The AUSubaru.com.au Forums

hey all, wanting to modify my EA81, to get some really good torque. this is what i had in mind, please correct me if this would fail or you have a better solution
: i was going to take cam to shop and ask for a real torquey cam.
: shave head to suit running 98 octane fuel.
: port polish head.
: 32/36 carby.
: be running a heavy duty clutch.
: and depending on how much it will cost thinking of getting bigger valves possibily ? any idead or better info would help cheers

look at an EJ engine conversion it would probably cost around the same as rebuilding the EA81

TOONGA

I've just rebuilt an EA81, about to go into a fellow members car.

30 thou off the heads, Crow double springs, 3 angle seats, bowls throated, exhaust ports opened up a bit, 25/65 Tighe cam, Brand new 32/36 Weber on port matched adapter, recurved electronic distributor.

Your combo sounds ok, for you I'd go for slightly smaller cam than above.

how much roughly did that cost little white ute ? and how well does it go ?

I would have to agree with Toonga, an EJ 2.2 or 2.5 conversion would almost certainly result in more power and torque for a similar(ish) cost, and retaining the factory efi system would be a huge advantage also.
If you don't want to go the conversion route, it sounds like you already know what you need to do...

lowerd car.. and wanting decent torque.. you wouldnt be trying to drift your brumby now? haha

hahaha, no green eyes liberty, no drifting going on around here...

i know you guys are way more pro then me, but it just seems like a EJ 2.2 conversion sounds like wayyyyy moreee money then what i plan to do ? like the loom, the gearbox, upgrade the brakes, get a ej 22 to start with, new exhaust, chop n change, and yeah just seems like itll go into the $1564524y646742 area hahaha. (exaggeration of course) :P

and are you on P plates? if so then an engine conversion is off the cards

indeed on the p plates. i thought your aloud engine conversions on p plate, but not aloud to go a 4 cyl to a 6 cyl or anything ??

subarubrumby wrote:how much roughly did that cost little white ute ? and how well does it go ?

Engine as described above owes me about $2500 (including my time).

We'll find out well it goes after it gets fitted, I'm sure it will go well.

subarubrumby wrote:i know you guys are way more pro then me, but it just seems like a EJ 2.2 conversion sounds like wayyyyy moreee money then what i plan to do ? like the loom, the gearbox, upgrade the brakes, get a ej 22 to start with, new exhaust, chop n change, and yeah just seems like itll go into the $1564524y646742 area hahaha. (exaggeration of course) :P

I guess it depends on how much diy you can do yourself. Certainly to pay a workshop to do the conversion will cost $$$.
As for the cost of an EJ motor, just think how many people do RS ej20t conversions to their liberty's, there must be dozens of EJ22's around with people that can't find a buyer. I just sold the ej25 + gearbox out of my gen3 outback for $500...

Yeah, nice torquey motor can be done. I went rebore .040" or 1mm , with new pistons and rings, 16/56 Watson Race Cam regrind and heads were simply serviced so no excess other than needed. A carb rebuild pref before you do the build so you know it is good, and a dizzy clean up, new plugs leads cap and rotor and get radiator seviced. New fuel filters, also get the cam followers reground at 8 ? bucks each ?

Cost about a gorilla to rebuild myself and install

: littlewhite ute hopefully all is well sounds good as
: tmh983, im very handy with any tool, welders everything, just dont have confidence and the know how of what exactly to do if you get me ? whats the easy parts you think i could do ? thanks guys

Hi subarubrumby
EJ22 is the way to go it's got heaps of torque and with a light ute will go hard
There are some people that do conversions around Brisbane have a search on the forum.

Jan

u might wanna check the rules with the ej22 and being a p plater in nsw i cant drive any performance modification that requires engineer cert which is a ej22 conversion
im still gunna do it the cops wonte know

yeah im not concerned about the cops or nothing, im only concerned about SHEERING THE TEETH OF MY REAR CVS AS MY BRUMBY IS REAR WHEEL DRIVE HAHA i know there will be alot of tourqe !

subarubrumby wrote:yeah im not concerned about the cops or nothing, im only concerned about SHEERING THE TEETH OF MY REAR CVS AS MY BRUMBY IS REAR WHEEL DRIVE HAHA i know there will be alot of tourqe !

Yeah I don't think they'll have an issue with the torque of the EJ22 unless you're dumping the clutch all the time. I don't think you'll sheer the teeth off the splines, rather throw the balls in the DOJ out the wall of the cup.

I've had my EJ22 in Ruby Scoo for almost 2 years now. Brilliant setup and should have been like this from the factory IMO. After a lot of harsh 4wd'n and a caning up and down Mt Hotham numerous times last year. That set have now been retired due to too much noise for my liking - as are the current set that replace the last 2nd hand set... A new set should see me going for a while until I get an AWD gearbox sorted.

If you look after your subi, your subi will look after you.

Cheers

Bennie

Of course what no one here has mentioned is the legallity of putting 2.2 ltr motor in a car that came with a 1.8ltr, basically its not. Unless it's engineered, which i've done and that itself costs $600-800. Then there is the potential insurance issues because its not a legal modification. I worked with a guy who t-boned a limo and his insurance didn't cover him because of something like this. He'll be paying that off for the next 20 years. If you ever want to sell the car it's a pain in the ass because you can't roadworthy it, and obvisouly neither can the buyer.

Sure a modified EA81 might not be legal for a P plater, but who is going to check your cams, compression and carby? Ok maybe the weber air filter is a giveaway, but people have modified the factory air filter to fit over it so no one is the wiser.

fair point, any ej conversion will need an engineers report. I've had to get the last 3 cars i've owned engineered, its really not a huge hassle, just make sure its not too loud and you retain all the pollution stuff, and make sure the brakes are in tip top condition.

As for insurance, my old 350hp e30 bmw (fully engineered and legal) was cheaper to insure through shannons than my current outback is through aami... go figure.