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New to me 87 RX (horay!)


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You asked for opinions.....

 

But I respect your desire to remain true to the original car. I think a lot of the problems with the EA82T builds I have seen is that people kept pushing for more and more power. I think Calebz' date=' Subarutex, WJM are a few people that come to mind who have done some extensive work with the EA82Ts. Do a search of their old threads and glean what you can from all of those old posts and then do what they did right and avoid what they did wrong. I have never had a working EA82 so I am biased towards them. I like the old EA81's and since I have overcome the mental fear of doing wiring work on a EJ swap I am a big fan of that.

 

I am not saying get the biggest baddest engine out there. I am saying that you can get a decent $200-$300 EJ and do wonders with it. My RX is gonna have a EJ22T. I want to get about 200 hp (about 150 bhp) out of it initially. That's WRX territorry in terms of hp to weight. Total build is going to be under $3000. So if I compare it to a 2002 WRX that can be bought for about $10,000. I am spending 30 cents to the dollar. The final build goal is going to be around 270-300 hp (i want 200 bhp) That should bring me into the 4k-5k range. But then I would be in STi territory. and spending 9-11 cents on the dollar.

 

One thing that you might want to consider it modifying your hubs to work with 5X100 rims. If will open up a whole new world of rim options, once again my opinion.

 

BW[/quote']

 

I totally understand (and thank you for the opinion!!) all of the benefits of going to an EJ engine. Who knows, maybe in the not too distant future i'll get sick enough of the headgaskets, lack of aftermarket support, etc. of the EA82 that i will end up swapping, and 300hp would sure be fun :) but for now, as you said, i'm trying to stay faithful to the original design, albeit with a larger turbo, and the addition of the necessary support parts (TMIC, BOV, fuel system upgrades, etc.) i will also be doing that 5 lug swap, not only for the wheels, but also i think (i hope!) suspension parts (coilovers, bushings, sway-bars, brakes) will be easier to find after a lego/xt suspension swap.

 

 

 

**P.S. one eye and I (say that 3 times fast) went to the pullapart yesterday and i found a nissan 280!! took all six injectors out of it for $9.72 :)

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i will also be doing that 5 lug swap, not only for the wheels, but also i think (i hope!) suspension parts (coilovers, bushings, sway-bars, brakes) will be easier to find after a lego/xt suspension swap.

 

Easiest way to do this would be to get EJ fronts and Ren man's adapter when it comes out.

 

The rear wheels would stick out a bit and it might chew up bearings, but it should be ok for road use.

 

BW

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I totally understand (and thank you for the opinion!!) all of the benefits of going to an EJ engine. Who knows, maybe in the not too distant future i'll get sick enough of the headgaskets, lack of aftermarket support, etc. of the EA82 that i will end up swapping, and 300hp would sure be fun :) but for now, as you said, i'm trying to stay faithful to the original design, albeit with a larger turbo, and the addition of the necessary support parts (TMIC, BOV, fuel system upgrades, etc.) i will also be doing that 5 lug swap, not only for the wheels, but also i think (i hope!) suspension parts (coilovers, bushings, sway-bars, brakes) will be easier to find after a lego/xt suspension swap.

 

 

 

**P.S. one eye and I (say that 3 times fast) went to the pullapart yesterday and i found a nissan 280!! took all six injectors out of it for $9.72 :)

 

Was it a turbo 280? I believe it has to be a turbo, otherwise they are the same flow as the stock EA82T injectors.

Heres a link to a search I just did. Its old, but the info is still relavent.

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=26375&highlight=datsun+280+injectors

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Since all this is way over my head I would just like to add to all this, I just want to see the big boom that it makes the day she lets loose and you end up shooting the bottom end out, and into or maybe even through the intake manifold. I don't hope that it happens but if it does I just hope the camera is rolling.:lol::grin:

 

If that doesn't happen I hope that it is the fastest RX in the States all said and done, Then I can say, "ya... he built that thing in my garage."

:banana::grin::headbang:

 

Jeff

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D'OH :banghead:

thank you very much for the linkey . . . now i'll be looking for "brown tops"

anybody need some "same flow as ours" green top 280 injectors? :grin:

i guess it's a good thing i only spent 9.72

:headbang:

chris

 

 

Was it a turbo 280? I believe it has to be a turbo, otherwise they are the same flow as the stock EA82T injectors.

Heres a link to a search I just did. Its old, but the info is still relavent.

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=26375&highlight=datsun+280+injectors

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Congrats on the RX.

 

Do some searching for my name, for stuff I did to my old RX. Its quite a read.

 

I would say... if it can be done to a RX, i've probably done it!

 

I'm south a bit from you, but hit me up if you want to talk shop. I can show you the right path, and give you a ride in something that will make you stray.

 

Again... Congrats on picking up one of the sexiest cars Subaru made in the 80's :grin:

 

Also, I could probally hook you up with a ride/ or check out, one of the fastest EA82T powered cars I've ever been in (even faster than my RX). I showed him how to do it all too... ;)

 

Even better, would be to hook up with NinjaBen (??) I think he has my old RX now, while not nearly as modded as it once was, I can sure point out quite a bit on it.

 

Also, there is a local guy (witchhunterperformance.com i think...) that does injector cleaning and flowing....

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Congrats on the RX.

 

Do some searching for my name, for stuff I did to my old RX. Its quite a read.

 

I would say... if it can be done to a RX, i've probably done it!

 

I'm south a bit from you, but hit me up if you want to talk shop. I can show you the right path, and give you a ride in something that will make you stray.

 

 

Thanks! and believe me, i've been a'searchin late at night until i look like this guy >:slobber: and i have seen a few of your old threads! interested to know what might "make me stray", keeping in mind i've owned and driven a few of the "cool guy" cars available these days . . .

 

thanks for any help, this has been and will continue to be a learning experience for me, the first real block up rebuild of a forced induction engine for me, and my first experience working on soobs in general.

 

jeff (one eye) and i put some work into the RX today!! jeff took care of that horrible red hood for me (did a great job "murdering out" my hood :headbang: ) and we ran it through a much needed carwash which took off most of the moss and gunk :) i removed a few unnecessary parts from under the hood and got a much better view of the engine that came with the car . . . it doesn't look too bad! vacuumed up the baking soda i threw down on the carpet a few days back to get rid of the mold, (not entirely successful) and was so happy with the outcome of the days work that i decided to drive the car home (from a garage in mt. vernon to near boeing in everett) getting it on the freeway for the first time, what a blast!! the ol' girl got up and went very well, and aside from an apparently very confusing temp display on the digidash (went from 1/2 temp to above 3/4, cycling between those two temps about every 30 seconds :confused: ) i had no problems :banana:

here's a few pics after the hood fix and the wash . . .

 

th_DSC00855.jpg

 

th_DSC00854.jpg

 

th_DSC00852.jpg

 

now, we start to build an engine!!

 

chris

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Sounds like the the thermostat is out of whack. Get a OEM replacement for it and I suggest asap. Overheating will kill the EA82T, that and overboosting :rolleyes:

I'm one of those that have been thru a few engines in my RX :-\

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listen to the Turbone

 

he is da man when it comes to these

 

Also

I had a 87 GL-10 digidash do that,

it turned out to be a bad ground for the dash

components.

 

The ground (get this) is under the pass side front

intake manifold bolt.

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thanks turbone and skip, i'll check that tomorrow . . . skip, it doesn't surprise me one bit after fixing that injector wiring issue in Jeff's XT (splice under passenger seat rotted away) thanks for the point in the right direction :)

 

last night while driving the RX around town it started to sputter, especially when going up hills and around corners. i didn't think too much of it, until it finally sputtered and died . . . "hmm, two bars of fuel showed on the dash, so i'm obviously not out of gas, must be something else . . ."

my very patient girlfriend who was already humoring my need to drive a rusty, moldy, not totally reliable soob RX sweetly suggested that we at least try putting some fuel in the car. with a bit of luck and a whole lot of swerving we limped the car to a gas station, and $20 later, the car not only drove perfectly, but it also showed a full tank. as much as i wish $20 could buy me in the neighborhood of 13 gallons of fuel, i'm thinking that maybe the fuel gauge has it's own gremlins :dead:

and . . . the indicator lights for 4 Lo and Diff Lock don't always work, just when they want to.

 

ahhh the fun quirks of an old machine :headbang:

chris

listen to the Turbone

 

he is da man when it comes to these

 

Also

I had a 87 GL-10 digidash do that,

it turned out to be a bad ground for the dash

components.

 

The ground (get this) is under the pass side front

intake manifold bolt.

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at what psi is an EA82T overboosted? a good reference point to set the boost controller at eventually would be greatly appreciated . . .

thanks

chris

 

Sounds like the the thermostat is out of whack. Get a OEM replacement for it and I suggest asap. Overheating will kill the EA82T, that and overboosting :rolleyes:

I'm one of those that have been thru a few engines in my RX :-\

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Anything over 7psi is over for a EA82T. I blew the ring landings off of my last one at 12psi,

Did the fuel light come on when you were out of gas?

 

didn't even think about that, (duh!) but no, i don't think it did . . . i'm sure i would've noticed it.

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Really... overboosting depends on the turbo. And by overboosting, most of us mean, you generate more boost than fuel or timing can keep up with. This leads to detonation, which in turn makes pistons fall apart, and head gaskets to fail.

 

Stock turbo.. i'd say stick to 11psi or so, and do it on premium gas (chevron preferred).

 

If you are running a larger turbo (vf11 or td04) i'd stick to about 8-9psi.

 

These recommendations would be for a car with no additional mods (intake, exhaust, fueling, timing, etc...)

 

Before I went way crazy with my old RX, i was running 13-14psi on the stock turbo (right at the edge of its efficency) with slightly bumped timing, custom downpipe and exhaust, and one step colder NGK spark plugs and 8mm wires. Oh... and intercooler. Thats a VERY important modification. Probally should be your first after doing intake, plugs, and wires.

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My last EA82T build (there have been a couple), I was running an SPFI shortblock with rebuilt gen 2 turbo heads, OEM head gaskets with new headbolts, Delta 260 cams, spyder intake, WRX TMIC, TD04 turbo, Samco intercooler hoses, AEM cold air intake, Megan Racing 3" bellmouth downpipe, Nissan 280ZX turbo injectors at 388psi on the fuel pressure. Did awesome until I gave it too much (12psi on the TD04 with really no fuel management) and blew the rings on two cylinders. Decided on this to do it right and go with a turbo'd EJ instead.

 

So, more on the 3-doors. All 3-doors I believe have the rear wiper. My '87 GL has it, I've seen it on all the other ones I've seen throughout 5 states.

 

Like Tex, if you do some searching under my board name, you'll come up with a lot on EA82Ts. I also have lots of pics of my old RX build and the new one at that. Congrats and welcome to the EA82 3-door club!:clap:

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This week's update . . .

Jeff and I took the longblock i bought and tore it down, dropped the heads of for machining and testing, the machinist said they were the cleanest subie heads he'd ever seen :banana: so he shouldn't have too much work to do . . .

some pics of the block torn down, and cleaned up a bit, pics aren't great, just used my phone (too little light)

 

th_DSC00863Large.jpg

 

th_DSC00862Large.jpg

 

th_DSC00861Large.jpg

 

th_DSC00859Large.jpg

 

here's what happens when you drop a camshaft housing . . .

 

th_DSC00865Large.jpg

 

fortunately Jeff happened to have an extra one (or 5) laying around, so i just swapped the cam out to a new casing (whew)

 

went a little crazy with the cheese whiz on cleaning the block, i'm a little worried that if a soob engine is too clean it might not run :grin:

:headbang:

chris

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alright, so i've picked up my machined heads (not to be confused with the epic and meaningful smash hit "Machine Head" by Bush :grin: ) and they sure are purdy. machinist said he removed at most .006 (6 thousandths). a couple of ?'s . . .

1) shouldn't have any issues with the original head bolts being too long with so little material removed, right?

2) i purchased a pair of McCord (by Clevite) "Grafpak" graphite type HG's. does anybody have any experience with these? they say they can handle 1500* and that they require absolutely no re-torquing (not bad for a 9.99 fleabay find eh?)

3) in reading the USRM, there's a thread that states that torque specs aren't a constant, meaning sometimes subaru's torque recommendation changes, can anybody tell me what the current torque rec is for this EA82T MPFI?

 

thank you all!!

chris

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alright, so i've picked up my machined heads (not to be confused with the epic and meaningful smash hit "Machine Head" by Bush :grin: ) and they sure are purdy. machinist said he removed at most .006 (6 thousandths). a couple of ?'s . . .

1) shouldn't have any issues with the original head bolts being too long with so little material removed, right?

2) i purchased a pair of McCord (by Clevite) "Grafpak" graphite type HG's. does anybody have any experience with these? they say they can handle 1500* and that they require absolutely no re-torquing (not bad for a 9.99 fleabay find eh?)

3) in reading the USRM, there's a thread that states that torque specs aren't a constant, meaning sometimes subaru's torque recommendation changes, can anybody tell me what the current torque rec is for this EA82T MPFI?

 

thank you all!!

chris

 

You won't have any issues with the head bolts. I can't recall stock torque specs... I know in my time, I was all over the range. I think I topped out at 75 or 80 ft/lbs. There is also a particular pattern you are supposed to torque... with like 3 steps! Although I hear places that rebuild these w/ warrenty's do it all in one step, just follow the pattern!

 

You'll find out pretty quick if those gaskets are good or bad :lol:

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You won't have any issues with the head bolts. I can't recall stock torque specs... I know in my time, I was all over the range. I think I topped out at 75 or 80 ft/lbs. There is also a particular pattern you are supposed to torque... with like 3 steps! Although I hear places that rebuild these w/ warrenty's do it all in one step, just follow the pattern!

 

You'll find out pretty quick if those gaskets are good or bad :lol:

 

Hell yeah ya will!!

 

I found bolt torque specs for the EA82T in my Chiltons manual. And yes there is a certain pattern ya follow.

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Heres what it says in the FSM. Altho I have torqued mine up to 55lbs and stopped there, I had no problem with a HG on my last build. I also used copper seal on it.

 

thanks Rob! i've got the 89 FSM as well, i'd just read an old thread that said that torque specs change sometimes (not sure why?) and i wanted to make sure that no massive changes had been issued by Subaru . . .

 

i think 55lbft sounds good :headbang:

b.t.w., where'd ya get the copper HG?

chris

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thanks Rob! i've got the 89 FSM as well, i'd just read an old thread that said that torque specs change sometimes (not sure why?) and i wanted to make sure that no massive changes had been issued by Subaru . . .

 

i think 55lbft sounds good :headbang:

b.t.w., where'd ya get the copper HG?

chris

 

Not a copper HG, just the sealer. Its a spray on. Even CCR uses it.

I think Cometic makes the copper HG.

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