tweety

Glad I wasnt the only one.

I had an MAF off and SPFI system that was faulty so sent it away for repairs. In the meantime I ordered another MAF from Rockauto. It looked the same. It wasnt the same. I had lots of issues as to why my engine wouldnt run right....hence time gathered. It was off a Nissan. It had slightly larger fitment and the electronics were totally different. Regardless that they sold me the wrong part the return policy went over time. No refund, no exchange. Thankyou Rockauto for the door stopper.

Haha. update. I havent ran the engine in yet. Done only about 20 miles making adjustments/mods rather to the cooling system. Engine runs good although too much throttle at low speed gives a hiccup, like too rich. Am waiting for a new stock coil then run in commences. Nice hills around here for some climbing. Then the engineers report. and will report here the results eg economy, power etc.

Tweety is alive again. Few days ago a goos mate attended to help sort out why the new engine wouldnt fire. Turned out the distributer was 180 degrees out. Also had the digital speedo connector on neg when it should have been on positive. Anyway, the 38/38 carb so far looks like a good match along with the SPFI manifold. Got to run the engine in. Thanks to USMB and Ausubaru guys for all your advice and comments.

Engine is in the trike. All hooked up ready for a Porsche radiator (centre type being dimensions 610x170x41mm. ) to be purchased in February with 180mm thermatic fans. www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXwh4z8d66o

By the way LONGBOARDER. Love your trike. Likely the best front radiator job I've seen. Bit of chrome on engine bits would set it off I think. cheers

The dyno supercharger output readout weber 32/36 compared to the supercharger. 82 at the wheels, over 100 hp at the fly.Interesting that the automatic takes away over 18 HP. And also, riding this trike has always been safe. You'd have to ride it stupidly to be unsafe. The adapter plate The VW type 4 diff housing with type 3 auto trans ready to meet up with the engine and flex plate.

You can see the adapter here. It was purchased from VWconversions Queensland australia by a guy named John Sherman. It cost around $550 aus $500 US. plus post. Below is a pic. Difference of Subaru to VW. Good question. The Brat/Brumby/Leone ea81 is simplistic- one of the major reasons for choosing the ea81 over any other Subaru engine. For me, overhead cams, cam belts, fuel injection etc are all too complicated for this older guy (58yo) that really uses his trike for cruising. My trike when new started with a twin weber 1916cc VW engine and regardless of being 1916cc I never got happy with the power output and sound. There were many other choices I could have made but the brat engine was the obvious choice. The supercharged version was over 100hp and would lift the front wheel when the auto changed from frist to second. Impressive controlled lift. Nice. I couldnt afford the fuel bill. Also my trike is a Panther Australian trike. It is constructed with a monocoque chassis all aluminium (Oz had weight limits for trike up until 2012 of 450 kgms). The roof is the only one of its type in the world, designed by me and a local engineer made it. It weighs 50kgms. So if I was to install say an EJ20 weight wise likely adds a further 50kgms or so over the ea81. The ea81 is very light and competes with the vW in that area. I've just got my engine back from the engine builder. It will have the SPFI manifold and weber 38/38 for low down grunt. The manifold is at my engineers at the moment as the 6 mounting bolt holes beed to be reamed out towards the center as there is a full 5mm difference now since the heads and block faces were shaved. the engine, now new oversize pistons (1820cc) balanced, CR 9.5:1, etc The exhaust SPFI manifold adapter to weber 38/38 The adapter plate mostly obscured by the flex plate that you get supplied from VWconversions. Now note- the original flywheel has been discarded so there is no timing marks. And the flex plate bolts are inserted through a hole at the top of the adapter plate just seen in this pic. Simply rotate the torque converter to locate them. Timing- TDC is found easilye on the crank pully by lining up the two holes in the pulley vertically including the centre of the crank pulley bolt. Once this has been confirmed you can put a nick in the pulley and paint the nick white. Then measure 8mm and make up a pointer for 8 degrees.

Am stoked to get my EA81 back from the engine builder. rebore, new torquey cam, balanced, new oil pump etc. And those chromed covers. SPFI manifold, Weber 38/38 to go on top helping to push the VW auto trans along.

My trike set up is on another thread. However motor due back tomorrow fully reconditioned so took this pic today of my custom set up. note the cross over pipe. Exhaust each side id 1 3/4 inches leading to 4x 1 3/4 inch pipes towards the end. works well. A little loud for a trike so have got 4" long baffles in the ends and its ok. Tony

Subaruist, sitting just above the ea81 engine in my trike or just ahead of it, with little more than a sheet of fibreglass between you and the exhaust, makes it a little loud. I've just ordered some fibreglass sheet to wrap around the baffles. Should do the job. Besides, I'm an old fart and like them quiet.

On my ea81 powered trike I had a custom exhaust system. It comprised of- both exhausts 1.75" diameter for about 10"ong then a crossover pipe. both exhausts continued in a u-turn to separate mufflers then another u-turn tp twin exhaust pipes each side. It was a little loud so installed a motorcycle baffle in each pipe. Helped a little but prefer a small muffler . Hope that helps.

good thread. Am having my ea81 rebuilt now. You mentioned the weber conversion. I'm opting for the 38/38 synchronic carb. I'm using the SPFI manifold with 9.5:1 CR and torquey cam. Now a lot of people believe the 38 is too large a carbie for the ea series. Not so. It all depends on jetting. It will certainly improve low rev torque at the cost of a bit more fuel. If it doesnt work well the 32/36 can be bolted on in its place with little alterations.

Sorry Subaruist, havent seen this thread for a while. The supercharged engine was woeful on fuel, double normal and more like a V8. After 3 dyno tunes I called it a day and pulled it off the engine. Yes, it had huge power increase. Over 100hp it was good. Lifted the front wheel if trying hard but this trike has more front down force than normal. I then tried a SPFI conversion imported from the states. I never did get it running right. I eventually found the reason- both head gaskets were blown and when my engine builder pulled it apart there was a broken oil ring in number one and subsequent damaged cam gear. But I'd already taken off the SPFI system. The engine is getting a full rebore, about 9.5:1 CR, 16/56 cam and built for high torque at low revs. But the surprise is- I'm retaining the larger SPFI manifold and adding an adapter and new weber 38/38 synchronic carbie. A lot of people think the carbie will be too big- that is an old tale. With correct jetting it will be good and will also add to the torque at lower revs. I've gone this was for simplicity. I'm 58yo and am seeking reliability. Hope to update soon.

86bratman, dont get tired of others asking basic questions. As soon as I saw the heading I thought what a great question and one I'd like answered. We are not all knowledge guru's. chill out and let us low knowledged mortals ask the questions.

Impatient Jono? ha. I'm the one waiting for the engine and I think he started it Friday 2 days ago. Pioneering is expensive. Been there....

Trike only weighs 640 kgms. The bigger issue for me is the VW auto. On a dyno the ea81 is bled 14 hp with the auto. That's a lot. Even a low weight of 640kgms the 32/36 seemed sluggish, always wanting to open up the second throat. I concede that when I cruised at 85kph on a club run once it achieved 35mpg (Oz gallons) likely only the first throat was open. I live in the country here in Oz. I wont be riding in city traffic much. Hence the choice for the 38. I dont have concerns now but for a while I did.

I'm happy to have chosen the weber 38 based on their advice that if your engine has been rebored with tow cam etc it will be ideal. The 32/36 progressive is ideal to replace a standard carbie and for ultimate economy.

Thanks Jono. Yeh, reckon the EB will go Ea81 or ea71 pistons. likely the latter, less head shaving. Time spent lately cleaning up the engine bay. nice work. Love trikes, heaps of open room to work on things.

In fact many 4 cylinder owners like BMW 2002 and Fiat 124 coupe turn to 38/38 webers. This link is from an MGB forum. The 1979 MGB ran a 1798cc engine and several owners praise the improvement of the 38 here. Its good reading and only one page. http://www.mgexp.com/phorum/read.php?1,1083844

Thanks Idasho for your replies and info. The engine builder is commencing my EA81 rebuild. He has identified I had a dropped ring in number one cylinder. Plus both head gaskets blown although in the initial stages. He has yet to decide on pistons to use for the rebore. The "towing cam" Jono suggested of 16/56 with .235" lift doesnt match well with compression over 9.0:1 ratio. Add to that, in Oz we didnt get SPFI at all in the ea81 and ea82 engines so getting SPFI pistons would need to be imported here. I think he is looking at ea71 pistons and a slight decking of the heads. What will be interesting is the use of the Weber 38/38. No swirly bits yet. A friend is making up the adapter38 to manifold. Should have it next week. It's inconclusive how it will perform. I've read everything on the net about 38/38's. Some have used it on 1600cc engines and swear by them, some have used them after using 32/36 webers and note a remarkable boost in power down low revs. Many say it is too large for a 4 cylinder. The intake hole on the SPFI manifold has been enlarged, nearly double in size. The exit holes of the manifold I noticed are the same size as the stock ea81. So hoping the larger manifold will supply more air and more fuel from the 38 will be a match to end up with more low down torque and take off. The 3 speed full automatic VW transmission is the culprit in terms of being restrictive. It has just had a full gasket and seal replacement and service. Torque converter was 100%. I've just found an interesting website to do with 32/36 and 38/38 webers. I'll underline some important comments. In the past there have been questions and much miss information put out on the choice of a 32/36 DGEV carb or the 38 DGAS 1) The Kits utilizing the 32/36 Progressives Weber are designed to provide the market with an economical performance carburetor conversion that while increasing Hp also improves drivability and fuel economy over the stock carburetor. The kits using the 32/36 progressive carburetor is the optimum carburetor for use as a replacement carburetor for a worn out or hard to maintain factory carb. 2) When purchased in kit form, the REDLINE kit with the 38mm DGAS carb will perform on a stock unmodified engine without any problems. This is not going to be an over carburetion situation. It will provide considerably more initial torque and acceleration but the top end performance will not be significantly improved over the 32/36 when used on a stock motor. 3) The 38mm DGAS carb should be the only consideration if the engine is in the future or currently going to have any level of additional engine modification. Such as headers, free flowing exhaust, a cam, or rebuilt engine. Usually these motors will be improved over stock with oversize pistons and towing cam. The 38 will enhance the improvements of any of these items. The 6 cylinder engine applications are particularly enhanced by this application. In-fact on ALL JEEP and LAND CRUSER applications with any upgrades this is a mandatory choice. Other wise the progressive will require extensive re-calibration to work properly. 4) When using a 32/36 in the above situations will require additional calibration and rejetting to attain the desired performance and standard fuel economy. There is a jet kit available for just this reason. The jetting is required due to the performance enhancements of the additional modifications. Although the 32/36 does out perform the original, to receive the full benefit of your investment the 32/36 will require helpful re-calibration. The 38 DGAS is the optimum choice and has a larger fuel delivery system and the calibration to handle the broader range of improved performance and improves substantially your other product investments. 5) While the 32/36 progressive carb will improve your fuel economy on a stock motor over the OEM carb. The 38 Synchronous carb will not get less fuel economy than the OEM carb.

Ok, no replies so how about some theory? Larger SPFI manifold. What is the increase in percentage of volume? Measurements taken... internal diameter stock manifold about 36mm. area of cross section = 36x36x3.14(pi) = 40.69sq mm SPFI manifold is 6mm larger all round = 42x42x3.14 = 55.38 sq mm This mean the SPFI manifold has 25% extra volume over the stock manifold. I assume 2x 38mm venturi's on a 38/38 weber will now be more suitable for the ea81 with the larger manifold Am I right???

Have a trike, been on here many times. It has VW type 3 full automatic trans Auto has had a clean inside and full gasket set and has been reinstalled EA81. Regular readers will know my engine has had a 32/36 weber, all anti pollution stuff discarded and H section exhaust going to twin exhaust. Engine then had suck thru SC12 supercharger then SPFI conversion. Both head gaskets were blown) Now I've decided on the following. Rebore with possible pistons from EA81/71 or EJ20. Left that decision to the engine builder. Towing cam 16/56 for high torque at low revs (I dont like revving engines and I tow a camper) Raising compression to around 9.2:1 SPFI manifold Weber 38/38 synchronic with adapter being made to suit. Stock electronic distributor Stock lifters, new oil pump, water pump etc 3 step valve grind (is large valve model heads) light porting When I ran the 32/36 weber it didnt suit the auto very much, sluggish is the word, always looking to kickdown when I didnt really want to. I'd like to know how the 38/38 carb will perform with the larger SPFI manifold??? any guesses? It will need correct jetting eventually. Anyone used a 38/38 and anyone used a SPFI manifold with a carbed engine? and know the difference?

On my trike (EA81) I'm getting a rebore total rebuild. Am going to use the SPFI manifold about 6mm larger in diameter. I decided not to go for the 32/36 weber as I found with my auto trans it was a little sluggish. So a weber 38/38 synchronic carb will be used. A little more thirsty but great acceleration from low revs I've been told. The coolant tube from the thermostat housing to the top of the block I bent some small copper tube to go around the dizzy, connect with rubber tube both ends. Remember with the SPFI and maybe the EA82 manifold you need to grind away about 2mm off the top of the block of the EA81 so gain clearance.

Often overheating is only obvious in heavy traffic in the middle of summer. So if your gauge rises in traffic open your windows and turn your heater on. It might be hot in there but you are effectively adding another small radiator to the cooling system. Also if you suspect you've blown a head gasket with the symptom of high pressure in the cooling system....carefully take off the cap, allow it to cool, turn on engine, slowly fill up coolant level with water then replace cap half way. This will allow excess pressure to be released as you drive. This is also good if you have a slow leak in the system you cant plug. These are basic of course...but I want to win that new Subaru someone here is offering for the winning post. haha