Jarred87GL Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 i bought a 1987 subaru Gl and the origanal motor was garbage and rusted out. im swapping it for a ea82 turbo. Do i need to buy a new ECU? do 87s have a ecu? i do Need a new wiring harness. Do i need a new cross member? heard something about that? What am i missing? Any help would be awesome, Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbosubarubrat Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 If you plan to wheel it just swap in a ej22. It's practically the same amount of work especially if your car is carb'd. The ea82t's have problems in normal use but even worse when being hot rodded or wheeled. The ea82 is a good motor its self for what it was designed to do. They will last over 300k if well maintained. But, to answer your questions yes you need to buy a turbo ecm or wire it to a mega squirt. Yes 87's have ecm's depending on if their carb'd or fuel injected and depending on where their from. Yes you do need a turbo harness or you have to wire your own in with a unit like a mega squirt. No you don't need to swap cross members. I could bolt in a ea82t into a brat but it's a huge waste of time and effort. But if your doing something like Quidam that is badass and never done before like this i would say go for it. Find a legacy with a bad transmission/wrecked and do a ej swap. Or in the very least get a ea81 with a weber carb or spfi swap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 I suggest you do some more research here about the engine you want to swap in, it may be more trouble than you expect. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prwa101 Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 ^ what he said its a lot more reliable! The old Ea82T were horrible with there heads cracking.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarred87GL Posted January 16, 2015 Author Share Posted January 16, 2015 does a EJ22 bolt on to the ea82 tranny? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbosubarubrat Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 does a EJ22 bolt on to the ea82 tranny? Yes with a adapter plate which Prwa101 can sell you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subruise Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 spend some time reading. its going to take awhile to absorb the needed info. you are far better off sticking in another ea82 than converting. ea82s are fine, just not for race cars. Theyre cheap, pretty common, forgiving, and reliable. If you go the route Im suggesting youll need to retain your distributor, they are funky in 87 and other ones dont work without modification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l75eya Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 What's the deal with the 87 distributors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jono Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 and if EA82T going in, a turbo xmem will help, or mods by cut and weld needed to clear the exhaust tubing from turbo side head up to turbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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