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.

Well this is the last step of the 38/38 to 32/36 swap. Recap- stubbornly tried a new 38/38 weber on my newly fully reconditioned ea81 with SPFI manifold (15/55 cam and 9.5:1 CR). 38/38 was dynode twice and in between dynoes the jets were ordered. The engine pulled a lousy 52hp. Compare that to over 100hp when it was supercharged...but that's another story. The 32/36 was tuned by me using - 1/ jet sizes based on other ea81 owners/redline etc 2/ using Gunson colortune device 3/ test riding and so on. I'm please to report that I achieved (these are based on Australian gallons) 31mpg over one tank full of gas. or 9L/100kms. Compared to the 38/38 at 19-23mpg. Yes I was light on the throttle with a few bursts here and there and cruising freeways at 105kph. So I'm happy. The next step will be to replace the rear tires from 295/50R15 to 275/60R15 in the future giving it longer legs and 200 rpm less at 60mph. I'm really happy with its performance. With the engine new it has heaps of power down low with that torque cam. Cheers.

We didn't get SPFI at all in Australia but a few have imported a kit. I bought one off a fellow Subie owner nearby. Apart from some sensors like the TPS and MAF being old and faulty it was workable and it ran but not 100%. My bad as I wasn't knowledgeable enough to get it running just right. Being in a regional area makes it hard too as no one has the know how to work on them in terms of wiring. Also the CR isn't the same on a stock ea81...8.7:1 (if in good order) compared to 9.5:1. I had to file 2mm of alloy meat off the centre of the block halves to get the manifold to clamp down. Be careful, later on when the engine was reconditioned the builder told me I wasn't far off going too far with the filing. In USA/Canada it would be much worth your while. In Oz not so much. Any part you need has to be imported. Hence I went for simplicity with the 32/36 and kept the SPFI manifold on. Goes great now.

ok well, we have had many replies here which is predictable on the topic. But I wonder how we gauge a "good" oil from a not so good oil. Colour of the oil I'm afraid is not a good indication of whether its good or not. Quietness might not be either as thick oil could do this....but is thick oil masking an issue like poor tolerances? I wonder. What I'm saying here is, we are not experts and saying "its been a good oil"...how do we know? Most of us will only know when our engines get to high mileage and even then it might not have been the oil that has caused the wear. So I rely on experts to tell me. Here is a second letter I received from Penrite oils Dear Tony, you recently contacted out technical support team of Penrite Oil Company Your enquiry was- Subaru ea81 freshly reconditioned you recommended me using running in oil then 20W-50 semi synthetic oil and I could go HPR-10 diesel oil as it has high zinc. Wouldn't I be better off using 20W-50 petrol oil (have done 5000 kms) Reply Last years recommendation (to you) was actually HPR 15 oil not 20W-50. You could not move to HPR 10 (full synthetic) SAE 10W-50. There is no advantage going to 20W-** oil, this would just give you less protection on cold starts. Cheers Alan. end letter. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Penrite's HPR 10 (synthetic) oil is sold as oil for diesel engines AND petrol engines. It was recommended as it has heaps of zinc in it. Zinc reduces wear substantially. Google Penrite HPR10 and read on. Any synthetic oil would suffice at the right SAE and I'm not an agent for Penrite. I just like them because they reply to my emails fast for my particular engine and its condition. I live in Victoria Australia which can be very cold (snows once every 4 years) and hot (can cook eggs on the road lol)

Agree with John. The spark plug wires will likely be wrong. Place timing on 8 degrees when rotor button points to number one cylinder. I had the same issue last year and swore it was right but was 180 degrees out. Tony

Were synthetic oils out in 1980-1990? when our Subaru engines were made? They weren't out when they were initially designed. So how do we know that the oils Subaru recommended in 1980 are the best oil to use now? While my ea81 engine was off to the rebuilders I wrote to Penrite and they recommended while running in to use running in oil for 300 miles, then semi synthetic then optional to go full synthetic. So now I use 10W-40 full synthetic. I was advised by them to not use 15W-50 in cool climates as the oil wont lubricate sufficiently when the engine is cold. The disagreements persist. But I wonder if we old fashioned folk stick to things for too long...in this case do we stick to non synthetic oils for what could now be irrelevant reasons? Wiki states the advantages of synthetic are numerous to mention. Disadvantages ? 2 only- Cost and some environmental reasons....that's it!! Imagine you have a large empty drum. You fill it with golf balls. You will note the air between the golf balls. Then you fill it with ball bearings. Much less air between them. If the sides of the barrel is a piston sleeve then you can imagine how much better the lubrication is. Equals longer life, less wear. Personally I think Mobil 1 synthetic oil is fine. Ask Mobil I reckon. But times change and I think we should change with them. If the OP uses full synthetic oil from now on then wear will be much less. Tony

Hey Bratbro, if one in 50 thieves would go to the trouble using a hacksaw to cut the club lock then bad luck hey. It would make the other 49 move on to easier targets. And the club is in addition to the kill switch. As I said the real purpose of the club lock is to make most thieves move onto the next car....a deterrent. Any deterant should not be discounted totally as you have suggested.

the old "club" lock on the steering wheel deters thieves BEFORE they enter your pride and joy to ruin wiring trying to start it. Then perhaps a coil wire cut and sent to a switch hidden under the dash?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXwh4z8d66o taken 4 years ago. enjoy

Firstly, for those interested, I had a cold air intake, original weber "cap", tube and large cone filter. I was testing my engine one day on the way back from a quick run and took the cap off = straight air input to the throats and there was a big increase in power. So sold the cap, tube and filter and installed the Ramflow filter. Dimensions? They are- 215mm (8 1/2") x 130mm (5")

Mine hasn't shrunk but only been on there a few weeks. Suggest if it does you trim the bottom of the mesh a little with snips. Easy fix.