EA81 Overhaul thread
- Brumby Kid
- General Member
- Posts: 1297
- Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2011 9:19 pm
- Location: Belair S.A.
Sam, so am I. Will have to. One for the engine, and one for the car itself.
Cam
Cam
When life gives you a corner, drop a gear, pitch, and stomp the loud pedal
Bianca: 1991 Subaru Brumby
My First / Project car
EA81 Rebuilt by Tony Knight from knight Engines
2" body lift
25" 185r14 Yokahama Delivery Star, light truck tyres
2" Sports exhaust
Rear Aguip step/bar
Liberty seats
Mums Car 08 Liberty Wagon
Bianca: 1991 Subaru Brumby
My First / Project car
EA81 Rebuilt by Tony Knight from knight Engines
2" body lift
25" 185r14 Yokahama Delivery Star, light truck tyres
2" Sports exhaust
Rear Aguip step/bar
Liberty seats
"Bianca"
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Dads Car: 02 Impreza WRX STi[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Mums Car 08 Liberty Wagon
- TOONGA
- Elder Member
- Posts: 5339
- Joined: Sat May 30, 2009 10:15 am
- Location: Mandurah where they divided by zero
- Contact:
Glad to see you have got the old girl going.
THe dissapearance of the clag glue could mean that you did just have excess moisture inside the engine. the easist way to test that you do infact have an internal coolant leak is a radiator pressure tester.
TOONGA
THe dissapearance of the clag glue could mean that you did just have excess moisture inside the engine. the easist way to test that you do infact have an internal coolant leak is a radiator pressure tester.
TOONGA
- steptoe
- Master Member
- Posts: 11582
- Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 10:00 am
- Location: 14 miles outside Gotham City
I am wondering if the collective "we" gave Sam a bum steer when it came to timing.
Yeah, set it at 10 degrees. If we forgot to point out BTDC - it is our fault, and we may have forgotten this not so obvious detail in our remote help. We might also have forgotten than ATDC markings appear on some flywheels.
Not sure if you had both power and knock with your first rebuild. Did you get it right in the first rebuilds timing?
And for a bit of trivia - the Triumph Stag 3.0 litre V8 is one of those 4 degrees ATDC, and , get this, timed off the #2 spark lead !! The reason being is the V8 config started life as a 'slant four' cylinder. Must have been some alcohol and drugs around in the late sixties when an engineer and accountant came to some agreement and added a mirror image block on the other slant making a V8. The 4's dizzy position stayed in place, so too the water pump - ended up as a horrible shim set impeller under the 8's new inlet manifold (shudder). The most forward pot got the #1 name but timing had to go off the original #1 pozzy - now #2 !!
Yeah, set it at 10 degrees. If we forgot to point out BTDC - it is our fault, and we may have forgotten this not so obvious detail in our remote help. We might also have forgotten than ATDC markings appear on some flywheels.
Not sure if you had both power and knock with your first rebuild. Did you get it right in the first rebuilds timing?
And for a bit of trivia - the Triumph Stag 3.0 litre V8 is one of those 4 degrees ATDC, and , get this, timed off the #2 spark lead !! The reason being is the V8 config started life as a 'slant four' cylinder. Must have been some alcohol and drugs around in the late sixties when an engineer and accountant came to some agreement and added a mirror image block on the other slant making a V8. The 4's dizzy position stayed in place, so too the water pump - ended up as a horrible shim set impeller under the 8's new inlet manifold (shudder). The most forward pot got the #1 name but timing had to go off the original #1 pozzy - now #2 !!
- Silverbullet
- Senior Member
- Posts: 2921
- Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2010 6:20 pm
- Location: Adelaide
What the, the forum is showing there's no new posts in here when there is an entire page!
Jonno, nah I'm pretty sure it was a mistake on my part; setting the timing whilst forgetting to disconnect the vac advance is totally something I would do
I didn't get the first rebuilds timing right first shot either, took me a few days to figure it out then, funny how I didn't learn that lesson.
Toonga, what you describe is pretty much right on the money. I took the car to Rising sun (The RIGHT one this time
) and there was no sludge or coolant in the rocker covers or PCV hoses, it's gone. What was happening was all an elaborate hoax set by the poltergeist the hovers around when I try do do anything 
First off, the coolant that was making the sludge and getting into the rocker covers came from when the Lonsdale Rising sun swapped the cylinder heads over; he told me some coolant went in there when he pulled the old heads off but when I drained the sump none came out so I assumed there wasn't enough to worry about.
At the same time, I was worried about the coolant level going down when in actual fact I have no idea where to fill the coolant to; I was putting a little too much in and it was overflowing, and as I don't have an overflow bottle it was leaving the car entirely making me think I was losing it in the engine.
Now all the coolant in the sump has cleared out completely and I have a perfectly non-leaky engine. And it goes like nothing else
Having a carby where the secondary actually works makes all the difference...
It's over!
:mrgreen::mrgreen:

Jonno, nah I'm pretty sure it was a mistake on my part; setting the timing whilst forgetting to disconnect the vac advance is totally something I would do

Toonga, what you describe is pretty much right on the money. I took the car to Rising sun (The RIGHT one this time


First off, the coolant that was making the sludge and getting into the rocker covers came from when the Lonsdale Rising sun swapped the cylinder heads over; he told me some coolant went in there when he pulled the old heads off but when I drained the sump none came out so I assumed there wasn't enough to worry about.
At the same time, I was worried about the coolant level going down when in actual fact I have no idea where to fill the coolant to; I was putting a little too much in and it was overflowing, and as I don't have an overflow bottle it was leaving the car entirely making me think I was losing it in the engine.
Now all the coolant in the sump has cleared out completely and I have a perfectly non-leaky engine. And it goes like nothing else

It's over!

Will it ever end!?
-EA81 TWIN CARB!!!!
-L series 5 speed
-Custom paint job
-2" lift
-Full custom re-wire
-L series front end

-EA81 TWIN CARB!!!!
-L series 5 speed
-Custom paint job
-2" lift
-Full custom re-wire
-L series front end

- steptoe
- Master Member
- Posts: 11582
- Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 10:00 am
- Location: 14 miles outside Gotham City
I have an overflow bottle and set and forget. Please fit one Sam and make sure the cap is recovery style. I use one cut from a VL commodore pisser bottle/ radiator overflow tandem and it sits on the flat up near RHS bonnet hinge jammed in place with dip stick wiping wrags, used to be siliconed in place. I bought new hose length from radiator shop and ran it all the way from neck to bottle. A long way I admit, but it is higher than neck and been reliable for 13 years in keeping level good.
- Brumby Kid
- General Member
- Posts: 1297
- Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2011 9:19 pm
- Location: Belair S.A.
Steptoe can i please have a diagram, cant quite picture it. Think this might be good for me too.steptoe wrote:I have an overflow bottle and set and forget. Please fit one Sam and make sure the cap is recovery style. I use one cut from a VL commodore pisser bottle/ radiator overflow tandem and it sits on the flat up near RHS bonnet hinge jammed in place with dip stick wiping wrags, used to be siliconed in place. I bought new hose length from radiator shop and ran it all the way from neck to bottle. A long way I admit, but it is higher than neck and been reliable for 13 years in keeping level good.
Cheers Cam
When life gives you a corner, drop a gear, pitch, and stomp the loud pedal
Bianca: 1991 Subaru Brumby
My First / Project car
EA81 Rebuilt by Tony Knight from knight Engines
2" body lift
25" 185r14 Yokahama Delivery Star, light truck tyres
2" Sports exhaust
Rear Aguip step/bar
Liberty seats
Mums Car 08 Liberty Wagon
Bianca: 1991 Subaru Brumby
My First / Project car
EA81 Rebuilt by Tony Knight from knight Engines
2" body lift
25" 185r14 Yokahama Delivery Star, light truck tyres
2" Sports exhaust
Rear Aguip step/bar
Liberty seats
"Bianca"
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Dads Car: 02 Impreza WRX STi[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Mums Car 08 Liberty Wagon
- Silverbullet
- Senior Member
- Posts: 2921
- Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2010 6:20 pm
- Location: Adelaide
Just noticed this thread is now more than a year old
Well that engine is still going strong although I suspect a vacuum leak somewhere; sometimes in the morning she'll stall randomly even after trundling along at 60 or 80 for a few minutes; sometimes between gears! just dies...let the clutch out again and it's all good
Also erratic idling at the lights and that damned misfire gremlin is rearing it's ugly head again, the one I fixed with a new ignition coil, gets worse when it's hot. This engine also uses some oil (about halfway between L and H on the dipstick after about 3 weeks, 300 k's a week) so I keep a bottle in the car. But she still gets up to 70 km/h in 2nd gear if you let it, with a bit of an extra pull when the secondary opens on the carbie 
Anyway, me thinks she's due for a service but being so close to starting the resto I dunno if it's worth the bother. Jonno wanted to know when my CV's gave in; about a month ago they started clicking on hard lock in either direction
Drivers side inner boot has been split for a while too.
After driving the old girl 300 k's a week for the last 12 months (since start of my apprenticeship, more driving than it's ever done in it's life) I can't wait to get into the resto and make it like new again, just thinking about every part that needs rebuilding, modifying, renewing...there's alot of parts



Anyway, me thinks she's due for a service but being so close to starting the resto I dunno if it's worth the bother. Jonno wanted to know when my CV's gave in; about a month ago they started clicking on hard lock in either direction

After driving the old girl 300 k's a week for the last 12 months (since start of my apprenticeship, more driving than it's ever done in it's life) I can't wait to get into the resto and make it like new again, just thinking about every part that needs rebuilding, modifying, renewing...there's alot of parts

Will it ever end!?
-EA81 TWIN CARB!!!!
-L series 5 speed
-Custom paint job
-2" lift
-Full custom re-wire
-L series front end

-EA81 TWIN CARB!!!!
-L series 5 speed
-Custom paint job
-2" lift
-Full custom re-wire
-L series front end

to remove gudgeon pins
I had the same trouble with the gudgeons so I made up a slide hammer tool with an expanding end, this goes inside the gudgeon of course and then turn it which expands the end to grip the gudgeon pin, then on the tool is also a small type slide whch when moved will jolt the pin from inside the piston and out.
Also you will need another tool to te-insert the gudgeons through the piston into and through the conrod.
Send me your email and I will attach pictures as I dont know how to add pictures here, I get the message (add you http url) whatever that means.
regards Rob.L
Also you will need another tool to te-insert the gudgeons through the piston into and through the conrod.
Send me your email and I will attach pictures as I dont know how to add pictures here, I get the message (add you http url) whatever that means.
regards Rob.L
Easiest tool to use to remove Subaru EA series Piston Pins guys is a V8 type valve lifter remover like this one they are not that expensive and work a treat also good for removing blind bearings in smaller sizes.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Hydraulic-Va ... 1348822081
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Hydraulic-Va ... 1348822081