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EA82T in Gen 1 Brat, it's in there!!!!


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The tittle says it all, Photos in my album here

 

I've got the heavy and dirty part of my swap done. I've been having nightmares about it not working the way I had planned and now I can sleep and have nightmares about being attacked by wiring harnesses :eek:

 

I should first help my friend Jim Trezona who was an huge help in getting the motor to fit the way it should. He's an oldschool vintage race car builder/mechanic and I couldn't have done it with out him.

 

I should also thank (or blame) 78turbobrat for putting this idea in my head. He did it first and proved it was possible.

 

I'll answer any questions about the swap but let me mention a few of the things we did to make it work

 

It is not neccessary to cut the frame rails or cross member but Jim convinced me it was worth it. It allowed us to get the motor to sit down low to maintain a low center of gravity for handling. It will also allow me to get to the heads without pulling the motor. We cut the frame rails and boxed them back in with 1/8" steel. I am certain if anything the fram rails are stiffer and more beefy than it was stock. With a little welding, grinding, bondo and paint, I think it looks really clean, almost factory.

 

The stock crossmember had to be cut and boxed back in to make room for the crossover/uppipe. We built some adapter plates to allow the EA82 motor mounts to be bolted in. Welded some flanges on the inside of the tranny tunnel to provide mounting holes for the EA82 tranny crossmember.

 

The rear diff bolted right in. EA82 2 piece drive shaft fit perfectly, with a little relocation of the center mount. Tranny fit perfectly (I will have some difficulty between steering and axle once I try to get custom front axles in)

 

Once all the fabrication was done and clean, I sprayed it with 1980 Deep Blue (color code 67) which is what the hole thing will be painted latter this summer.

 

Anyway, I am so pleased with how it has gone so far and can't wait to get the thing running.

 

I'll keep you posted

 

garner

 

here

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Sweet dude! That is gonna be one hell of a fast car! You mentioned that the tranny (5spd I assume) fit perfectly. Is this true? no mods to the tranny tunnel at all? Do you think this could be done with a stock 1600, or did you move the engine/tranny farther forward in the car?

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Sweet dude! That is gonna be one hell of a fast car! You mentioned that the tranny (5spd I assume) fit perfectly. Is this true? no mods to the tranny tunnel at all? Do you think this could be done with a stock 1600, or did you move the engine/tranny farther forward in the car?

 

The only mod to the tunnel was the addition of some flanges to mount the tranny mount/crossmember. The tranny and engine are maybe 1 inch further forward than stock (based on the location of the motor mout holes in the cross member) The tranny had one modification, I cut a locating tab off the bottom so it could sit down lower without hitting the crossmember.

 

Are you talking about just swapping the tranny or doing the whole swap in the 1600? The 5spd push button is actually shorter than the 4 spd EA71 tranny. It seems the difference in length is made up for by the longer, 2 piece drive shaft

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It would be nice to get some pics of the other fabrication work you did to the tranny tunnel, engine mounts, and center driveshaft mount in particular, those would all be very helpful to people swapping in EA82 drivetrains in both Gen1 and Gen2 vehicles :cool:

 

:slobber: :slobber: :slobber:

 

Yes, more pictures to come. I will get the tranny mount fabrication photographed and up soon. I will wait until I get beyond my getto driveshaft support mount to photograph it.

 

I meant to do a real photo-documentary of the swap process but I got so busy and in to it that I kept forgeting to snap a photo (and greasy hands and digital cameras don't mix well) Maybe thats why those Chilton's manuals suck so bad for photos

 

ILUVDRT: It's a spider intake from an 88XT, I think the power will be reasonable since it's over twice that of the stock motor (65hp=1600 hopefully near 150hp=my EA82T with mods (check my signiture)) The Brat weighs less than 2000lb wet. But, can you ever have enough power?

:headbang:

 

garner

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Thanks for the kind words guys. It's nice to know others think what I'm doing here is worth while. When you spend hours and hours in the shop and explain to non-subaruphiles what your doing, you get some wierd looks. It's easy to loose track of the goal. Anyway, the USMB does wonders for encouraging me to stay on task and build cool subarus.

 

Oops, I did have to modify the tranny linkage. I had to shorten both pieces of the shift linkage to move the shifter forward into the Brat's shifter boot area. No big deal but I thought I should keep it real in terms of what is needed fore the swap.

 

The tractor is my buddy Jim's I believe it is indeed B7100D. It was a very helpful tool for the swap.

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Hey Garner, lookin sweet, I'm gonna have to hide this thread from my wife, or she'll want to do the same to her 80 Brat.

If'n you run into any trouble when it comes to wireing her up, lemme know, I'm just down the road here in Medford, and I can run up there on a weekend and help you out. I've got down this whole fuel injection conversion wireing thing to practically a science now.

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Good job, I like how you boxed the frame out. Its go'na scream! How much does a Brat weigh, maybe half as much as the wagon tham motor came out of. DAM!

 

good question... I know the brat is light but does anyone know what the curbweight of a 79 Brat is compared to an 85 gl10turbo wagon?

 

I've heard the Brat is under 2000lb.

 

My bathroom scale stops at about 350lbs

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Last time I weighed my gen 1 is was a little under 2200 pounds, but thats with the rear jump seats, a topper, spare tire under the hood, and crap in the cab. So I think if you remove the rear seats, and everything non essential, you can get it to round 1900.

The GL-10 sedan weighed in at close to 2700, that was completely empty.

Just for S*$t's and giggles, did ya'll know that an 87 Supra weighs almost 4000 pounds!!!

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Congrats, now i get the blame LMAO

its ok i was the crazy one for doing it the first time, but just wait until you feel the pull of that motor with out all the extra weight. icon4.gifREMINDER : put pillow behind your head, whiplash is possible.icon4.gif

 

If you have any questions at all about your wiring, please dont hesitate , do get ahold of me, as i have pretty much perfected the wiring from the brat as a matter of fact the harness or what was left of it is in the back of my truck i will post a pic of it for you in my album. and also to come are the pics of the new fiberglass dash that only cost 150 to do. looks outstanding.

 

Have fun and enjoy,

 

oh yeah also lawnmower blades make great tranny mounts. just use cutting torch, sawzaw doesnt cut them.

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hey 78turbobrat,

 

I had ment to send you an email with a link to this thread, but you found it on your own. just kidding blaming you for putting the idea in my head. It was really more like inspiration and some good timing in finding the motor and tranny etc for the swap, (thanks XSNRG).

 

I think I found a company to make the custom front axles. Constant Velocity in Florida? about $105 each.

 

Did you have any probs with the steering linkage and the driver's side half shafts? I am going to have some clearance issues, that I think I can over come, I just wondered if you ran in to this? The way I understand it, the motor in yours sits up higher than mine, it seems like that would make the clearance issue worse?

 

As for wiring, I will keep you posted. So far, I think I've got it but I'm sure I'll hit some snags. I am sort of combining the two harnesses rather than using the EA82T alone. I am using the EA82 for it's computer/engine control etc and the stock Brat harness for lights, wipers, horn etc. The Brat harness is in great shape and everything works so if it's not broke...

 

Thanks again for your advice and willingness to help me (you too AdamN.D.J.

 

Back to the shop, I gotta get this thing running for the WCSS!!

 

garner

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Not a problem, put the blame my way, what have you done about the brakes ? did you run across the same issue i did with the master cylinder hitting the disty cap ? The steeering is solved by using some steering knuckles and reforming the angle of things, works great, just had to change a few things but i have plenty of room there now. Well let me know when and if you need help with the wiring.

 

icon4.gif

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yes, the brat's MC and vacuum assist were too long. With a little bit of fab work, I swapped in the EA82T MC and vacuum, clearance is great now. I'm not sure how you solved it but swapping in the EA82T was pretty easy and the brakes feel great now.

 

That's what I have in mind for steering. I got some JY parts, u-joints etc and will soon get that problem solved.

 

Newest clearance issue is the WRX turbo and down pipe. I'm goint to have to fab a really short up-pipe to raise the turbo about 2 inches and angle it back about 20 degrees.

 

I'll post more pictures soon...

 

garner

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  • 3 weeks later...

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