Rebuild EA81 or Engine swap?

[Calemardo]

Hello all,

 

I've bought a Brumby (Obviously an Australian) which is a clean little car. The engine has 365,000km on it and has a few issues. (Overheating, doesn't idle, Air Con doesn't work).

 

So my question is.. Is it worth pulling the EA out and rebuilding it, maybe a few upgrades as well or do i look at a swap for an EJ?

 

A friend of mine is a mechanic who knows Subies well, and is very experienced but I don't think he's done a swap before but is keen to give it a go. 

 

Thanks all.

[dfoyl]

Long term plans - are you likely to keep it for a few years ? An EJ upgrade will cost at least a few thousand dollars.

 

The EA81 doesn't have a lot of headroom in terms of power (and finding things like the twin-carb setup is just about impossible now). If you are happy with the power available, a rebuild on the EA81 should be very cheap and easy to do.

 

If you decide to go EJ, buy a cheap Liberty / Impreza / Forester (make sure it's a SOHC, the DOHC won't fit without cutting the rails) and change over pretty much everything in terms of engine (gearbox is optional in whether you go full EJ or with adaptor plate and stick with your current box - if it's the original 4 speed you will just about need to replace it with either an EJ or a L-series box).

 

Rough costs (in AUD):

Donor vehicle - $300-500

Gearbox adaptor plate : $200

Rebuild EJ engine - $600-1000 (depending on how much you do yourself and the quality of parts, if you just did a top end it would be quite a bit less but the downside of an EJ in a Brumby is it's a tight fit so you don't want to have to pull it out again when a welsh plug, mains bearing or similar goes). Most donor cars will come with EJ engines that have 200k km's or more and are due for a rebuild.

XT6 rear hubs : $340 (PM me to go on the list for the next batch)

Loom cut-down : $300 (if you can do it yourself you'll save most of that)

Plus labour from your mechanic (not a small job all up)

 

Above all for an EJ retrofit, start with a plan of exactly what you want to do. Every mechanic I've spoken to who has done an EJ install swears they wouldn't do them again because of the number of changes people make during the build (scope creep)...

[idosubaru]

"does

doesn't idle,

Thanks all.

It has a carburetor, that's what they do. Clean or rebuild it.

 

Overheating

It may need fan, thermostat, or radiator work - a few dollars and you're done.

if it needs headgaskets or less - repair it, that's inexpensive and easy when compared to a swap. get it drivable and then decide.

EA82's are easily done in the vehicle, don't even have to pull the engine to do the heads. jack the side of the engine up that you're working on and not bad at all.

 

but yeah if you're game for a swap, know you'll keep it, and be able to follow through on it, sure swap it.

Edited January 20, 2017 by grossgary

[Calemardo]

Guys thank very much for the advice. 

 

I really want to do the swap, though I think at this point it's probably going to be too time consuming. 

 

The car is running, it's just not dealing well with the heat here.. I thought it may have popped a head gasket but i've checked the oil and it's clean, checked the exhaust for excess water vapor and it seems ok so it must be thermo, radiator or a fan problem.

 

Probably not a bad idea to replace the lot whilst I rebuild the engine. Is it worth looking for a weber carb? Do they make that much difference? Or just keep the original and put a kit through it?

[dfoyl]

Is it a factory (dealer fit) AC system - it looks like a DL so it may be a retro-fit AC. It should have two thermo fans rather than the single crank fan on the non-AC model.

 

I'd start with a radiator flush to make sure the engine is keeping cool. Rebuild the Hitachi, the Weber is wasted money if you are going to swap in an EJ later.

 

Then go to a auto electrician and get the AC refilled, check the fast idle circuit for the AC is wired up correctly (especially if the AC isn't factory/dealer installed). Make sure BOTH fans run when the AC is on.

[Calemardo]

Yea it's factory fit, it has the dual thermo's. I'll do the flush when I get home.

 

Any recommendation on a rebuild kit for the Hitachi? 

 

Thanks again for your help/patience

[dfoyl]

Sorry, can't help on a suitable Hitachi rebuild - I had mine done locally and I don't recall the kit. Put a post up in the 80s section on rebuild kit for Hitachi and there should be a few responses.

 

(By the way, in my earlier post on fitting a SOHC EJ vs DOHC, I was proven wrong yesterday as a DOHC will fit - it has about 3 sheets of paper for clearance on each side though, so any significant side-to-side force would end up with a drumming sound of the engine tapping the rails!)

[Naked Buell]

I rebuilt my ea81 just because it is such a great little motor and put it in my Rx. But I wanted more for my Brat and that is why I decided to do the Ej swap and put in a 2.2T. I was afraid to start but just did it anyway and if you just do the adapter plate ej-ea, get the 5 speed ea tranny, then you aren't really changing anything but the motor and upgrading to a stronger tranny.