themixtoo Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 I don't know if this has been posted before but..... As I began dissasembling my '83 Turbo Brat it occured to me that a couple of things (other than the obvious things like gold accents, etc) are specific to the Turbo Models and to the un-informed someone might just try to pass off a 'clone' soooo watch for the correct oil cooler and the front chin spoiler. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 I love the little touches on the turbos. Like the lower, stiffer suspension! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 Unfortunately, not all turbos had the oil cooler. The suspension sure is nice on the road though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 They only made the EA81T for two years, so if what you're saying is correct (That not all the turbos had the oil cooler) then it must be safe to assume that it was installed as part of the turbo upgrade (When they had a recall to install the water cooled turbos). Sound feasable? What other differences can you think of? The only other difference I can think of is that the gear ratios in the auto tranny are different from all the other non-turbo automatics. By the way, TheMixToo what year is your brat? And does your rear bumper have gold trim like the front one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 They only made the EA81T for two years, so if what you're saying is correct (That not all the turbos had the oil cooler) then it must be safe to assume that it was installed as part of the turbo upgrade (When they had a recall to install the water cooled turbos). Sound feasable? . Mine has the water cooled turbo, but no oil cooler. Where was the oil cooler piped off? Mine also does not have the gold trim, just chrome badges, maybe a gold stripe though(looks yellow now). Mine has head light washers. Different swaybar too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themixtoo Posted April 13, 2005 Author Share Posted April 13, 2005 They only made the EA81T for two years, so if what you're saying is correct (That not all the turbos had the oil cooler) then it must be safe to assume that it was installed as part of the turbo upgrade (When they had a recall to install the water cooled turbos). Sound feasable? What other differences can you think of? The only other difference I can think of is that the gear ratios in the auto tranny are different from all the other non-turbo automatics. By the way, TheMixToo what year is your brat? And does your rear bumper have gold trim like the front one? I think all '83 and '84 Turbo's sent to the USA had oil coolers. I have seen an '85 Brat Turbo so they may have made them for 3 years in the EA81 model, but I've never seen one in the 'flesh' and none came thru northern Ohio in 1985 as I had access to the log sheets of all Subarus sent to our area (I was a dealer parts manager at the time) Rear bumper was the same from '83-'87, just black there is no provision in the metal part to put the gold insert. However my Turbo Brat is actually made from 2 different year and model Ru's. I bought the '83 Brat in 1992 as the owner was going to send it to the scrapyard because it had been in a weird accident and wound up in Lake Erie with mud up to the lower dash (paid $150 and it had a toppercap on it). A friend found an '84 Turbo 2dr hardtop in a recyle yard in 1995 (damaged left front end), it was the same color code as the brat and even had the gold starburst aluminum wheels still on. I paid $450 for it. I really didn't want the 2dr Hardtop so out came the sawsall and that's how I came to have a Turbo Brat. I guess you could say I really have a Turbo Brat clone!! ..................Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themixtoo Posted April 13, 2005 Author Share Posted April 13, 2005 I love the little touches on the turbos. Like the lower, stiffer suspension!You know, I hadn't noticed that untill I pulled the sway bar off and it's bigger (larger OD) than the bar on my '98 25RS. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themixtoo Posted April 13, 2005 Author Share Posted April 13, 2005 Mine has the water cooled turbo, but no oil cooler. Where was the oil cooler piped off? Mine also does not have the gold trim, just chrome badges, maybe a gold stripe though(looks yellow now). Mine has head light washers. Different swaybar too. The oil pump has an adapter about 2-2.5" long that screws on in place of the oil filter then the oil filter screws on to this adapter. The adapter has two threaded ports (I think there's only 2) in it that steel lines attach to. The rubber hoses you see in the above picture go over the steel tubes and are clamped with regular hose clamps. We never got the head light washer option here in the USA (cool option), just like we never got the rear window wiper for the 4dr sedan (it was in our parts books back then too) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 Mine has the water cooled turbo, but no oil cooler. Where was the oil cooler piped off? Mine also does not have the gold trim, just chrome badges, maybe a gold stripe though(looks yellow now). Mine has head light washers. Different swaybar too. My badges are all gold except the front one, but it has a 3rd eye now so that makes up for it. Also my car has the Turbo-10 pagkage. I want those headlight washers!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 My badges are all gold except the front one, but it has a 3rd eye now so that makes up for it. Also my car has the Turbo-10 pagkage. I want those headlight washers!!! Im keeping an eye on the wreckers yards for them. Im yet to see another ea81 with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnW Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 Any chance of posting a picture of the headlight washers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=32393&highlight=ea81+headlight+washers Theres some pics there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnW Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 Thank you, sorry I missed the post earlier. Looks cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubySuby Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 We never got the ea81t model here in aust, what's the difference bettween then except teh obouis turbo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themixtoo Posted April 14, 2005 Author Share Posted April 14, 2005 We never got the ea81t model here in aust, what's the difference bettween then except teh obouis turbo?Turbo EA81's were the first fuel injected 'Rus sold in the USA. They had heavy duty manually adjustable suspension, all had automatic pushbutton 4WD transmissions, also first model to have digital readout dash (some did have analog dash w/boost gauge) all had power steering, also first model w/vented front disc brake rotors, all had power remote mirrors w/gold TURBO emblem (usually power windows came with the power mirror package but I've seen Turbo Brat's with manual windows) all had 'GL' side mouldings and front/rear bumpers with gold inserts where the chrome normaly would have been. Front Star emblem in the grill and all Subaru name emblems were gold plated instead of chrome or brushed silver like on the 'DL','GL' or 'GL-10' models. Could be other stuff but it eludes me at the moment. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 They also had different gear ratios in the auto tranny, the oil cooler and the front "spoiler". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 Does anyone else have an '83 ea81t? Wondering if the oil cooler/power windows/gold was just an '84 thing? Or it may be a diffference between US models and Japanese models. Mine also has a analogue gauge with no boost gauge or volt meter. Just has turbo light at the bottom of the tach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 Well, I know that Superrallyroo's 83 T-wagon has manual windows, but I'm also pretty sure that power windows were part of the Turbo-10 package which also included including (but not limited to) Digi-dash, sunroof, power mirrors and power windows. Superrallyroo's car also has the gold emblems, but I'm not sure about the oil cooler (however I assume it has one). His car has an analog dash, but it has the boost gauge while my Digi-dash has the turbo light. The boost gauge replaces the volt meter on the turbo cars at least in the US. Hope this helps some. On a side note, we EA81T owners need to stick together as our cars are getting old and hard to find parts for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 On a side note, we EA81T owners need to stick together as our cars are getting old and hard to find parts for. Yes, its very hard to find parts for a car no one has heard of! I was suprised yesturday to find that ea81t head gaskets are only NZ$30 (US$21) each! Have to wait 2-3 weeks for them to arrive from Japan though.... If your looking for sensors, enigne management parts, try old fuel injected nissans, I got a free Knock sensor off one from a mate - exactly the same part! Subaru dealer couldn't even get one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted April 18, 2005 Share Posted April 18, 2005 I think that with some of the old parts, the dealers don't cross reference them, so when their supply of parts is gone, they don't know what else fits so they assume there are none left. Some of the parts are really hard to find though, like the rubber saucer for the PS pump that keeps spilled fluid off the belts. I've been looking for one for 3+ years with no luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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