Jump to content
Ultimate Subaru Message Board

Documented: The 1970 FF-1 Project car...


Recommended Posts

The sleeve gasket don't come in one size fits all, they come in different thickness to suit your engine, you can get away with a copper gasket once you know what your thickness you need, from memory you need to have the sleeve protrude the block by about 3 thou so it give possitive sealing on the gasket and a good seal around the head gasket. common problem why head gaskets kept on failing once the headgasket was ever replaced. Also applies to the 1400 ea63

Thierry

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I went ahead and split the block today...

 

Good thing I did, I found the center main bearings are damaged and the rest do need replacing. I didnt completely split the block though, left the pistions in, just split it enough to get out the camshaft and look inside.

 

The camshaft needs a little help too, its got some damage too...

 

ff1camshaft.jpg

 

ff1mainbearingdamage.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think everything on that website is custom, but it is good to use as something to work with design wise...

 

Anyway, I removed the transmission today, took a couple photos so you can get an idea of exactly how TINY this drivetrain is!

 

I also removed the steering column and ventilation system, but I didnt photograph that today.

 

ff1transmission2.jpg

ff1transmission.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Heres a couple things I picked up on E-bay for really cheap that I wanted to see if were compatible with the EA61...

 

newvalvesinhead.jpg

valves.jpg

camshaftnew.jpg

 

Now the valves obviously are larger, but i'm concerned more about the length. The length will probably cause them to be incompatible, but i'm not sure if that can be fixed. I now some custom head work can fit the valves into the sockets, but thats different than modifying the valves themselves.

 

The camshaft on the other hand looks to be rather compatible. Might require some work to use, but nothing major. The interesting thing is the lobes are taller, which means more lift, but the duration looks simular but sharper. I have all the actual camshaft numbers if anyone is interested in figuring out if the 1300/1400 camshaft is actually an upgrade for the 1100... (I bought it mostly cause I do believe this stock camshaft is shot, and a NOS camshaft that can be modded by someone like Deltacams is something useful to have)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I havent seen any valve springs for sale, i've been looking. If you know somewhere or someone that has some, let me know.

 

Also, need to figure out which ones have which tensions... Dont really want ones with lower tension rates, higher if possible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Measure those valves, let me know how much longer the 1300 valves are. You MIGHT be able to cut them down (You'd have to have a machine shop do it, since you'd need a valve grinder) and have them work, but I'm not sure... I have a valve grinder...

Even cutting them down, what about the distance beetween that clip slit and the top of the valve stem, doesnt that need to be the same?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I havent seen any valve springs for sale, i've been looking. If you know somewhere or someone that has some, let me know.

 

Also, need to figure out which ones have which tensions... Dont really want ones with lower tension rates, higher if possible.

 

So this is coming from my '78 FSM, reprint in '82. These are the factory specs for the EA71 in '78...

 

Outer spring Inner Spring

Free Length 48.20mm (1.898 in) 48.65mm (1.915 in)

Solid height (fully compressed) 29.5mm (1.161 in) 25.6mm (1.008 in)

Tension/spring height intake 18.13-20.87 kg 8.93-10.27 kg

(39.97-46.01 lb) (19.69-22.64 lb)

/39mm (1.54 in) /37mm (1.46 in)

 

exhaust 41.3-47.5 kg 19.53-22.47 kg

(91.05-104.71 lb) (43.06-49.54 lb)

/31mm (1.22 in) /28mm (1.10 in)

Squareness 2.1mm (.083 in)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The 1100/1300G FSM doesnt show intake and exhaust valve specs, just one set of specs...

 

Outer spring:

42.2mm free length, 4mm wire diameter, 26mm maximum compressed length, maximum tension 43.7~50.3kg@28mm.

Inner spring:

45.5mm free length, 2.6mm wire diameter, 24.3mm maximum compressed length, maximum tension 19.1~22.1kg@26mm.

 

The EA71 tension is lower on the outter spring, SLIGHTLY higher on the inner spring, and half a cm taller...

 

It looks like however the BEST valve springs are the "Sport" (IE dual carb, 95hp EA62/63) valve springs... But theres no way to get those, and if I could, i'd want the WHOLE engine :-p

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why not try and use some taller valve springs? See how the springs from the 1300, 1400 and 1600, hell even the 1800 compare to the 1100... might be taller then which you can use those valves without having to mod them at all.

 

That would work if you had shorter pushrods made, since I don't think there is enough movement in the lash adjuster to adjust all that difference out. As for the slit to the tip of the valve distance, as long as there is enough stem sticking up that the rocker tip doesn't contact the spring retainer, it's okay, but good point, you don't want it too short, that's why I wanted measurements of the valve length...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What about in combination with the cam with the taller lift?

 

 

Anyway, another question...

 

Transmission thoughts:

 

Front LSD possible? How about converting to a lower final gear (IE changing this from the stock 4.125 to 3.8 or 3.7? Assuming its simular to other EA 4-speeds...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What about in combination with the cam with the taller lift?

 

 

Anyway, another question...

 

Transmission thoughts:

 

Front LSD possible? How about converting to a lower final gear (IE changing this from the stock 4.125 to 3.8 or 3.7? Assuming its simular to other EA 4-speeds...

 

Front LSD won't work since I think the earliest that's the same as the 04 is 85, there is a thread on this.

 

Changing the final drive is a no-go, the ring gear is removable from the differential carrier, however the pinion is part of the countershaft of teh transmission, and has gears cast into it, so you can't change it unfortunately.

 

As for the valves, one of the critical valve train measurements is teh installed height of the valve spring retainer, and the stem height of the valve. Stem height is the distance from the spring seat in the head to the tip of the valve stem. Installed height is the distance from the spring seat to the top of the spring retainer, with the valve installed in the head. You get those two measurements correct and you should be good to go, but it's been too long since I've rebuilt a head to be 100% sure. (I'm about 88% sure)

 

You should be able to send your cam to Delta and have them grind it, and see if they will resurface your lifters as well, since ideally with a new cam, you'll want a smooth surface for the cam to ride on, not one that's been worn by the old cam. Qman had a pretty lumpy cam in one of his Brats, I saw it at an autocross once, it sounded pretty mean!

 

Once you get that all figured out, it's just a matter of getting the valve lash properly adjusted, and breaking the cam in (Might not be needed with a reground cam, but I am not sure, I know with a new cam you have to run it at 2500 rpm or more for 20 minutes, at least that's what I've had to do with the last 2 cams I've put in.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great info, thanks!

 

Keep in mind, the whole engine wont be in and running for quite some time... (years possibly at this rate) But it helps to have as much info here as possible so I can reference it when needed :)

 

If you need any more info on the older engines, let me know since I got FSMs to cover them all basically (even your FF1):banana:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...