ea82 build

[risonm92]

So I have recently acquired a 94 loyale and upon inspection and diagnosing the engine needs gone through in short. The engine is pulled and ready to be worked with. Now originally I was just gonna do a regular spec rebuild nothing special new gaskets rings pistons valves etc etc well I got to wondering why not build it up a little? Its not a race car and I know im not gonna get anywhere near 200hp but I figured it could at least push 130-140hp. So has anyone done a build on an ea82? Or know of where I can get larger cams and pistons or any "performance" parts for a fuel injected ea82 and just more bang for my buck?

[Crazyeights]

So I have recently acquired a 94 loyale and upon inspection and diagnosing the engine needs gone through in short. The engine is pulled and ready to be worked with. Now originally I was just gonna do a regular spec rebuild nothing special new gaskets rings pistons valves etc etc well I got to wondering why not build it up a little? Its not a race car and I know im not gonna get anywhere near 200hp but I figured it could at least push 130-140hp. So has anyone done a build on an ea82? Or know of where I can get larger cams and pistons or any "performance" parts for a fuel injected ea82 and just more bang for my buck?

I just finished an EA82 rebuild. New pistons and rings, main and rod bearings, all seals and gaskets, ect. I went stock on everything and it's quiet and runs well. You could have Delta do some re-ground torque cams for it, but I have never used them on an EA82 so can't speak for them.

[risonm92]

Any idea on your ft-lb trq and horse #s?

[Subruise]

wont be any better than the 95 hp it came with from the factory. do a search. youll find answers

[Prwa101]

Go with a ej22 swap, or build a Franken motor that'll push 200hp easy.

 

And ol ea wouldn't be worth your time, upgrade! just about done with my ej swap talk about power

[risonm92]

That's the thing though im not looking to build alot of hp just a little more than what it had is all.

[Subruise]

Go with a ej22 swap, or build a Franken motor that'll push 200hp easy.

 

And ol ea wouldn't be worth your time, upgrade! just about done with my ej swap talk about power

franken motors run about 180 hp

[WoodsWagon]

Honestly the single port heads are going to be your biggest choke point on power. The SPFI motors were 90hp, the MPFI spider intake dual port head engines in the xt's were 97hp.

 

The wiring effort to change a spfi car to mpfi isn't worth it because you might as well do an EJ conversion at that point. But you might be able to use the dual port heads with a turbo intake manifold with the SPFI throttle body adapted to fit on it. That would get you some of the flow advantages 

 

130hp is asking a lot out of a two valve bathtub combustion chamber head on a 1.8l engine. A more realistic target would be 105hp. That's still a 15% increase over stock.

[Crazyeights]

Honestly the single port heads are going to be your biggest choke point on power. The SPFI motors were 90hp, the MPFI spider intake dual port head engines in the xt's were 97hp.

 

The wiring effort to change a spfi car to mpfi isn't worth it because you might as well do an EJ conversion at that point. But you might be able to use the dual port heads with a turbo intake manifold with the SPFI throttle body adapted to fit on it. That would get you some of the flow advantages 

 

130hp is asking a lot out of a two valve bathtub combustion chamber head on a 1.8l engine. A more realistic target would be 105hp. That's still a 15% increase over stock.

In my opinion rebuilding one of these (EA82) NA and stock is probably worth doing if you just need a good reliable machine that gets fair mileage. It will ALWAYS be underpowered. Putting more than a dime in to one of these engines for any type of performance upgrade is money and effort that should probably go to an EJ swap in my opinion.

 

I rebuilt the EA82 in my '88 because I already had most of the parts left over from other projects. I also need it to be dependable and leak free until I decide what to do with this car (project wise).

 

Good Luck!

Edited May 7, 2013 by Crazyeights

[risonm92]

I'll more than likely just do a stock build based off of what everyones saying and what I've researched.

[idosubaru]

agreed, money spent on performance is mostly novelty, learning, and play....which are legitimate reasons to some so go for it if that's the case.

 

if you're trying for practical, the gains are abysmal and end up like "i think that made a difference"...and then a couple months later you forget about it and all seems the same.

 

get some mild delta cams and ligthen the car up, and ask about exhaust.  sometimes opening it up a little helps with like highway driving, but too much and it kills the get up and go so you might not want that for around town driving.

 

that being said there are aftermarket ligthweight pistons available, a subaruxt.com member built his ER27 XT6 6 cylinder engine with them.  it's the same motor as an EA82 with two extra pistons slapped on it....same valves, springs, rods, pistons, rings...

[idosubaru]

why the build - is something wrong with the block?   if never overheated or run out of oil EA82's easily see really high miles....like 300,000.

[risonm92]

Pretty much 3 out of 4 cylinders were dead for whatever reason the 3 had 35 or less when checking for compression and one had around 170. Once I'd pressurize the bad cylinder I'd hear a distinct air sound coming from the oil tube and nowhere else. So I figured it was rings or at least something internal that needed fixed. That's the purpose of the rebuild in the first place.

[MilesFox]

rebbuild or not, any power gains are going to be external components aside from a cam.

 

I believe i have read somehwere that there is a nissan throttle body injector with a little more cc's that fits the throttle body. run a glass pack after the y pipe flange and straight pipe the muffler. Run the timing a few degrees hotter. dont bother with ram intakes or what have you.

[risonm92]

rebbuild or not, any power gains are going to be external components aside from a cam.

 

I believe i have read somehwere that there is a nissan throttle body injector with a little more cc's that fits the throttle body. run a glass pack after the y pipe flange and straight pipe the muffler. Run the timing a few degrees hotter. dont bother with ram intakes or what have you.

ok then. Do you know of any companies that produce a larger cam for an ea82 and ill look into the throttle body idea if you happen by it id appreciate if you kept me in mind and passed on any info

[djellum]

they dont make different cams, Delta Cams (a company) takes your cam, welds the lobes up larger, and regrinds to a different profile.  Cams can gain you performance by keeping valves open longer or something, but more importantly they move the horsepower around.  you can tell delta that you want power at highway cruise, low end, or any amount in between and they can set them up.  

[yiannib]

Is there a step by step for doing the ea82 to ej 22 swap? I have a 92 loyale.

[yiannib]

Is there a step by step for doing the ea82 to ej 22 swap? I have a 92 loyale.

[ystrdyisgone]

Yes look in the retrofitting section of the forum

[ferp420]

i gained a lot of driveability by adding a procomp ignition (same as msd only cheaper) and pulling the mechanicle fan and replacing it with a electric one again i dont think i gained any more power it just made what i have more usable exaust dident make a noticable differance to spend any money on but sure sounds better

[NickNakorn]

I did a very careful stock rebuild last year and the improvement in performance was amazing - it was unreliable before but seemed to pull well even with all its overheating and tick-of-death problems. Now, over 5000 miles since the rebuild, it's running very, very well. I think I'd go for a swap if I wanted proper performance - or indeed a differnt car - but you'd be pretty pleased with the results of a stock rebuild.