84gl

Oh for future reference on the cam on my engines the delta 240 tq grind worked best for me I have 2 built ea81s one soild and one hydro the soild one has the delta 260 hp grind I think it been a few years so, anyway the hydro one in my brat runs smoother and has alot more get up and go its the only one I have dyno so I don't on the hp or tq difference but itas the stronger one from the set of the pants dyno pulls harder on hills and every thing other than the cams the engines are about the same built both have big valve heads my verson of spfi pistons head chambers welded up and everything else heads ported bigger valves etc.

the soild lifter ea81s always make a little more noise than the hydros as long as its a mild ticking or clicking noise you'll be fine

no the push rods are the same on both ends it doesn't matter which way they go back in

there is enough adjustment but the stock specs don't work and the soild lifters don't expand or contract like the hydros do they just make lots of noise chattering taking up slack in the valve train the hydro lifter make up the slack by expanding or contracting there for less adjustment is needed now hatchsub you should have gain at least 10-12 hp by decking the heads even if you have not play with your timing yet I found that ea81s have a sweet spot now that the heads have been shaved thats a little different now than it was before find it and it will probably run and little stonger that being said you should have about 83-85 hp now but you will find out theres a bump in hp gains from here on you will have to open the motor up and replace the cam and pistons change the heads to the bigger valve ones and port the crap out of them same goes for the intake and if you run spfi the thottle body becomes a source of restriction and then your at the same point as me hitting the 115-120 hp wall that mosty because of the heads

its the shaved heads which are a necessarily evil when looking for compression on an ea81 its the easiest way and the cheapest to gain a few ponies but its also problematic too being that you have to stand the noise on the soild lifter engines and yes a new cam grind will fix the problem if the cam has .030 less lobe OD but with the head shaved and the valve clearance adjusted right you gain .030 in lift and few degrees in duration with the stock cam and NO A LITTLE VALVE NOISE WANT HURT IT but the stock gap mite hurt it if you run it a few 1000 miles sounding like an old diesel injector pump and it want make the power it could like that either

I'm right with GD the ea81 is timeless we are going too have to start a out cry for aftermarket support or sum thing my ea81 wagons brat and hatch are still daily drivers for now but in 5 years or they'll be parked in the barn if it gets any harder to find parts I know out west where you are the bodies don't rot down so bad but here in the south motor parts and trannys are easy to find the junkyards crush the rusty ones and put there motors tranny in old school buses so body parts are hard to find and pricey

they are or were the car that would never quit on you think about it how many times has you honda mazda chevy or ford lefted you setting on the side of the road subarus are just so dependable and go anywhere. think about it take a 80s subaru wagon unlifted and where can you go they go about anywhere as long as you don't get high centered you probably want get stuck and thats with stock gearing they can take more abuse than most newer 4x4 trucks and suvs and will probably out last them too using less gas in the process I mean come on what 4wd truck or suv you know of gets 30 mpg very few and the legendary ea81 that will easily last 300k-400k sure they are alittle weak in stock form but come on thats with just regular maintenance what 4wd truck or suv made now will do that and get 30 mpg you have to LOVE THEM the only way old soobs die is from rust if they would have made them out of stainless steel they would never die and all you would need is one car for your hole lifetime thats what they should of done

The noise you are hearing is from you valve adjustment being off due to your head cut the stock valve adjustment of .010 intake and .014 exhaust will no longer work due to the change in your valve geometry from the head shave there is no easy fix due to the lack of after market adjustable push rods to complicate for the shorter distance from the cam to the rocker arms. on the hydro lifter engines the lifters them selves make the difference without much adjustment or having to change the cam out where as in the soild lifter engines they become noisy above and idle without changing the cam shaft out the only way I have found to quite the has been to play with the valve adjustments making them quite a bit titer than the stock settings this has work for me in the past and should work for you but there is alot of guess and check required I finally got my wagon to quite down but it took a while alot of putting on and pulling of the valve covers and when you find the right adjustment write it down some where under the hood or in your repair manual the adjustment I came up with for my wagon is .007 intake and .010 exhuast I have it wrote under the hood you can try this adjustment but reminder every engine/built is different it may work for you and it may not or you could just use it as a starting point PS you should not have too use high test gas with this engine if it is timed right the compression should not be more than 9.5 to 1 or 185-190 psi to get any more than that with a ea81 you have to change the pistons ea71 pistons in my engines have around 205-215psi the spfi pistons that are in my brats ea81 got me 220-225psi but that was from my exp.

two days is sounds petty quick but it only takes about three hours to check and shave a head you just have to change the set up on your mill and get everthing indexed in if you already have the clamping fixtures made already and to check a head all you have to do is clean the mating surface and place it on a surface plate and check for gap with feeler gauges as for cracks or valve leaks with subaru heads we use a gasket maker and all thread bolt the two heads together plug off two spark plug holes an install check valve fittings in the anther two fill with compressed nitrogen and die to 750psi and wait for leaks under a uv light as for resurface jobs the are usually done on what amounts to a big belt sander and check for flatness on a surface plate

I would of pulled the pistons and swapped them for ea82 spfi pistons but thats a very clean ea81 and should run great and have about 180-190 pounds (more or less) of compression its cleaner than the one that I got with my brat it only had 7,000 miles on it and had blown head gaskets from over heating (used as a hunting truck on a ranch ) I don't think they ever changed the oil in it for the 18 year they had it

on my Brat my O2 sensor is in the H cross pipe I made for my duel exhaust setup which is actually the 2sd cross over the 1st one behind the oil pan is a x cross over and I didn't have the room for the O2 sensor there so I put it in the 2sd one under the trans and haven't had any problems yet and it been 2 years

I got small jump In power but its still not as strong as my wagon which just a stock ea81 with spfi And nowhere near as strong as the brats built ea81 with spfi and megasquirt but it still runs alot better

change the jets out and adjusted the fuel pressure and now its finally fix its running great I was even able to reset the timing to 11 btc THANKS EVERYONE FOR THE HELP I would of never thought it was the carb being jetted wrong it runs at top end like it should now I am just not carb type of guy I like FI set it and forget it So when I get back In a few months I will SPFI this thing

thanks hatchsub I'll change the primary and secondaries tomorrow and readjust the fuel pressure and hopefully that will fix it

The fuel pressure is 4psi The carb is jetted at 140/140 mains, 60/55 idle, 165/160 air jets I just can figure this thing out no matter how rich or lean I run it still know top end or gas mileage I never had any trouble out of the carb on my brat like I said not even tuning it

thats where it runs the best back it off and it stubbles gets worse gas mileage and has less top end power there is just something wrong with this motor if I can't figure it out I am going to pull it and put anther one in and i don't want to do that being this is the lowest mileage N/A ea81 I've got (not counting the one in my brat) all the other stock ea81s I have are in the 250-400k range thats the whole reason I got the title for this hatch It wasn't that it was rust free or anything its that it was a lower mileage car with good seats dash etc. it has rust issues there are better ones even around here And we have already put 10k on it pretty much like it is now but I will be leaving to work on the road again soon (Millwright) And I don't want It to give her any trouble while I'm gone to Mexico for the next three months

Thank everybody and its an ea81 with a weber on a ea82 intake and the cats are gone already it has a known good disty and runs great at low rpms it just has on top end way weaker than any ea81 I have ever owned thats what got me thinking it could be a 1.6 or something Oh when I got this car it was bone stock and had ever thing gummed up fuel lines pump carb all and I replaced them all and took off and cleaned the gas tank out this thing had set since 1992. So like I said earlier the carb,disty,fuel pump all were on my brat 3 years ago and run great then til I pulled them for a FI conversion and from then til they were put on the hatch this winter they were box up in a closet I double checked the timing and advance earlier today it was 7 btc and the advance is working fine still the carb checked out to secondary worked to like it should the only thing I can think of now is the cam could be going flat or something I trying to get this car fixed for my wife to use as a work car because our Baja keeps getting hit with buggy's at her work

Well then why does the oem parts catalog list two different cranes and displacements for the ea 81? which started in 85 and ended in 89 It could have not been imported but its listed none the less anyway this does not ex plane the lack of power with this motor I just can't figure out why this thing is so weak Its not that it has no bottom end Which it has its just that it has no top end hitting a slightly steep hill it loses speed From 70 down to around 45-50 its just like I said weak and I am trying to find some reason why because I can't find any thing wrong with it timing compression carb being out of tune cats stopped up nothing

No its a ea 81 stamped on the block beside the distributor and there was a 97ci ea 81 when I worked at the dealership in the parts dept we had a listing for one but if I remember they were only offered for the 2wd hatch from 85-89 in STD and DL trim I just want to know if there is there anyway to tell the differences in there without tearing thing thing down Oh heres link to the engine page as you see from 85-89 subaru made a 1.6 ea81 http://www.indysworld.com/80s/general/specs/mechanical/engine-specs.html

Our Hatch that we got last winter has me curious It is the weakest ea 81 I have owned or drove ever So, I just did a compression test thinking that the original owners may have not take care of it and its overly worn for the mileage that being 140k which Isn't much being a subaru as you all know but it came out great at 185,179,167,170 in that order which leads me to be leave this could be one of the 1.6 ea 81s or as you would say a destoked ea81 but it being an 1987 GL 4wd hatch I don't know the sticker that should be under the hood are gone And I ma running the weber I had on my brat before I Fuel injected in and it jetted the same as it was then and it ran great on my brat with the built motor I just can't find any other reason its so weak with good or great compression its in time has on cats too be stopped up a free flowing muffler it just bogs down on hills and has no top end that being said its a pain too drive at highway speeds around here and has to be floored up hills that my other stock ea81s don't lose any speed on and they have more miles and much less compression and are wagons which are heavier I just can't find any other explanation for it I know they made an ea81 that was a 1.6 from 85-89 but I though just the 2wd would have got it And this is the original engine and I am petty sure of that fact because this car had set on the back of an impound lot since 1992 (when the tags had went out and impound lot records) In Gray TN that my cousin bought out for the junk cars ( He runs/owns a junkyard) Of which I bought the 4 Subarus that were on the lot for part and deiced the hatch was worth getting a title for due to the low mileage

Just what i said wasn't it 4th too tall 3rd too short. you never have the right gear on the highways here in east tn Its geared for flat ground not the Mountians we live in and the ride alot ruffer than most other subarus out there if you come pair them with an ea82 wagon or and outback

Jordan GD is right about brats not being as good of daily driver they are pain on long trips and you know that I know that heck I worked/lived out of mine for six months on the road but if this one is going to be toy number 2 along with the hatch go for it you need a truck and I a few years it will be worth three times what the outback is worth and if you get it we can do spfi conversion and rear disks one weekend to make it easier to stand on the interstate but its up to you Oh by the way still need a tow

Mine is from Tucson AZ Jim Click Ford/Subaru 6420 East 22snd st. But Like i said mine was one of 14 four Corners Ranch bought New In the fall of 1981 I was told they were all special ordered for the ranch use as hunting vehicles that you could rent along with your hunting trip (which were sold on ebay in 2001 when they replaced them with new jeeps) but thats just what I was told what I do know is mine was never tagged for road use and I am the 2snd owner For all we know yours could have came from the same dealer

I soldered mine but i guess you could tig weld it they tig copper all the time at my work for the dissteelers in eastman chem. so I say you could weld it since it is brass but you may have a hard time finding some someone that can do it