake, distributor, coil, and everything first before installing any of it in the car just to locate any last minute wiring mistakes that I might have made and make sure it all works.

 

Also the "Toilet Bowl" O-Ring seal under the throttle body should probably be replaced while you are at it. Mine showed evidence of leaking coolant down the side of the intake manifold. I would also look around and replace ALL of the coolant hoses that aren't already new. You are also going to want to replace all of the fuel hoses from the tank up to the front of the car. There are more small sections that I realized and mine were all old and petrified beyond belief.

 

Although I am still working out the little issues I am very happy with it overall. There is a cold off-idle hesitation that I haven't found yet. There are also some Idle issues that I haven't tracked down. I thought at first I might have had the wrong ECU but as it turns out it's something else. When I put the clutch in and coast up to a stop the Idle is held up around 1300 rpms until I completely stop. At that point it slowly comes down to curb idle speed. Is this normal for these cars? I have never owned an SPFI Subaru before.

I can't imagine how much time GD spent working out the details and preparing the documents, but Many Thanks!

 

I have had the conversion complete enough to drive the car for the last few days. It's an 83 GL 4DW Wagon that used to have the 2 barrel on it. I have owned the car for about 8 years now and I had no idea that an EA81 could make that much more power. I wonder what the actual difference in numbers is?

 

It is a lot of work and the wiring looks pretty intimidating at first. GD's documents are well written though and you can't get lost if you stick to them. The first thing that I did was to take the PDF of the service manual wiring schematic down to FedEx Kinkos and have it printed on an 11x17 so I could read it:D I mocked the harness up on the bench complete with ECU, intake, distributor, coil, and everything first before installing any of it in the car just to locate any last minute wiring mistakes that I might have made and make sure it all works.

 

Also the "Toilet Bowl" O-Ring seal under the throttle body should probably be replaced while you are at it. Mine showed evidence of leaking coolant down the side of the intake manifold. I would also look around and replace ALL of the coolant hoses that aren't already new. You are also going to want to replace all of the fuel hoses from the tank up to the front of the car. There are more small sections that I realized and mine were all old and petrified beyond belief.

 

Although I am still working out the little issues I am very happy with it overall. There is a cold off-idle hesitation that I haven't found yet. There are also some Idle issues that I haven't tracked down. I thought at first I might have had the wrong ECU but as it turns out it's something else. When I put the clutch in and coast up to a stop the Idle is held up around 1300 rpms until I completely stop. At that point it slowly comes down to curb idle speed. Is this normal for these cars? I have never owned an SPFI Subaru before.

 

Yeah I have the same conversion that a friend of mine did and yeah its great!! My friend did a really clean job so it looks completely stock too! It always starts and it never stalls or runs bad. And it never stalls when at extreme angles, its great. But, I still wish I had more power...The EJ swap would be even better!

SPFI FTW... it's about the first thing I ever did to my wagon. My carb was in poor shape and since I prefer FI anyway I got on it. Every time I've done it as well it is always very cheap too. The second time zeke on here gave me 90% of the parts to do it!

When I put the clutch in and coast up to a stop the Idle is held up around 1300 rpms until I completely stop. At that point it slowly comes down to curb idle speed. Is this normal for these cars? I have never owned an SPFI Subaru before.

 

Yeah they were designed to do that. The ECU is using the VSS to indicate the vehicle is still moving and runs the idle high to prevent wear to the clutch. It won't idle back till you come to a stop.

 

GD

Well then I guess it's working just about perfectly! Thanks again for all of your help.

 

-Jeff

+1

another SPFI EA81 running in my Brat, and I'm loving every minute of it. Working absolutely perfectly, with the exception of my O2 sensor that's shot now since my rear main seal puked oil all over it.

The Subaru SPFI system is really fantastic and adaptable, but simple and pretty easy to get working right. Mine even got passed off by the county emissions station, so I'm legal as an upgraded system (got exemption for the air injection system).

I've gotta hand it to GD for the writeup. Not that it's a hard thing to convert, but it's more that the writeup gave a little confidence and the knowledge of having it done before...so thanks' GD.

~Erik~

Yeah they were designed to do that. The ECU is using the VSS to indicate the vehicle is still moving and runs the idle high to prevent wear to the clutch. It won't idle back till you come to a stop.

 

GD

 

I was wondering about that myself, as my manual-converted legacy does the same thing.

 

 

Has anybody had trouble with fuel starvation when the tank is almost empty on their converted cars? I remember when I had the SPFI conversion on my EA82, that was a problem at times because the carb fuel tank doesn't have as many baffles as the SPFI one.

I was wondering about that myself, as my manual-converted legacy does the same thing.

 

 

Has anybody had trouble with fuel starvation when the tank is almost empty on their converted cars? I remember when I had the SPFI conversion on my EA82, that was a problem at times because the carb fuel tank doesn't have as many baffles as the SPFI one.

 

yes when my brat gets below 1/4 tank it sputters when starting and stopping. it sucks!

I find that the fuel starvation first occurs on a specific turn driving to work: it's 40MPH coming to a stop and accellerating making a right-hand turn...using that alone, I'd guess the fuel sloshes away from the pickup on that turn.

Only seems to happen when I get really below 1/4 tank...not just at 1/4, but almost 1/8 (at least when the gauge reads that)

Yeah mine starves for fuel as well. Sometime when I get around to it I'll install a surge tank to keep that from happening.

 

GD

Hey does anyone have a gas gauge sending unit? I think thats what its called?! It mounts at the back of the tank. My gas gauge doesn't work and I'm pretty sure thats the reason

My gas gauge doesn't work and I'm pretty sure thats the reason

 

It's almost certainly wireing. The sending units rarely fail. If it really is the sending unit then any sending unit from a non-digital dash EA81 will work.

 

GD

It's almost certainly wireing. The sending units rarely fail. If it really is the sending unit then any sending unit from a non-digital dash EA81 will work.

 

GD

 

Besides the wiring that is visible on the back of the tank..where would I look...any suggestions?! Thanks