tweety

Well thankyou. Uskng the spfi manifold does increase the low torque a lot. The biggest isdue is making an adapter plate on an avute angle as the spfi manifold has duch an angle on it. I had one made from alloy. Bear in mind that my trans on my trike was vw automatic 3 speed circa 1970. That robbed me of 14hp. I have a long hill near my place in oz. It was a good gauge as to engine output. The new vw engine would flat out climb the hill in 2nd gear at 45mph. The supercharged version of the trike ea81 in top gear at 70mph, the spfi version 60 mph top gear. With a reconditioned engine bored to 1820cc with spfi manifold ...65mph with torque to spare in normal driving.top gear. That compact easy to work on ea81 is a delight when in good nick. Use good oil and that spfi manifold you'll be happy.

Hi, l got an auto email about this. I no longer have my ea81 nor my trike. After all the work on my ea81, fabricating a manifold and setting up a sc12 SC with dellorto carb...l wouldnt do it again It was impossible to tune and drank fuel worse than a big block chevy. Sticking to the ea81 rather than an EJ does have advantages in that its simplistic, compact, no body mods etc. So in my view the spfi manifold with the 32/36 was the best move l made and 9,5:1 CR. I dont believe twin carbs had a much greater output and my set up was simpler. If you desire greater ouutput than what my set up Delivered then go EJ. THATS A COMMONSENSE VIEW Cheers

Well you can go SPFI bt I've tried it and it caused many issues. Maybe I was unlucky. My history with my ea81 is relevant to the whole story. Purchased the ea81 for my trike mated to a VW 3 speed vintage automatic trans. Pulling a "too heavy" trailer I supercharged the engine. Pulling 100hp at the wheels was amazing but tuning issues and that it swallowed gas like a space shuttle, I went SPFI. With the ea81 you have to grind 2-3mm off the top of the crankcase halves otherwise the larger SPFI manifold will rock and wont bolt down. Be careful not to grind away too much...there isn't a lot of meat there. The system went on ok. But it wouldn't run right. So I replaced the MAF at huge cost. Then the throttle sensor. A USMB member from Canada was kind enough to seek 2 good TPS's from a local junk yard to send to me in Oz. My old one was really bad inside it. Eventually I gave in but not till the engine broke a piston ring. Bare in mind the SPFI engine ran 9.5:1 not 8.7:1 and one might have less compression on a worn engine. The engine was fully reconditioned and a weber 38/38 synchronic carb put on. Big mistake. That carb when tuned ran the engine at only 52 hp ATW. So I put on a good 32/36 progressive and bingo- pure power. Reckon at a guess I have around 80hp maybe bit more comparing to the supercharged and 38/38 set ups. In my opinion, seriously, with part becoming scarce and expensive, go the weber. Make sure you get a good used or new weber 32/36. You don't need a choke. Keep it simple. Pump the throttle 5 times and start. Easy. Tuning- again easy. I tuned my carb with a colortune unit to get the right jets. I googled a lot to learn the rough setting others have then tweeked it from there. It is really economical as the primary throat is used without the secondary 95% of the time. Even cruising at 75mph its still on the primary throat. Gun it and you have really good reliable power. Finally, the best thing I ever did was get a full rebuild. The second best thing was the 32/36 weber. By the way I run the SPFI manifold and its much larger. I think it helps overall. To do this you need a custom "angled" mount. But the stock ea82 manifold should be fine. Cheers.

It doesn't make sense to me. The action of the 32/36 is mechanical. Maybe you have blocked jets? Take the air filter off. Start the car. Look down the barrels when revving it and see if both barrels are operating ok. If so you then might have a tuning issue in other areas.

Many cars over the decades have been designed without the mechanic or home mechanic in mind. Odd that. I mean ask anyone that has owned a early mini or Morris 1500, Austin 1800, very British how they expect you to get to the lower radiator hose, radiator bolts etc. It is obvious that the radiator was installed before the engine/trans unit. There are countless other examples. But for the ea81 owner there is one positive no matter what your problems are with the engine. Longitivity. The engine lives so long it makes a rebuild really viable. Considering you can get 200-250,000 miles from a well service engine is remarkable. That's a lot of years of running. Hence my rebuild recently because at 59yo a brand new engine cammed for torque new oil pump etc and larger pistons all assembled well means it will outlast me. Isnt that the ultimate? I've worked on several Lotus engines and of their day they were high tech. Bucket valve operation means shims, chain driven cams and talk about leak oil. So I'm happy with the ea81. But seeing this thread is for gripes, I guess the manifold sucks.

I would only use "stop leak" if I needed a couple of weeks grace before the real fix came about. You could go up on the oil grade to slow the leak. And in your case the clutch needs looking at. Do both items and be done with it. Throw on a sump gasket as well.

Think you are right. Catch can should stop it completely IMO

I'll take a guess.....it could be a faulty brake booster randomly sucking brake fluid into the manifold and burnt. I had this in a Lotus powered Ford Escort. Totally random it was. A cop car followed me 20 miles in my city and was still behind me. I used to get a small rattle just before it started to smoke really heavy. And the rattle came as the lights went green so I took off pretty quick. Just as I hoped, the cop car was swamped with so much smoke he couldn't follow and by that time I headed off in a side street So it could be brake fluid. ps does the engine rock a little when it smokes?

Yeh Ive noticed no difference when I replace the vac tube with timing.

I'll assume you have a timing light. I'll give it a try in tuition. The timing marks on yours should be on the flywheel at the rear of the engine behind a rubber plug (if the plug is still there.) Connect up your timing light. Turn over your engine by hand until the marks on the flywheel are exposed and mark 8 degrees. With a weber I think 12 degrees would be enough not 20. If you want 12 then mark 12. Use a 10mm spanner to loosen the clamp bolt at the bottom of the distributer but not too loose. Start your engine. The light on the flywheel and turn the dizzy so your marks meet up with 12 degrees. Tighten the clamp bolt. Replace the rubber cover. That's it. How'd I do guys?

160 degree thermostats are too cold. There is a reason for everything a manufacturer does. If an engine runs too cold internal wear is increased, tolerances are way out. On the same token an ea series engine has a cooler coolant passage on the underbelly of the manifold. Cooler is better for air/fuel mix. A happy medium is the way to go IMO. 82 degrees (180F) is best for me. It means I can run a 88 degree (190F) sensor in the radiator for the fans and it only goes on during traffic on really hot days. And there is heater effectiveness. But never lower. Regards

Thankyou. I will read that a few times and the link. Much appreciated Good reply for many other owners tot

Ok, many of you have been following my other weber threads. Been on a 300 miles run with the 32/36, ea81 auto trans. Economy is good (25mpg US gallons), performance is magnificent. Spark plugs upon returning home are white i.e no brown at all meaning lean mixture. Carbie was tuned with Gunson colortune device that I found exceptional. Idle mixture screw is turned out 1 2/3 turns out which is ideal meaning idle jet is correct (60) My options are- turn the mixture screw out say 1/4 turn to richen up the mixture all round at light throttle Go the larger idle jet (65) which I've tried once before and it results in the mixture screw turned out 1 turn only meaning its a bit rich that jet. One size larger on the main jet (145) to 150 Leave it as it is. Your thoughts form your experience?

you could also buy a Gunson colortune device. It worked for me tuning my 32/36 along with others input as to there jet sizes. Read the 38/38 to 32/36 thread

Hi JesZek, Smaller diameter tires will mean higher revs. I already have 3200 revs at 60 mph. What I want it larger diameter tires. Ive figgered it all out now. 275/60R15 will give me 5% less revs. The better news today is the economy. Cruising at 110kph - 70mph (and maintaining that on hills) with some city freeway cruising I did 418kms for 39 litres of gas. Or 268 miles on 9 gallons Aus. meaning 30mpg aus. equals 25mpg US. I used heavy throttle 5 times (opening the second throat) which is likely normal because first throat gives adequate power. With a 48 litre tank I could achieve up to 500 kms a tank. This is really pleasing. In fact I couldn't believe the fuel gauge was taking so long to go down. Considering the max tank distance with the supercharger was 210 kms and the 38/38 about 320-360 kms this is a huge leap forward for me. Add tires that are 5% larger in circumference might get even better results. Steptoe, I have many jets you are welcome to try when the time comes. Ebay USA has many sellers with boxes of jets. Send me a message when the time comes. I wont have much need for them now its all tuned up. Once you have it tuned you can place your old jets back in the box and return it to me. Good offer there.