EA81 dual carb head gaskets

[AthenTL]

Hi everyone.

 

I just replaced the engine of my beloved VW Beetle. Threw out the EA71 and put in an EA81 with the two carburators. The engine is a BEAST

 

After a couple of minutes though water started to come out of the exhaust. Busted head gasket

 

Anyway - no biggie .... but : is the headgasket identical with the single carb EA 81 ? (i know that the heads are definitely not)

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Oh - by the way : i'm about to get a new exahust too, so what would be the correct tube size under the heads? Thks.

[84gl]

they should be the same the only difference in the heads are that the valves are reversed

[987687]

Sure it's not just condensation? or left over from the ea71?

[Twitch de la Brat]

It could possibly be bad intake manifold gaskets.

When those go bad they tend to leak coolant into the cylinders.

 

Twitch

[hatchsub]

I would check the intake gaskets before u go and pop the heads off. Much more likely with the EA81. And if u wanna sell the heads and cam let me know.

[AthenTL]

To take the heads off, the manifold has to come of anyway. Thus, we shall see if the problem is there.

 

Since i'll be taking the heads off, i think i'll just send them for a skimming and a valve job. It's as good an opportunity as any.

 

Does anybody know what the tube diameter of the original exhaust used to be on these engines ? 'cause the port is HUGE (i think it must be 25-30% larger than the "normal" EA81)

 

Thks

 

Boris

[AthenTL]

The head gaskets were at fault.

 

By the way - they are identical to the "plain" EA 81.

 

Skimmed the heads, reground the valves, checked for wear on the guides (still very good) and replaced the heads with a set of new gaskets (original Subaru).

 

What an engine .........