EA-81 in 87 wagon - impressions

[danbennett2u]

Have been driving our 87 GL 4X4 with a EA81 stuck in it for awhile now and would like to share my experiences for anyone doing it.

 

First, the grinding of the bellhousing to fit the EA82 flywheel was easy... aparently the EA81 I got was a 2wd engine, and supposedly the ea81 4x4 engine's flywheel fits the EA-82 clutch, but that was not my case. No big deal there though.

 

Engine pretty much dropped on, kept the ea81 manifold and carb, and blocked off/removed all of the emissions stuff except the pcv connections.

 

Timing was not optimal, but I dont have a light so I just did trial and error until the powerband felt most balanced.

 

So far working on getting the Power steering hooked up.

 

The engine is torquey but have not driven an EA82 in working shape so I do not know how that part compares. Getting up over 60 takes a bit of effort from the older engine, the timing settings seemed to help that, but fastest I have had it is 80, took a long time and dont think it will go much faster. Acceleration will keep up with traffic, but wont beat anything.

 

I put alloys on with some 175/70/r13 tires versus the wagon wheels with 185's and it seemed more responsive, I am sure any weight savings will help out with the loss of hp.

 

I like the sound of the exhaust between 3k and 4k.

 

I get mid 20's for gas mileage and I am using the car as a newspaper delivery vehicle, so pretty happy with that number. Oil pressure reads low, not sure if it is the pump or the gauge. Voltage reads below 8 at times, this may be the gauge though as it happens with 2 different alternators.

 

Oh, and I put in GL-10 seats from a junkyard ($50 for both) and they were much better feeling than the ones that were in it

[Jerry DeMoss]

That is pretty cool you put the ea81 in that car!I love those little engines.One down side is that at higher altitude they really suffer with lack of power from the carb.I don't think the ea82 n/a would of had much more power.At least you know it is a pretty bulletproof engine.

[guido32]

Nice To Know It Will Work Having A Good Working Ea-81 Is Kind Of Fun But Never Thought Of Putting Into Ea-82 Bay! Mileage Sounds About The Same As My Carbed Ea82 4x4..... Cool

[GeneralDisorder]

Should be pretty close in power - but the EA82 definately has a little more due to it's improved valve layout. I have both a Webered EA81, and an EA82. The EA81 will top out at about 95-100, but mostly due to gearing on the 4 speed. My EA82 has a lot less torque, but will easily hit 110 with the 5 speed D/R. In reality I think it would be a very close race 0-60. The Brat is fast - with the Weber, milled heads (higher comp), and turbo muffler it's got no problems taking it right up to 85 - past that it starts to run out of RPM's. The EA82 sedan moves nicely too - not as much torque off the line, but revs quick, and shifts smoother, and with the secondary open it seems to pull harder higher in the power band than the Brat does. It will go to about 6700 RPM and then pretty much loose completely after that. Probably just the stock cam grind petering out.

 

Both are very consistent at 28/32 MPG.

 

GD