Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'EA81 performance intake mods'.
Found 1 result
-
I have come across one really promising possibility for improving the performance of the EA81 engine. I came across a video for an excellent example of multiple possibilities, taking lemons and making lemonade. - This may not be an original idea, but nobody has suggested in in any of my posts for improving performance. It is a worthwhile concept that can be done better and improved on, which makes it worthy of serious consideration. Why? One performance mod that can have more than one performance improvement and adaptation! Youtube Video Link: "POV Drive 1985 Subaru Brat" In the above video, you'll see someone taking an old, beat-up, poorly modified Brat for a drive. A little over 5 minutes into the video, after the drive, they look at the engine and discover that the intake manifold had been modified, eliminating the coolant flow through the intake manifold. (1) This was done to eliminate the extra heat of the hot water going through the intake manifold, and possibly other reasons. (2) They figure this leads to the engine over-heating, and find an oil cooler under the front bumper to compensate for this. Looks like a second-rate screw-job, doesn't it? The guy had the right idea, but didn't take it far enough. Instead of just bypassing or blocking that coolant flow through the intake manifold, and having to compensate elsewhere, take it and run with it! If you have to compensate, then rather than just blocking it, use it! Re-route it! I have seen elsewhere where someone custom-fabricated adapter plate(s) at the base of the manifold, to divert the coolant flow. This can be re-routed to a small secondary radiator, possibly using an oil cooler or a transmission cooler. Right there, two benefits - the manifold runs cooler, allowing for colder, denser air through the manifold, and also adding more cooling capability in general. If one is going to do various things to improve performance, and is going to be running the vehicle/engine hard and hot, you might want some extra cooling anyway. There is probably more than one way to do this, maybe an easier way. Combine this with an over-sized intake manifold, and you have something. While at it, one could also do other things, like smoothing/polishing the inside for better gas flow, there are other improvement that could also be made as well. The intake manifold, at least the stock version, is not hard to find, not very expensive to buy a second used one, is easy to get at and change-out, being right on top of the engine. The only issue is the modification itself, and if you are working with an inexpensive used part, time involved in modifying it somehow is not an issue. Now that I have found this, I am a believer! This is worth doing! as inexpensive and convenient as it is, one could afford to buy more than one and feel free to experiment with more than one modification, or even making the adapter plate as one guy did. Here is a more extreme modification of a 1.8L engine/intake manifold where he made such an adapter plate: http://bb.bbboy.net/vwengineconversions-print?forum=8&thread=82 http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s6/brentwulf/SubaruSwap005.jpg He did this because he came up with his own way to mount dual carbs. I may not want to mount dual carbs, but the coolant re-routing he did is key to what I am getting at. If he could do that, the way he did, then it leaves the door wide open for a completely re-designed intake manifold, like those Webber performance Intakes I have seen, which I would guess are very hard to find, and possibly not available for the EA81, but if they are, still, they do not necessarily have the coolant re-routing. Instead, a person could fabricate something similar, with a better design and flow of fuel, using mostly just aluminum tubing. This has now taken priority in my thoughts of what I can do for various performance mods, because I can get more than one improvement or result from one inexpensive, small, simple, easily accessed or replaced part of the engine. Also, to get down-right extreme about it, one could also rig up a small, separate cooling system specifically for the intake manifold using the manifold's already existent coolant passage(s) that use cool water, not the hot water from the radiator/cooling system. Yes, sounds a little complicated, but not too much, and still better than replacing half the vehicle!
