Twitch de la Brat

Soooo, over a year has passed. And the block returns to being whole! I'll have pix up soon, ones that don't show the poor thing laying in my trunk But the pistons are in, the cam is in, the crank is in, and it rotates like a dream. As soon as life slows down next week, the studs are going back in and that little bugger is getting its heads back on After that comes the water pump and the oil pump. Then the flywheel housing will be added and the pan shall find itself back in its proper place. Then after that, the intake will be ported slightly to adjust for the 1/32 taken off each side And then the weber shall be attached and the motor will find itself back in the car! Then all hell will break loose Twitch

Ed, My friend, You will be missed dearly. Your help will always be remembered and your wisdom treasured. Your kindness to those of us less knowledgeable and your patience will be carried on by those you taught. I weep tonight not just because I lost a friend, but because the world lost a great man. Thank you. I send my best to Jeanne and your family. Twitch (Ben)

Timothy, that hose is a bear to get at. I paid a mechanic to do it for me because it sucked so much. Best wishes. Twitch

Check your wires and distributor. Dry them all thoroughly and try to fire it over again. Twitch

You're better off with an EJ swap. More power, more torque, far more reliable and less temperamental. All with pretty much the same amount of work, maybe less depending on clearances. You'll have to merge the wiring harnesses either way, and the EA82T may be too wide to properly fit in your engine bay. Again, if you read up, the EJ swap is far more common for a reason. Twitch PS: I own an EA82T, biggest piece of crap motor I have ever dealt with.

I didn't end up honing the engine myself. It was worth the $100 to just let the machine shop do that. No chance of screwing it up Twitch

Aftermarket Import Shops often feature World Pac (especially German shops), and now you may be able to acquire those parts from Car Quest or Advance Auto, as Advance bought Car Quest/World Pac. Twitch

Check out www.retroroo.com It's owned and ran by our very own ShawnW. He's most reputable and I got a Weber 32/36 DGEV from him last year. Haven't gotten to install it yet, but it was brand new in packaging. Still is for a matter of fact Twitch

Keep an eye on that axle. Everyone carries A1 Cardone, and I've had to warranty their axles off the shelf before even getting them out the door. Twitch PS: The best bet I've seen so far is to go with brand new axles, such as the ones carried by World Pac.

So do we have the beginnings of a starter access pop panel? Twitch

Have had an ongoing squeak/squall for a while. I investigated my front brakes thinking they had gone bad. They still have over half life on them. Continued investigating the squall, and realized the driver's side axle nut spun off by hand. Previous person who worked on it hadn't cranked it down properly. Popped the hub off and there was rust and a shiny metal bearing race where it had been rubbing. Hooray for incompetency. So now I get to return the brake bits and keep the bearings for install. The shop that owned this car will not be getting any references ever again. No pix yet, but pretty much everyone knows how to pull an EA82 hub apart to replace bearings. Zeh Vedge shall be silent again soon! And F/4WD drive as well, as I will reinstall the other axle. Twitch

I observed that as well, but I've seen aftermarkets put the petcock in strange places. Twitch

Most Likely 83 And Earlier EA81 Radiator, Manual Transmission. Twitch PS: "Why," you ask? It's painted black, therefore brass. No overflow, hence the overflow hose running down the driver's side of the radiator. Big cap means most likely pre-83.5 as they were more common then. Fan thermoswitch port is also located in the normal location for an EA81. The neck does not elbow out to the radiator cap, and it lacks the smaller cap EA82's came with. Only thing that is odd is the outlet aiming in parallel with the core, instead of perpendicular. But that may just have been a manufacturing quirk or sign that it is a pre 2nd Gen.

My fellow XT drivers be hatin'. Shoutout to Txakura for turning me onto this little gem. Also, pretty sure the reman axle the PO put in is failing. Time for RWD Twitch

Didn't go back together today. Crank was groovier than a disco dance floor under the layer of old oil. Amazing what a solvent bath will reveal. So it's in for a regrind (and it's probably going to be goddamn expensive because of the size of the rod surfaces) and possibly I have to go to the junkyard to get a new one if it's going to be too bad. So, for love of all things automotive, change your oil and filter. $25 every 3 months is cheaper than a rebuild. Twitch

Thanks man. I'll be nervous as a new father the first time I fire it up, but I'm sure I'll be grinning ear to ear when I hear her roar to life. Twitch

Not yet. I have to get back together with my friend who's helping me with reassembly. He does airplane engines But I should have everything put back together (at least the block) tomorrow. Then comes making sure there are no oddities or clearance issues. I'll have pictures and more updates in the build thread. Check it out. (The Blu Bomb) Twitch

So, for all you offroaders out there, where are the primary structural integrity points on the rear of an EA81 wagon? I'm looking at setting up a hydraulic ram for lifting things into the back/onto the roof rack as well as a full hatch frame to hold a spare tire that would be lifted by the ram as well. With proper mounting and setup I could have an EA81 with a "power" liftgate So, back to the original question. Where are my best mount points for all of this stuff and will anything need reinforcement? Twitch

Paint it like Lily You know you want to Twitch

If you do duals, go no bigger than 1 7/8. 1 3/4 duals was pretty much perfect on my BRAT. You'll want a crossover pipe to maintain your low end torque. But it worked beautifully with my EA81. Opened up the mid and upper range drastically without killing the bottom end. If you do the math, you'll see what I mean. Twitch

Wow, necrothread! 5 years later, and my mind has not been changed on the truck I would drive. I've sold lots of parts for both, and rangers have not engendered any more love than they did when this thread started. The S10's sit about the same for me as well. Hope anyone else who desires information on this can sift through the rabble to find the answers they desire. Twitch

I recommend calling your local auto parts store and getting part numbers from their database. They should have more accurate information for you. Also, if you measure the approximate length of the belt using some rope, they may be able to get you close. Also, they may be able to find you at least a part number for the struts, although I seriously doubt you'll find any, as even second Gen (EA81) cars you almost can't find suspension pieces for any more. As for the taillight assemblies, you'll have to ask around for any new old stock or used ones, as Subaru and everyone else stopped making those a long time ago. And the front struts are different from the rear shocks. The front suspension is a McPherson strut setup while the rear is a torsion bar design. Posting in the WTB section may net you something as well as perusing ebay and CL. Twitch

Which part of Washington are you in? Pull and Save is a great place to acquire an engine $140+tax out the door for everything except for the AC compressor. Find a low mile wreck (or 3AT) EA81 and you can easily pull the sucker out in a matter of an hour. Twitch PS: In the case of your engine, it's probably done. I'm guessing the ice blew out a water passage inside the engine.

Most guys on here build their own. I'm sure some of those who have would be willing to share their plans with you. As for factory or aftermarket brush guards, they are fairly rare. But are still available used in junkyards and from various people who have collected them. Posting in the "WTB" section would be your best bet. Also, putting an ad up on CL for one wouldn't hurt either. Best of luck in locating one Twitch

I hate to be a Debbie downer, but if you do the math on the CFM capabilities of that EA81, you'll find that even boosted a 325cfm carb will be too much for it. A little assistance with the math, the EA81 is 109 CID. So every 2 rpm it moves a maximum of 109 CID, before we take into consideration the "packing" ability of the turbo. So if we crank that up to 4k, it's moving 218,000 cubic inches. Translate that into feet, and the poor thing is only moving 126.157CFM. Of course this is before we account for the "packing" of the turbo,but as you can see, the engine will probably explode before you ever touch 625cfm. Also, exhaust size, NA I ran Dual 1.75" on my BRAT, which translates slightly larger than a single 2.25" exhaust setup and it breathed great with no low end loss. With the turbo, going to a 2.5 in exhaust probably wouldn't be a bad idea. Just kicking out some experience and ideas. Also, I remember this car from the movie, and thank you for saving it Twitch