more power out of EA82 engine

Ben james · Post by **Ben james** » Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:38 pm

hi guyz. just wanted to ask if any one
knows how to get more power
out of the Lseries EA82 engine.
i know alot of ppl on here talk about the
EJ conversion. but i relly cant afford to go down that
road coz of lack of funds and dont no were
to start. so is there any mods/bolt on ect.
that can be done to give it a little more power
lol. any advice on this would be much appreciated.

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Wed Nov 19, 2014 5:20 pm

There isn't a great deal of performance to be had out of these, however...
Is yours a carby motor or the fuel injected one?
If it's the carby one, you might be able to squeeze a little more fuel and air into it by swapping to a Weber carby.

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Wed Nov 19, 2014 7:38 pm

As above, there isn't alot of power in there to begin with

But if you have a carbie engine and the carbie is old, tired, clogged up then the Weber 32/36 will make a noticeable difference. Or if you're game you can rebuild the stock carb. Coupled with a larger/better flowing exhaust from the Y pipe back the conversion is worth it I think.

Take a look at my conversion thread:
showthread.php?t=24889

I know this was on an EA81 but I did use an EA82 intake manifold, so the adapter plates and hookups should all be the same for you. You just wouldn't need to grind away any of the bosses or plug any holes like I did. Well you shouldn't need to anyway.

julian · Post by **julian** » Wed Nov 19, 2014 8:06 pm

There is a lot to be said for making the EA82 run as it was designed and then squeezing a little more from that. Because they put up with so much abuse and poor maintenance and still perform well they often drift away from how they were meant to run.

-Crappy spark is not a good start. Ignition components can be replaced and are cheap.
-Set the timing properly. If you don't mind running higher octane rating fuel you can advance a little but gains will always be limited.
-New OEM air filter is worth the $15 premium over the SCA brand crap. The stock air system is not an impediment to flow for the requirements of this engine.
-Exhausts are not expensive but the kind of gains you can expect from a new exhaust are going to be limited to 'driveability' or 'feel' rather than outright power.

Do it smart, do it right, and work your way up from the basics. Setting an out of tune EA82 to the correct specs to start with is going to be the single biggest gain you will ever get with these engines without starting to go down the road of cams, carburettor changes and high-flowing exhausts. When you start considering these bigger items you'll need to consider that the end product is likely going to be inferior to an EJ20 set up properly anyway and costs start to become uncomfortably comparable.

Ben james · Post by **Ben james** » Wed Nov 19, 2014 8:18 pm

thanks guyz for the info. and yes
its carbie. to be honest i never new thay
came out fuel injected. things like spark plags i have not done
and uv owned the car for all most 2 years and who knows
when the original owner did them. so i might start there.

Ben james · Post by **Ben james** » Wed Nov 19, 2014 8:23 pm

all so the old man who owned it befor me. looked after it.
had log book of all the things he had fixed ect. and just befor
i brought it he showed me receipt showing that the
car had just had the carbie rebuilt and cleaned

julian · Post by **julian** » Thu Nov 20, 2014 1:38 pm

Sounds like you found a good one to me, as previous owner sounds like he looked after it.

There is no reason to replace plugs straight away but check them for damage and adjust gap accordingly.
Spend the money you save on replacing the coil and get a new distributor cap.
Be careful with the caps as there were a heap of different units on EA82s and you'll need to replace with the same unit- get the part number and replace with identical.

Replace the leads if they are old.

Also pay attention to the orientation you mount the coil- follow the instructions supplied!

Get a new air filter unless it has been replaced recently.

Set timing for 95RON. If your car is pre-1990 it shouldn't be fed ethanol blended fuels
http://www.fcai.com.au/publications/all ... nd-petrol- and a lot of 95 available these days is an E10 blend.

The single biggest performance gain on these cars is had by removing the 33" muddies and going back to 13" or 14" wheels with road tyres. You won't know yourself!

Tweety · Post by **Tweety** » Thu Nov 20, 2014 7:26 pm

Just to mention that the recommended 32/36 weber carb which is progressive ie second throat comes in up the rev range, has the same footprint or base plate at the weber 38/38 which is synchronic (throats open at the same time always.).

I wont know how this 38/38 set up go in my new reco engine until I get it going and it will be hard to tell if good increase in power/torque is due to carbie or new torquey cam or high compression etc that the new engine will have.

Just mentioning for power increase, the 38/38 shouldnt be overlooked.

Some say it is "too big", but much reading/research has been done by me and Datsun 1200 owners use them as well as Gemini 1600 owners. It's all about jetting rather than size. Of course intake and exhaust improvements go hand in hand for breathing needs so exhaust improvements are a good thing.

Will be interesting with both of those jets opening at the same time, what take off will be like. It might go some way to compensating for the 14 hp lost from the VW automatic trans?

If you're keen I have a fuel injection unit for sale for the ea81/2. All you need is a SPFI manifold to complete the kit. Then you'll get around 90hp

sven '2' · Post by **sven '2'** » Thu Nov 20, 2014 9:59 pm

I know the argument has been done to death, but these motors love to drink PULP over the other lesser grades of fuel.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Fri Nov 21, 2014 6:32 am

and there are a few EA82T's still alive and well more than a quarter of a century later ....

JBNielsen · Post by **JBNielsen** » Wed Nov 26, 2014 4:45 pm

Hey dude,

I need to buy a new carboy for my 93 sports wagon. What would the exact model be called if i was to buy it on ebay?

cheers

Silverbullet wrote:As above, there isn't alot of power in there to begin with But if you have a carbie engine and the carbie is old, tired, clogged up then the Weber 32/36 will make a noticeable difference. Or if you're game you can rebuild the stock carb. Coupled with a larger/better flowing exhaust from the Y pipe back the conversion is worth it I think.

Take a look at my conversion thread:
showthread.php?t=24889

I know this was on an EA81 but I did use an EA82 intake manifold, so the adapter plates and hookups should all be the same for you. You just wouldn't need to grind away any of the bosses or plug any holes like I did. Well you shouldn't need to anyway.

Post by **TOONGA** » Wed Nov 26, 2014 8:11 pm

Strap and EJ motor to the EA82 that should up the power no end.

TOONGA

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Wed Nov 26, 2014 8:33 pm

JBNielsen wrote:Hey dude,

I need to buy a new carboy for my 93 sports wagon. What would the exact model be called if i was to buy it on ebay?

cheers

If you're asking about what model Hitachi carb to buy, I would have no idea since there's probably a few versions. You'd have to buy one from the same year as your car. If you're asking about which Weber to buy, you might be better off getting one from the same site I did (jameng) it is in the US but it is a full conversion kit and the carb is "pre-calibrated" for the EA82. I think that means it has roughly the right jets in it since I haven't had to touch the jets in mine. They're very reasonably priced too and postage is quick even from the US.