swaping an 82wagon with a 81engine

[felipeascui]

apologies for my english as some technical words are not in my vocabuary. i am writing from chile and english is my second language,

 

i have a 1993 4wd wagon in very good condition. its has a mpfi ea82 engine. after a winter vacation came back home and drove it without checking oil levels because of the pouring rain. didnt see the oil level light come up either cause baby was crying. now engine is stuck. 

 

a friend of mine gave me a ea81 engine from an old brat that appears to move smoothly and compress.

from what i have read the 81 engine is more reliable. i drive mostly on dirt roads so engine power from an ea82 is not something i would miss.

 

any advice on this matter? should i go ahead and attempt to swap my ea82 wagon to a ea81 engine? gasoline pump maybe would be too strong for a carbeb engine.

 

or should i look for another ea82 engine.

 

please advice on this matter, 

 

thanks,

felipe from navidad, chile.

[DaveT]

SPFI fuel pressure is over 20PSI.  Carburetors typically work around 5PSI.

 

Simplest to find an EA82 to swap in.  Probably be good to do a reseal on it.  The difference between EA81 & 82 would not help with low engine oil, either type would be destroyed.

 

The main reliability difference would be the timing belts and idlers, as in if you want reliable, you have to maintain them.  EA81 is gear driven, so no maintenance.

[Scott in Bellingham]

EA81 is good engine change out the fuel pump and run it

[Subaru Scott]

Yes, it can be done. Change to a carburetor fuel pump. You will need to adapt the hose from the fuel tank to the pump, because it is much larger. You should get some small sleeves/collars for your rear crankshaft bolts because they are 10 mm instead off 11 mm to take up the slop in the flywheel if you have a manual transmission. If you have an automatic, I wouldn't worry about it. Other than that, everything else bolts up the same. You will need to do a little custom wiring adapting for the distributor, the temperature gauge, and oil pressure light. You will also need ignition power to the carburetor fuel valve and choke.

[dfoyl]

In before GD

 

You will also find parts much easier to obtain for EA81 over EA82. Rebuilding an EA82 and then needing a new oil pump in 2 years time will leave you stuck.

 

Have you thought about an EJ ? As you already have the MPFI setup you don't need to worry about fuel lines or fuel pump, EJ's will be more future-proof.