1982 Subaru GL Hatch, Turbo, "Quatro San"

[TOsborn]

Head is now almost ready to go on, just need to install a freeze plug.  From what I can tell, the water jacket was partly cut off so they could weld extra material around the intake port, and then port the heck out of it, then they welded the jacket back on.  Unfortunately when I purchased the car, one of the welds had split thanks to the engine being left full of water for years (along with a crack in the block...).  Well the cracked weld has been repaired, head has been surfaced, and after the gaskets arrive it will be re-installed.

 

Along with re-installing the head, I'm going to be doing some general repair such as all new intake/exhaust gaskets, new water pump, new t-stat, etc.  Unfortunately this won't happen for another week or two, as I won't be down in Tacoma to work on it until then.  

 

Also I have one final pile of junkyard parts to install on this car.  The poor EA81 wagon at the Arlington pick-n-pull has been picked clean!

 

 

 

 

*Note the huge springs/valves.  Going to be very interesting to see how this thing runs!

[AKghandi]

with those springs that motor should rev to the moon... if it all holds together i would think atleast 9k rpms

[TOsborn]

So I've been trying to find intake gaskets, but I can't find anything that has the four hole pattern.  Anybody know if these are different than normal EA81 heads?  Since my search has come up empty, I'm going to make my own gaskets.

 

[1982gl4]

Stock only has three bolt holes so they wont work. Making your own sounds like the best bet. 

[TOsborn]

Ok, didn't realize that they modified the bolt pattern as well, as this is the first time I've done a EA81 head job.  Thanks, making my own it is.

[1982gl4]

Ok, didn't realize that they modified the bolt pattern as well, as this is the first time I've done a EA81 head job.  Thanks, making my own it is.

 

No problem, I was going to post up a pic of the stock ones, but I couldn't find it. I just had my ea81 all apart I was hoping I had one. It must be challenging trying to bring back something that is so heavily modified. Looks like you are doing a great job at it so far! 

[TOsborn]

Another Saturday spent working on QS:

 

Prepping for a "new" slightly used passenger door.  Way better than what it had before, thanks Turbone.

 

Remnants of the old door.  Entire bottom rusted out.

 

Quick paint to stop any new rust in this area.  Pretty solid here though.

 

Three colors now.  Anybody got a straight/non rusted drivers door and hatch?

 

After finishing the head job, time for the intake.  Should have been easy.  Took around four hours to clean and install this bugger.  Fixing more cobbled together VRI student "fixes" is always...not fun.  After some massaging, the intake is now installed with the annoying head adaptors.  Plus all of the extra vacuum/EGR/coolant ports are sorted/capped.

 

Finished intake installed in car.  Began organizing engine bay, it's still a bit of a disaster.

 

Next plans:

-tidy loose ends in engine bay

-create PCV system

-mount y-pipe/turbo again

-continue planning for carb part of intake and full exhaust

Edited October 20, 2013 by TOsborn

[Bushwick]

I was going to say the same thing about that carb as it's too big for your application. I've had a handful of 302 and 351w Fox Mustangs. The 302 powered one came with a 750cfm. It screamed on the top end and ran OK, but I switched to a smaller 625cfm Carter (which was still technically too big for the 302 and it's lower RPM range) and throttle response down low as well as overall power was very good and was running 12.9's with that.

 

In your case, even with the turbo running full tilt, aim for something smaller and the engine will run better and be more rewarding to drive. No idea what wheels you have in that turbo, but going with a small Garrett or TD04 15 might be a good choice and are inexpensive to find. Good Luck with this car!

[wallaby]

Three colors now.  Anybody got a straight/non rusted drivers door and hatch?

 

 

shipping might be a killer....but i have 3 hatches, they are all different colors....

maybe even a door

Edited November 1, 2013 by wallaby

[Pooparu]

Yesssss!

[TOsborn]

In the spirit of "make this car run for minimal dollars" I scored a stock Harley Davidson carb for free from a friend.  It's tiny, but I'm going to give it a shot.  Going to first run it NA with the HD carb and see how that goes.

 

So, after working on the car today, all I need to run is:

-make an intake for the HD carb

-exhaust manifold(ypipe) and make the rest after that

 

Shouldn't be too much longer now!  If anybody has an ea81 exhaust manifold in the greater Seattle area for free/cheap, let me know!  Or else back to scouring the junkyards.

[Bushwick]

If you want to run the car NA for awhile, you can block the oil and coolant lines to the turbo, block the oil return, and remove the CHRA from the exhaust housing. Get a piece of 16 gauge steel, drill holes in it to bolt to housing (or however that turbo works), and you can at least run NA.

 

OR just force it to bypass boost so at least that way it's still spinning and getting oil. If the seals are bad and it's puking oil, then try the above method to avoid your best James Bond smoke screen running people off the road

 

I actually did the bypass in my Saab when the factory turbo went out and I was rebuilding it with wheel and housing upgrades, waiting for parts to arrive, and sending off for a proper balance which took several weeks. Then had back surgery so it remained NA for about 6 months. The exhaust housing will limit NA flow and HP, but it'll at least be drivable and easier to diagnose if you don't have a fresh turbo to install. 

[TOsborn]

Since the turbo exhaust was only an open downpipe, I think I'll still put something quick together for running NA.  Thanks for the idea though! 

[SkankinPickle]

you still need an EA-81 exhaust mani? I have two. For free.

[TOsborn]

^Thanks, but decided the turbo is going back on.  Without the turbo...it'd just another hatch.  Have to keep the QS spirit alive.

 

The exhaust manifold and turbo/downpipe are back on the car.  Had to do a bit of work to fit the manifold, as it had some serious time/space issues with the oil pan...  Also they made some odd spacers to lower the manifold down a bit, they are neccesary for it to fit at all, so they were welded to the manifold (now it only needs two manifold gaskets, instead of four, definately a VRI job).  Just ordered all the tubing/bends/flanges/etc to complete the exhaust.  Making 2" exhaust all the way back and dump it out after the rear axle, and going to see how it sounds without a muffler first, if too loud then find a small glasspack for it.  Still going to try the Holley 625cfm four barrel out for the carb, if it sucks then I'll buy a Weber.

 

I sold my '86 three door turbo, so this car is now up to be my next daily (read as, now I am highly motivated to get it back on the road).  My current daily is now a motorcycle, and I need a car for back up!  

 

I also just moved to Los Angeles, so the car will be making it's way down here once it is running and reliable.  It'll be the only old Subaru in LA, as they seem to be non existent down here.

Edited February 2, 2014 by TOsborn

[TOsborn]

Also, the unique sunroof is pretty much toasted.  It's rusted solid, and is not worth repairing.  I'm also about 100% sure it's not factory, based off of the quality of the installation.

 

But, since the car can't be driven with a huge open hole in the roof, I've been looking at other fabric sunroof options.  These guys make some pretty cool sliding fabric tops, and I will probably go with one of these:

 

http://www.slidingragtops.com/25.html

 

They appear to be very close to the one already in the car, even have the same pop up wind deflector.

Edited February 2, 2014 by TOsborn

[Scooner]

That Ford truck in the background looks pretty sweet too what year is it? My dad had a 64' F100 shortbed that he swapped in a 455ci olds engine in it when I was a kid and it was badass. Im still on the hunt for one that me and my son cam have fun with. Nice hatch man, good luck with it!

[TOsborn]

It's a 1965 F-100 with the 300 straight six, my main project.  Been in the family since it was new, it's been mine for the past few years.  Honestly I've put a ton more work into it then QS since it was my daily since I sold the '86 Scoob, now it's in storage.  Good luck on finding one for you and your son, they are bulletproof and relatively simple and cheap to work on.

 

Here's a completely off topic photo of it on a camping trip down Hwy 1:

 

[Scooner]

I love it! 65' the first year of the twin I beam suspension if i remember right. Those style trucks have the best body lines and that 300 is one of the best engines ford ever made. We will keep an eye out, just sucks that most of them around here (colorado/wyoming) are rotten from road salts back in the day.

[Twitch de la Brat]

I hate to be a Debbie downer, but if you do the math on the CFM capabilities of that EA81, you'll find that even boosted a 325cfm carb will be too much for it.

A little assistance with the math, the EA81 is 109 CID. So every 2 rpm it moves a maximum of 109 CID, before we take into consideration the "packing" ability of the turbo. So if we crank that up to 4k, it's moving 218,000 cubic inches. Translate that into feet, and the poor thing is only moving 126.157CFM. Of course this is before we account for the "packing" of the turbo,but as you can see, the engine will probably explode before you ever touch 625cfm.

Also, exhaust size, NA I ran Dual 1.75" on my BRAT, which translates slightly larger than a single 2.25" exhaust setup and it breathed great with no low end loss. With the turbo, going to a 2.5 in exhaust probably wouldn't be a bad idea.

 

Just kicking out some experience and ideas.

 

Also, I remember this car from the movie, and thank you for saving it

 

Twitch

[TOsborn]

Thanks.  I am well aware the math doesn't add up.  I'm pretty sure Leondhardt wouldn't of let me graduate if I didn't know how to size carbs, but that's a whole 'nother story.

 

There are many motto's for the VRI, most revolve around "do some crazy crap that shouldn't work for little to no money."  At least that was the motto when I was there, as we had little to no money.  There are still a few tricks left to try and make the 625 work...cut out the secondary's and it transforms into a two barrel, that theoretically flows something roughly equal to 625/2.  Will it work?  Maybe!  (I do admit that if the idle circuit is too big, I can't fix that).

 

2.5" would flow more...but I bet either the heads or rocker assembly let go before it becomes a limiting factor!

Edited February 11, 2014 by TOsborn

[TOsborn]

Almost ready to fire!

 

Exhaust is built, new from the downpipe back, dumps just passed the rear axle, leaving room for a muffler later.  It's tacked together now, I'll add photos once it comes off for the finish welding.

 

And the intake is looking good.  The flange fit's Holley carbs, so I can downsize to a smaller Holley 4 barrel / 2 barrel later and use same intake.  It's got some crazy curves going on to fit the carb/air cleaner without cutting the hood, but it'll work for a prototype.

 

Plan is to start it in the next week or so.  After finish welding exhaust, just need to hook up carb and add a battery.  It ran before taking it apart, it should run again! (and much better with a carb that will actually meter fuel instead of just dumping gas into the intake...)

 

All fabrication work courtesy of my dad, as the car is in WA and I am in LA.  It helps to have a bored master fabricator / 30 year hot rod builder for a dad!

 

Enough talking, photos:

 

 

 

Also, since I live in CA, I have a slight problem.  Thanks to the wonderful CA laws, this car will never be legal to register in CA.  So, it looks like this will never be my driver while I'm here.  Potential plan is to go back to building it into a rallycross car for starters (leaving it registered in WA), and then possibly stage rally.  This is all far off...but since I already have a tow vehicle...why not!

Edited March 1, 2014 by TOsborn

[Bushwick]

Just register it in your dad's state and keep insurance on it from your dad's state as well. If you ever get stopped for some reason, can explain you are moving, or you are in CA for work reasons, etc. You'll need to keep a cat on it regardless unless it's strictly an off-road car. A large 3" race cat will be OK (spool-wise) and most importantly be legal so a CHP riding behind you won't smell a catless exhaust and stop you.

[TOsborn]

Not much you can tell from photos, but recently new brakes, hammered out dents, and welded up the rusted rockers.

 

Since it now rolls (brakes were stuck), it was pushed outside for photos.

 

Need to drain oil to find out how much water is in it before running again.  It was fun to prove this engine worked, but a swap might be inte future for something with an ECU...

 

 

 

[Pooparu]

Bump...any update?