EA-81: Pipe on Thermostat Housing

[casm]

I'm hoping someone else has run into this problem before, because right now it's got my Brat completely dead in the water and I can't figure out what I'm going to do about it.

 

There is a pipe that runs from the thermostat housing on the intake across the top of the engine to the driver's side, where a rubber coolant hose connects to it. This pipe has corroded out pretty close to where it meets the intake, and I'm losing coolant rather rapidly from it. As far as I can tell, the pipe is a press-fit into the housing.

 

My questions are as follows:

 

- Can the pipe be replaced?

- If so, what is the SOA part number for that pipe?

- If not, what are my options?

 

I should point out that junkyards aren't an option for me to scavenge parts; we just don't have any EA-81s in them around here.

 

So far the best idea I've come up with is to somehow remove the pipe, tap the thermostat housing, fit a nipple to it, and run rubber hose the entire way across the engine instead of the pipe. There are a lot of reasons why I don't like this approach, most of them involving metal shavings in the cooling system and the proximity of rubber coolant hoses to the EGR valve.

 

Any ideas? I haven't driven the Brat in a couple of months (back problems kept me off my feet) and took it out a couple of days ago only to find this new and exciting issue.

[GeneralDisorder]

If it's the 5/8" line you are talking about that runs under the EGR, etc. That is the heater core supply line....

 

I would try to find another intake from a board member. That's a tough one to fix for most folks.

 

If I were going to fix it I would probably remove what was left of the old pipe, get some some tubing of the right diameter (metric steel tubing would be my first choice, but a hard copper of the right size might work as well...). Bore out the hole to the right diameter for the tubing if it wasn't already and then silver solder it in place.

 

That's a very uncommon failure so I would try to find a replacement intake.

 

You can use the EA82 intake if you use the matching upper radiator hose and either an EA82 Hitachi carb or a Weber with the right adaptor plate. If you have any EA82's carb models in the junk yard then just do that - or you can do the SPFI swap

 

GD

[casm]

If it's the 5/8" line you are talking about that runs under the EGR, etc. That is the heater core supply line....

 

Yes, that's the one.

 

I would try to find another intake from a board member. That's a tough one to fix for most folks.

 

Damn. I was afraid that would be the answer.

 

If I were going to fix it I would probably remove what was left of the old pipe, get some some tubing of the right diameter (metric steel tubing would be my first choice, but a hard copper of the right size might work as well...). Bore out the hole to the right diameter for the tubing if it wasn't already and then silver solder it in place.

 

And doing that will necessitate removing the intake anyway, so it'd be a good time to just replace it outright. Bugger.

 

That's a very uncommon failure so I would try to find a replacement intake.

 

So I gather. From searching both here and elsewhere, I can't find reference to anyone else ever having this issue. Doesn't mean it's never happened before, but neither of my previous Brats even came close to anything like this.

 

You can use the EA82 intake if you use the matching upper radiator hose and either an EA82 Hitachi carb or a Weber with the right adaptor plate. If you have any EA82's carb models in the junk yard then just do that - or you can do the SPFI swap

 

Hm. I'll have to double-check the junkyards, but I think that both of the couple of EA82s we've got around here are FI, not carbed. I like the idea of the SPFI swap - it's just not what I want to get into right now. This would be the time to do it, though.

 

What are the chances of using the EA81 Hitachi (which I just had rebuilt) with the EA82 intake? Is it one of those, "even if it fits, it doesn't work for the following 27 reasons..." sort of things?

[The Beast I Drive]

EA81 Hitachi wont bolt onto a EA82 manifold unless you swap the baseplate, if thats even possible. And if you did that you would still need a EA82 Hitachi baseplate. Easier just to use the entire EA82 carb and manifold setup than try to mix and match.

 

-Bill

[casm]

EA81 Hitachi wont bolt onto a EA82 manifold unless you swap the baseplate, if thats even possible. And if you did that you would still need a EA82 Hitachi baseplate. Easier just to use the entire EA82 carb and manifold setup than try to mix and match.

 

-Bill

 

Thanks, good to know. I was pretty sure something like that would be the case, but figured it was worth checking.

 

Meanwhile, I've been doing some digging around and came up with the following part numbers:

 

14001 AA071: Intake Manifold, Complete

14001 AA072: Intake Manifold, Complete

14070 AA001: Heater Pipe

 

Does anyone know what the differences are between the two manifolds listed above? I'm guessing one is Hitachi, the other's Carter/Weber - but the parts book I was looking at didn't say one way or the other.

 

Also, regarding the heater pipe: is this the correct number? Same parts book, but the diagram wasn't entirely clear as to whether or not it ran to/from the correct (passenger) side. I *think* it did, but I'd like to be certain before placing an order.